Wrist watch = target panic archery coach

[Rossco7002]

Given the huge amount of information people have been posting lately to help with target panic I thought I'd post something that I found very useful. I'm no archery coach but it's given me excellent results so maybe it's worth a try?

FYI - my brand of panic consisted of an inability to hold on target. I could draw and hit anchor no problem but once I hit the aiming phase I would immediately release on coming into line rather than being able to hold. Very frustrating for me as my shooting was considerably more accurate when I did manage to hold.

To get a grip of this I did the following:

-implemented Jay Kidwell's tips into my shooting sessions with at least a 50% let down rate from anchor.

I had also read in Anthony Camera's book - 'Shooting the Stick Bow' about a practice whereby the archer comes to anchor and holds at which point their coach gives a fire or let down command after a random period of time. My problem was that I didn't have a coach and my wife sure as heck wasn't going to spend her days doing this for me.

Here was my solution.

I have a digital wrist watch which has a countdown timer function. I set the count down for 30 seconds (long enough for me to go through my shot routine). I then put it on my string hand wrist facing inwards, picked up my bow and knocked an arrow.

At this point start the countdown running with your bow hand (while holding the bow) and commence your shot routine (whatever that may be). You will observe that with the watch facing inwards you can see the countdown timer while holding the string. Somewhere between 10 - 5 seconds I draw the bow, come to anchor, aim and hold on target.

If the shot feels right the alarm going off at the  end of the countdown trigger's my release. If it does not feel right I let down. It took me less than 5 minutes to teach my brain to hold until the beeper. After that it became so easy as to be laughable that it was so hard to hold on target before hand.

Once I learned to let the beeper trigger the shot I started to do some REALLY accurate shooting. My confidence went through the roof and I began to feel an extreme sense of calm while at anchor and I KNEW my arrow would go where directed. I began to enjoy the feeling of being at anchor rather that the previous 'THERE'S THE SHOT - RELEASE' imperative I had been fighting for so long.

Once I got to this point I began shooting without the timer every shot and found the new ability to hold still existed. MORE CONFIDENCE.

I shoot everyday and my routine is now as follows:

-warm up with several Kidwell drills without releasing a shot.
-begin shooting at a rate of 50/50 let down vs. shot execution.
-once warmed up enjoy the shooting.
-if I feel myself starting to slide into old habits use the count down timer to gain control again.

Anyway. That's it - an economical option for those of us without a coach to help us through our slumps.

Hope this helps someone!

Cheers,
Ross

[Rossco7002]

C'mon! Somebody give this a try today, I'm really excited to see if it helps someone else.

[khardrunner]

I like the idea. If you read TP reality check or talk to Mr. Turner he will indicate a need for an external release indicator. In this case, you are using your watch beep. Whatever works!

[JoeM]

Nice idea!!

[tso115]

Nice!

[Wild Bill MCP 808]

Nice idea will give it a try.

thank you for the information

[fivebears]

I believe that I have the exact form of target panic that you have/had.I can get to a good solid anchor but I'm usually "froze" just above the target and I can't smoothly lower my bow arm.It's usually a drop and release type thing which doesn't always work out very well.This is using a swing draw.If I use a set arm draw I have difficulty getting to anchor,tending to short draw or snap shoot.When I do get a good anchor and pause for even a second my shots are much more accurate.Funny how powerful the mind is.Thanks for the tip and congrats on your success......Ken

[Gundog68]

Someone should write a smartphone app:
- start a routine
- beeps after some (adjustable) time amount to get ready for the shot
- after some (adjustable maybe 10 to 30 sec.) time should a random counter do the next release-beep

[Lee Lobbestael]

WHERE CAN i GET ONE OF THESE WATCHES?

[Rossco7002]

A timex ironman will do. Available anywhere....

[Moon]

Great tip. Thanks.

[Rossco7002]

Just as an update to anyone who's interested in using this strategy my old friend 'THE TP' started to creep back into my shooting last week. As per normal I refused to admit it for a while and my shooti g became more and more erratic.

Tonight I got out the old timex and started using the count down. Solved the problem in ten minutes. I can now control my shot again.

For the remainder of the week I'll shoot every second shot with the timer to reassert my confidence and muscle memory then hopefully the watch can go away again....

[Rod in SC]

You can download a metronome app to your smart phone that will beep once for you to start the draw and then beep again anywhere from 1 to 30 seconds. I like 12 seconds best. Cant remember the beat time but my app shows how many seconds between each beep.  Its a free app. It works and you may even be able to internalize the sound in your head even when shooting without it.