The CURE for TARGET PANIC w/ Andy May

Shooting a compound bow and struggling to stay in control of each and every shot? Check out Andy May's top three tips for curing target panic.
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[@watchhuntbetter]

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[@75superfan]

Another thing that helped me was learning to focus on the target and not the pin. Once I was able to do that I was way more comfortable pulling through my shot and trusting my pin float.

[@watchhuntbetter]

Great advice!

[@sasquatchrosefarts]

​@@watchhuntbetterjust take a stick and a friend.... And point the stick at your friend and start walking around your property, and maintain the stick pointed at vitals. And spend a long time walking and maintaining point of aim. And decide if you should kill your friend or not. And keep focusing on vitals, and the decision to take, or not take......is the animal what you want? Examine the head, to asses for health.....and keep vitals in the point of aim. It's all mental. Then, to compliment this, draw your empty bow back, and walk around for minutes..... by yourself and aim at things.......and obviously don't release or you break your bow. Keeping a calm heart rate and calm head while keeping good footwork is what makes you good.

[@treyozee2685]

It's gotten so bad I literally took my sight off. Happened out of no where. I'm gonna try a few of these drills aswell to get me into shape before elk season!

[@uncleremus5046]

These drills have been around since the 50’s . The 1st drill is Len Cardinale’s wall drill. Also make the face of a clock with dots & move your pin on different spots then letting down( Rotational Aiming). You then need to start a bridge system in which you start shooting close @ 5 yards working your way back to 40 in 5 yard increments with no hiccups. If you make a bad shot go back to previous 5 yard distance for 2 days. This is constant training like a recovering alcoholic/ drug addict. Your never cured completely but this training keeps your shot right. You have to set your Aim & forget it , then start your back tension till conclusion. If your mind goes to the pin let down. Set the Aim & forget it focus on execution not the pin. Prepare each shot correctly. Remember this “ Your Arrow will hit where your Mind is not your Eyes”!

[@brandonpatterson5705]

For those guys that live in the city where shooting isn’t allowed I used a slingshot. Tied a d loop to the leather and drew back while watching hunting videos and trained myself the shot execution while looking at a spot on a deer with no aiming reference. It worked well for me.

[@brandonpatterson5705]

By the way Andy I’ve listened to many of the podcasts you have done with others and appreciate your transparency. I’ve listened to the two instructional podcasts you did with Joel Turner. What a difference you have made with all you do for a guy like me who doesn’t have a lot of money. I truly say thank you Andy.

[@TheWVgoodguy22]

Excellent advice Andy. Thanks 🙏 for sharing your process.

[@ukjw2]

Mine got so bad in high school I couldn’t even draw a bow without an arrow. I would dry fire it.

[@JourdanUrbach]

Great content, great production. Heading out the back door to practice these 3 now.

[@watchhuntbetter]

Awesome! Thanks, Jourdan!

[@MichaelB-xg7ic]

Thank you cant wait to try this out.

[@watchhuntbetter]

Good luck!

[@jeremyglenn1552]

Thanks! Looking forward to putting these into practice 🙌🏼🤙🏼

[@watchhuntbetter]

Awesome, man. Good luck!

[@JohnLee-vj9lh]

Great video and info mate thanks for sharing 👍🏹🏹

[@watchhuntbetter]

Thank you!

[@timbow50]

Well done video. Great advice here folks. People need to know that even the best shooters, world record holders, have all said they have had and still get TP. Levi Morgan admits he has to work on it from time to time. One thing people might do when doing the blind bale practice at close distance is to remove the sight or cover it. What you’re doing here is to train the brain what is a perfect shot execution. You’ve got to learn what that requires in muscle activation right now more than where the pin was when it broke. Something overlooked a lot is the release must be set up for you. So important you learn no matter what style you use is to never intentionally move a thumb or finger to fire the bow. The pull thru the shot method has been proven to be the most repeatable way.

[@watchhuntbetter]

Agreed! Well said.

[@carterfrank510]

Awesome video dude, super underrated channel. I’m subscribing now!

[@watchhuntbetter]

Thank you!

[@georgehardin8452]

I was having a little case of tp.i watched your video and I'm on day 3 of phase 1 I call it. Man has this already helped me focus.cant wait to do all of it.thanks Andy for great video. 👍

[@watchhuntbetter]

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing :)

[@chasecampbell7840]

How do you like that grip??

[@josephhenderson7044]

What release are you using I’m jumping to a thumb release and putting away the wrist strap

[@undertheradar9295]

I guess this would not work with a wrist release? Great video, thanks.

[@watchhuntbetter]

It sure does! Andy would suggest you load up the index release just like you would a thumb button, and then perform the drills as mentioned. Also, check out our video on different types of releases and it should help. Good luck!

[@terryquinter8499]

When my brain knows I’m not going to release an arrow I can hold it forever, but the minute my brain knows I’m gonna shoot I go “panic”

[@watchhuntbetter]

We know the feeling, man. Hope you can get it under control!

[@jonmarcos8488]

Would the 2nd and 3rd drills work with a wrist release?

[@watchhuntbetter]

From Andy: “Yes, the drills will work with any release, but if you’re going to shoot a wrist strap release, I encourage you to use a quality one with a good trigger like the ones made from Carter or Stan (for example). Basically you want a trigger that has no travel and where you can adjust the tension a little heavier. Of course this is just my opinion.”

[@jonmarcos8488]

Truball is no bueno for this?@@watchhuntbetter

[@MichiganGreatOutdoors]

Good tips, what release is Andy using in this video?

[@ridgerunner1977]

It’s a Carter Too Simple 👍🏻

[@kevinnanasy8854]

I can hold my pin all day long on a dot without my finger on the trigger ! Once I move my finger to trigger I'm a wreck!! Which makes that 1st drill hard for me!

[@watchhuntbetter]

Hang in there! Put the reps in and you'll see improvement. Good luck!

[@pickin4you]

The best way to cure target panic for good, is to get you a decent back tension release, and learn to shoot it right. I shot one for 4 years and today, 20 years later, I CANNOT punch any trigger release. That urge has gone. A back tension release which many call them hinge releases because they don’t use it right, it or forces you to hold your sight on the middle until that release goes off. Today, with any trigger release, I squeeze so slow that many times I have to let down because it’s not going off. This is the only true cure out there. It’s scary for Some but you will be a much better shooter when shooting a back tension than not shooting one. Now this is just for target shooting. Don’t use a back tension for hunting. Your deer will walk away before your bow decides to fire. All other methods are hit and miss and never a permanent fix. A back tension release is a permanent fix.

[@ylvie8978]

I bought a hinge release a few days ago because I read that advise on multiple websites/magazines. I managed to panic fire even that by uncontrollably clenching the ringfinger while yanking the draw arm back. The only way for me to stay on the gold is with a Can't-Fire. And my draw hand did twitch big time during the first couples of tries, so I attached a wrist strap. I let go of my trigger release two times before and couldn't control it. I don't have the issue in a 3d setting, or just a fraction of it, but it's really bad on any target face. Any advice?

[@earlofcockwood4757]

I would never do blank shots on a faceless target with open eyes. Allways put something on there or shoot at a 3d target. Train your brain to get used to your target picture. Let that pin or arrow float in the kill or in the gold. Never shoot at blank targets. As soon as you put a target face on it or pictures of deers or whatever, targetpanic hits you as hard as a rock.

[@williamweaver1701]

Blur your pin and look at the spot and you don’t have to think about looking at something because it’s subconscious then focus on the present (execution) and the future (results) will happen The human brain can only focus on one thing.