Help I hold low
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: chasintheslam
15-Aug-17
Not sure what it is but for about a year now I hold up below the target and feels like I have to life 50 pounds to get the pin up there any tricks I should know on how to fix this issue
From: Forest bows
15-Aug-17
I hold low and love it
From: W
15-Aug-17
You could change your site to adjust to your hold.
Old buddy used to site in low to cover for the drop of the deer.
From: midwest
15-Aug-17
It's called target panic. There are a million methods on how to cure or at least contain the affliction but do a search and find what works for you now before it festers into full blown loss of control.
Good luck.
From: ScottTigert
15-Aug-17
I hold low. Arrow hit just above the pin. Works fine
From: wyobullshooter
15-Aug-17
midwest + 1. Bandaids may work for a very short while, but unless you get to the root of the problem, it will only get worse. Get it under control before it gets control of you.
From: Pyrannah
15-Aug-17
TP is your affliction.
research suprise release and go from there. its a journey but can be fixed, you need to retrain your brain
From: Proline
15-Aug-17
Midwest is spot on. Go get a coach and get help. I battled this too and dam near quit shooting. It will get worse unless you get some help IMO.
From: Dino
15-Aug-17
Been there before...TP is an awful affliction. Buy a tension activated release, begin blind baling with it...follow John Dudley and his podcasts and videos.
From: arbe25
15-Aug-17
I had the same type of target panic for a long time and tried some temporary fixes like adjusting pins and changing to a thumb release. For me the only thing that worked is a pure back tension release or hinge release. I use the carter evolution now. And shoot a bunch with ur sights covered or no sights into a target a few feet away.
Mine got so bad that as soon as my pin would get on an animal I'd have to pull the trigger.
From: RD in WI
15-Aug-17
I've struggled with target panic since high school (1988 grad). Only a few years ago did I buy a resistance activated release, where only through the application of additional resistance will it fire. It is the primary release that I practice with and it allows me to fire off a couple of hunting shots with a normal release before I start to get twitchy and freeze off target or punch the trigger as soon as the pin reaches the bullseye. I even carry it while hunting in the event that I have a shot that does not require a rapid shot (bedded animal for instance). Best of luck working through it.
From: chasintheslam
15-Aug-17
I've got a hinge release I can shoot but still freeze off target I don't want to become dependent on it as I want to continue hunting with a wrist release I have a carter like mike I think I'm gonna try to fix this issue with I'll start by just drawing a piece of string to learn back tension on a trigger
From: Jaquomo
15-Aug-17
I applied some of the Iron Mind techniques but what really worked for me was NOT shooting for a few weeks, just drawing, settling my mind and the pin, feeling the entire process and slowing it down, then letting down. Then I moved to blind bale shooting for a week, feeling the back tension and every part of the process again, relaxing my bow arm. then the pin settling became part of the overall process instead of the desired end result.
That did the trick, but the TP Devil affects everyone differently..
From: Brotsky
15-Aug-17
The dreaded "thing whose name shall not be mentioned". Good advice from Jaq and others. I fought this for years and actually hung up my bow for a year back in 98. It is satan's doing I swear. Kind of like the shanks in golf, no one knows why or where it comes from. Good luck to you my good man, I hope you get it under control quickly!
From: GhostBird
16-Aug-17
I had a similar problem with the dreaded TP and was freezing my pin low. What helped me was starting with my pin above the spot and slowly lowering it. If the pin went through the spot without stopping and settled low, I would let down and not release. Another thing that may help is shooting for the middle of the target and not focusing on hitting a spot just the center of the target. You can also cover the target with paper so it doesn't have any spots and just aim for center mass. Good luck.
From: Fulldraw1972
16-Aug-17
That's exactly what I was doing this spring. I kept the same release. Just changed where the trigger was on my finger. Instead of at the finger tip I trigger by the 2nd knuckle in finger. I get more of a surprise release that way.
From: greg simon
16-Aug-17
Bernie Pellerite's book How to Shoot Like a Pro lays out a great system to defeat TP. I used it and it worked for me.
From: Jethro
16-Aug-17
If I start locking up shooting spots on a block or bag, I'll switch to a 3D. Don't worry about 12 or 10 ring just float it right where I want to hit the real thing. That can get me on track again. Its all mental.
From: Nick Muche
16-Aug-17
Shoot some blank bale up close for a bit each day. Use a normal sized paper plate for aiming reference, it's bigger size should make it easy to keep the pin on it, especially at close range.
From: CurveBow
16-Aug-17
I agree with many of the above comments. I had target panic for many years, maybe even before it had a name! :)
I simply aimed about 3" below the bull and crammed arrows into it without any problem. Used this method for about 15 years before the issue went away by itself. Killed many deer and a couple of elk this way.
From: AKBBC
16-Aug-17
Also had a problem getting stuck below the target. Bought a hinge 2 weeks ago and really seems to be helping. Not afraid to get on the target and just let it float till it goes off. My groups have tightened up a bit also. It is really nice to finally start feeling what a release and aiming is really supposed to feel like. I recommend you practice with a training aid for a while before you actually shoot an arrow!
From: chasintheslam
16-Aug-17
Thank you all I'll be doing a lot of these training ways and get through this I've still been able to harvest animals just want to be 100% like I use to be
From: Cheesehead Mike
16-Aug-17
All you guys who are locking up and getting stuck below the target I've never understood why you don't just start above the target and let gravity do the work and just let your pin settle down into the bullseye...
That's what I've been doing for years and although I've worked through some other issues I've never had a problem with locking up... To me, that sounds like the easiest problem to fix.
From: Nick Muche
16-Aug-17
When you guys get stuck below the target, just move your bow arm up until the pin is on the target :)
From: St52v
16-Aug-17
Joel Turner has some stuff out there and a course. Check it out.
From: wyobullshooter
16-Aug-17
"When you guys get stuck below the target, just move your bow arm up until the pin is on the target."
Unless someone's truly experienced the target panic demon, they have no idea how impossible it is to do just that. Sounds easy enough, but you might as well tell them to hold their breath for 10 minutes...neither is going to happen.
From: Dino
16-Aug-17
Yup...TP is a demon. Until u have been through it, u don't know! I LOVE bowhunting and almost quit cause I couldn't get my pin up and on target!I admitted the problem and took the time to retrain myself. Get a tension activated release, blind bale for 30 days... pull through your shots...u can beat it!!!
From: WapitiBob
16-Aug-17
Two of the best shots in the world don't aim in the center of the dot. Paige doesn't aim at the dot at all, neither does a guy I shoot with. Their brain wants a sight picture and that's what they sight in to.
From: wyobullshooter
17-Aug-17
WB, understood. However, we're talking two different situations. Intentionally aiming off center, yet still being in control of the shot execution, is one thing. Not being in control of the shot process, being unable to "aim" at the spot you want to hit, and then have your brain scream "HAMMER IT!!!" as you try to drive-by that spot is quite another.
From: Scar Finga
17-Aug-17
I guess I have had this, what I did was completely change the way I draw on an animal/ target. Instead of coming up to the vitals/ bull, I now go from the top down. I initially pull back high, and lower the pin until it is where I want it. I always just called it locking up. I guess it was target panic, but this seemed to cure it.
Good Luck!
Scar.
From: AT Halley
17-Aug-17
I dealt with that 10 years ago. I ended up buying a Carter release (EDIT: it is called the Squeeze Me) that was a trigger release, that you had to squeeze the finger trigger to take the release off safety. Then it wouldn't go off until you put enough back tension or pull on it to release it. I used it all winter and haven't had an issue with TP since. The first time I tried it, I pulled back put my finger on the "trigger" and completely collapsed. Since then, I use a strap finger release with back tension. I'd recommend it to anyone that uses a strap trigger release with TP.
From: Bear Track
17-Aug-17
I have it on targets and have had it for 25 years. Never on game though. I use a sweeping up and through the target on paper and it works. I know it's wrong but works for me. I did try coming down from the top but found I was watching too much while concentrating on my form.
From: chasintheslam
01-Sep-17
I've learned that since going to multi pin sight again it has created a anxiety when I shoot just ordered another single pin to hopefully releave the issue
From: chasintheslam
01-Sep-17
I've learned that since going to multi pin sight again it has created a anxiety when I shoot just ordered another single pin to hopefully releave the issue
From: spike78
01-Sep-17
I used to shoot fingers with no problem then when I went to a release aid I instantly had that form of target panic and have tried everything. The only thing that helped a bit was to draw the bow while looking at the target from the left of the string and putting the pin on target then moving my head to the right to look through the peep.
From: Rando101
05-Sep-17
I've dealt with the same issue since i started about 17 years ago. As mentioned several times above, I do the 5 yard shooting with eyes closed to practice a perfect trigger break release. Also when I draw back, I immediately move my pins above the target and let them slowly start sinking to my shot. As it approaches, I start applying a little pressure until the pin is on the bullseye. Then finish breaking the trigger.
It works great for me.
From: nvgoat
05-Sep-17
Second the recommendation for Joel Turner. I didn't take the whole course but just reading his article in bowhunting mag and also his book helped me a bunch.
