Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: Lee Lobbestael on March 22, 2013, 05:50:36 pm
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Does anybody on here shoot with a psychotrigger? A psychotrigger is a device that signals the shooter to release, it takes the subconcious mind out of the equation and therefore eliminates target panic. A clicker is a psychotrigger. I know most of us on here wouldn't want to put a clicker on our self bows and backed bows but maybe there are some "primitive" psychotrigger options out there that will help some people deal with target panic. For example when I am at full draw and settled in I concentrate on moving my index finger toward my thumb on my bow hand. When my finger touches my thumb I release the arrow. It is non anticipatory because I never know when my fingers are going to touch. This is important because if you know when the trigger is going to go off target panic will quickly take over. Its simple but so far has been effective. Don't get me wrong I'm no expert on the subject but I have played around with many different triggers. For some people a psychotrigger is the only way to beat target panic and make them a proficient shooter. I think some primitive shooters will argue that this isn't how a primitive bow should be shot but psychotriggers have been in use for thousands of years. e.g. broadhead touching the archers knuckle. So any of you shooters out there try anything like this?
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I do use my middle finger (of my string hand) and my second molar to know when I am at full draw. But I usually bring air into my chest (expands my draw a bit and makes it more consistent) and hold for a a fraction of a second afterwards, so its not really a trigger. I always like hearing how other people shoot, I find it very interesting.
I don't think anyone could tell you that a psycotrigger is non-primitive. After all, how do we know what kind of tricks and strategies these people used when they were shooting. They probably tried all kinds of stuff. They were no less inquisitive and experimental than we are.
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Yeah thats my way of thinking too. non anticipatory psychotriggers really help me relax and have fun shooting. Joel Turner on masters of the barebow 4 has a really good section on this subject.
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That sounds very interesting Lee,And I want to try it,but I've got it,(target panic), so bad I either cant get on target and settle in,or,my bow arm "locks up" after hitting full-draw .Even as I get close to the spot I want to hit, my sub-conscience causes an early release. It is very frustrating,to say the least. I've tried the bare-bale work,and closed eye release drill,but it had no noticeable affect. I'm looking for any methods to re-train my brain to lose the early sub-conscience release. I will give this a try tomorrow,and let you know if it helps. Thanks. God Bless
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PeteC - You need to watch Jay Kidwell on Masters of the Barebow, Vol. 4. Retraining your subconscious is exactly what he talks about to beat your kind of target panic. Good luck with it, it can be hard to correct.
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Ok Pete, also I don't know if I'm supposed to talk about other websites but on the shooters forum of tradgang.com there is a great post called target panic reality check. Its all about psychotriggers and Joel Turner is an expert on the subject. You should definitely look at it. When you use a psychotrigger it is important that after you lock on to your target, you concentrate intirely on the movement required to reach your trigger and not the trigger itself. For example after I lock on at full draw and aim I switch over mentally and completely concentrate on the movement of my index finger. I do not think about when my finger and thumb are going to touch. Doing so will eventually lead to the anticipation of the trigger. I also use a mantra in my head. I tel myself, keep pinching keep pinching keep pinching and concentrate with all my mind on that movement. Aiming is subconscious after you have locked on. You just continue to look at the spot and concentrate on the movement of whatever it is that gets you to your trigger. These are all straight from Joel Turner so I can't take any credit for these instructions. But give it a shot it might work for you. If that trigger doesn't work there are many more out there to try.
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The last part of my draw is a slow squeeze of my shoulder blades, like I'm cracking a walnut between them. My trigger is reaching the max of my shoulders' range of motion.
Draw...aim&squeeeze... zing.
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Yeah Jay Kidwell's drills are great. They may help you get to the point where you can easily reach full draw and from that point a psychotrigger may be easier to adapt. Or you may not need one at all, everyone is different. Both Jay and Joel have helped me alot.
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Pekane I believe what you are describing is an anticipatory psychotrigger, meaning you know when its coming. I wish I was one of those guys that could consistantly shoot like this but I require a non anticipatory trigger because that means something else tells me when to release and that is important for beating back tp.
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Pete do you have masters of the barebow 4?
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Lee, you can talk about other sites. Just don't post a direct link. ;)
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Ok thanks Pat! Wasn't sure
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No Lee,I don't have it.Is it a book or a video?Thanks for the response . God Bless
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Its a video. You should get it. Its the best out there on target panic.
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I've never heard it all a psychotrigger but I guess wthat I do could be called that.
I pick my spot as soon as start my draw. Never quit looking at ti untill my arrow hits. Then I ankor middle figger in the corner of my mouth. The last 1/2 second I draw in my back mussles and touch a tooth to finish my release. Releaseing with my third finger down first. It's better when shooting instintive to feel you psychotrigger than to here it. It's all in what comes natural to you hereing a clicker not natural to your bow shooting as feeling is.
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Often times I let my mind go 'blank' when I'm shooting and sometimes that helps with target panic. Not worrying about the next shot or anything else, just this one arrow and its meeting with the target.
I usually draw as inhale, breath out a bit just after I reach full draw, and release. If I hold my breath, I know my shot was off.
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Target panic is BRUTAL!!! I had it so bad that I left archery for at least five years. It was so dibilitating, that I was afraid to shoot a bow. I struggled with pulling a 30 pound bow to draw. No target? No problem. Target? Huge problem. Someone mentioned Jay Kidwells book on target panic, and that the only thing that helped me. The drills that he uses certainly helped bring the fun back into archery for me. I would literately shake like a leaf trying so desperately to pull my bow back. I figured at six feet, 195 pounds I could do it easily. Nope! Pretty discouraging. I missed the same deer a couple years back five times in two weeks. It still rears its ugly head, which just forces me to relax, visualize the shot, and try and block out all else but the shot.
I think the thing that helped me the most was to practice shooting by holding the shot as i passed over the target. I would purposely move my bow arm over the target, coming from all different directions, letting my string hand down in between each pull. Only when I was calm would I shoot. It might be six or seven times moving back and forth, or it could be three.
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DMC, a psychotrigger might really help in your situation if tp ever flares up again.
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Lee, I tried a clicker for about a year, but all it did was make me anxious waiting for the click to happen. I just have to revert back to Kidwell's book, and it seems to work for me. When I said I had it bad.....it really was an understatement!! I could not pull my bow back more than about 20 inches. I'm sure if someone was watching me, I'm sure it would look like Superman holding some krptonite. I'm sure they heard me saying in slow motion"can't .......pull..........back"
I finally get to enjoy archery again. For a while though, I thought I was a goner. I shot my friends compound ok, but was not interested in going down that road.
PeteC .....I feel your pain. Get a hold of some good videos or a good target panic book. PM me, and I can let you know the website where I got mine from.
Dave - dmc
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Thanks y'all. I have yet to buy the video,but have been reading up on different types of the affliction,and although I don't feel like I am much closer to whipping it yet,I have done something,and see a little hope. The root of the problem seems to be subtle changes I made in my form,because,one of the things that occurred to me was ,that it seemed something was a little different with each shot.(no consistency). As several of y'all had mentioned form as an issue,I have gone back to the basics. GF Asbell just wrote a very good piece on "push and pull"shooting along with maintaining constant back tension and a fairly low draw arm.It is helping with VERY focused practice. I have to concentrate so hard on the back tension to keep the string in the corner of my mouth,that my aiming is becoming sub-conscious,SOMETIMES. I am able to lock on target pretty good out to 15 yards,where before it had to be 5 yards or less.(I killed a pig at 25 yards a couple of weeks ago and that was nothing short of Devine intervention. This is so frustrating because I have been very confident to 40 yards up to a year ago.)
Thanks Lee, I read the TG forum "reality check",and got some ideas. I attempted the psychotrigger,but my release fired when I would begin to move my finger toward my thumb.I never made it.
I'll keep y'all posted if I have a break through that might help someone else. Thanks and God Bless