Throughout my maddening two-year struggle with target panic, I sought to fix my problem with a long list possible cures. Some were suggested to me, some I read about in books and articles, and the rest were original ideas based upon my own understanding of target panic. I firmly believe target panic is a learned behavior developed through the act of shooting your bow over and over again. This repetition, over time, causes us to release the arrow sooner and sooner. The target acts as a stimulus and our response upon bringing our bow on target is to release immediately. Apprehension over shooting in front of others or in pressure situations tends to exacerbate the problem. The feeling of target panic is an overwhelming urge to shoot resulting in a loss of mental and physical control of the shooting process.

One of the possible cures I tried is called rotational aiming. I read about it in a book about compound archery. I liked this method because it helps you to improve your level of control over the shooting process (i.e. form, draw, hold, release). Target panic essentially causes a loss of control, and counteracting this loss of control with control practice, in theory, should help. Here is how it works. Set up six or eight spots in a circular pattern on an otherwise blank bale. I used 1 in. by 1 in. florescent stickers I found at a drug store. Space them roughly five or six inches apart. Stand two or three yards away, draw your bow, and focus (aim) on one of the spots. Hold on the spot for two or three seconds and then rotate to the next spot and do the same. Continue around the circle in this fashion until your muscles grow weary, at this point go ahead and release your arrow at one of the spots. Repeat the process until you feel you are in better control of your shooting. When you go back to your normal practice, you should feel more in control and less influenced by your target panic symptoms.

In my case, rotational aiming did in fact help improve my shooting and relieve my target panic symptoms to some degree. However, it wasn