I developed a case of “pin freeze” or “target freeze” type of target panic. It got to where I couldn’t get the pin to go on target. I would try to move it up or down but it either wouldn’t go or it would go to fast to the target and pass right by it.

What I came to understand was that my brain had put 2 and 2 together without checking with me. My brain knew that when the pin was on target, I would shoot the arrow and get a small flood of adrenaline and cortisol. It knew that I would get a quick burst of sensory data as well. Loud noise, vibration down the arm, emotion pressure of hitting the shot. All this put my brain in protection mode and wouldn’t let my muscles put the pin on target. My muscles would tense up. My vision would go to tunnel like blurry vision.

What I had to do was draw a bunch and let down. I would draw 10 times and only release 1. Over and over again. It took awhile to break the neuropathic connection but it eventually worked.

What was said earlier about shooting mechanics/process vs aiming and keeping those separate by forcing one to be subconsciously done is exactly how you prevent yourself from ever letting it return.