During my two years of constant struggle with target panic I tried many possible solutions. One of the more promising methods I came up with I call simulated shooting. I tried this method during the period of time when I was working on my own cure for target panic. During the first year or so, I tried everything I had heard or read about with mixed results but no definite cure. Thereafter, I just worked on my own original ideas. My ideas all centered on gaining control. I was convinced that this was where I was going to find my cure. With target panic you have no real control. I wanted to decide exactly how I shot and exactly when I wanted to release the arrow (i.e. complete control).

With lots of practice I found some relief of my target panic symptoms using simulated shooting. Here's how it works. I bought some surgical tubing (fitness bands from a sporting goods store), cut it to the appropriate size for my draw length and strength, and tied the ends together. I wrapped tape around it making a crude six-inch long handle. While holding the handle in my left hand and hooking the three fingers of my right hand around the band immediately across, I would draw and come to full draw just like I would my actual bow. This is nothing new of course and I am aware that you can buy a similar contraption, but the effectiveness comes with the next step. If you put a pad of some sort near the base of your wrist (and are very careful), you can actually practice your release. You are able to simulate the shooting of your bow. You pick a spot, draw, and release like you normally do but without the negative judgment that often occurs after each shot. I am sure that there are others who have tried this before, but if there are I'm not aware of it.

The idea is to practice shooting this way in order to ingrain the act of holding and releasing when you want to and with control. Over time, in theory, when you go back to shooting your real bow you will do it like you practiced with your simulator. So, did it work this work well for me? Yes and No. For a while it did, but soon my target panic was back. If I had to I would have tried this method again, but fortunately I discovered a technique called the Push Release that eliminated my target panic for good. Simulated shooting is a promising method that might work best if the simulation is practiced often and in between the times you use your real bow.