https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/relaxed-bow-hand Changes to this claim in Matteo Campagna's evidence registry: its status, its year-by-year history, revisions of the page. en-gb https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/relaxed-bow-handOnly one measurement looks at the bow hand arrow by arrow, and the answer is split. In eight high-level French archers, 549 arrows at 70 metres, the extensor digitorum of the bow hand is more active on arrows scoring 8 or less than on those scoring 9 and 10, both while aiming and in the follow-through, which points the way the claim does. The flexor digitorum superficialis of the same hand, however, does the opposite, and is less active on arrows scoring 8 or less than on those scoring 10. On the better arrows the hand does not work less: it works differently, with less activity in the muscles that open the fingers and a little more in those that close them, and the authors speak of the right level of activation rather than of relaxation. Before this study there were only comparisons between people: in 2009 elite archers activated the bow-hand extensor more than beginners, who gripped after the clicker, and in 2021, in four traditional archers trying four different grips, the grip with the best result was always one in which the finger extensor worked harder than the flexor. The same French group later presented the data again in a doctoral thesis, without a second sample.claim:mano-arco-rilassata:revision:2026-10-06:2Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:00:00 GMT https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/relaxed-bow-handclaim:mano-arco-rilassata:new_claim:2026-09-08:contestatoTue, 08 Sep 2026 08:00:00 GMT