An archer's accuracy varies a great deal from one day to the next

1 study · 15 archers measured

Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

The only measurement comes from kyudo: fifteen university archers shot twenty arrows at 28 metres in the morning, on two or three days of the same week. None of them hit the same percentage in every session, and between the best and the worst day the average goes from 83.7 to 61.7 per cent, twenty-two points. The figure has to be read for what it is: with twenty arrows per session, and with the best and worst day picked afterwards from two or three, part of that gap is produced by chance alone, and the study does not separate it. The same group offers a finding that is useful to anyone who competes, although it comes from the archers' own estimates rather than a count: those with national placings do not report a higher ceiling on good days (89.3 against 85.0 per cent, p = 0.36) but a higher floor on bad ones (64.3 against 48.8, p = 0.04). It is a single study, in kyudo and on few arrows, so the evidence remains limited, and there is no measurement yet on recurve or compound.

Also phrased as: "some days everything goes in and some days nothing works"; "good days and bad days"; "day-to-day variability in score"; "an off day"

In practice

It is said that there are days when everything goes in and days when nothing works, and that even strong archers have to allow for these swings from one day to the next.

Evidence

2024
For Kyudo archers Published later

15 university kyudo archers (22 enrolled in the study), twenty arrows at 28 metres in the morning in five rounds of four, on two or three days of the same week: none of them hit the same percentage in every session, and between the day with the most hits and the day with the fewest the average goes from 83.7 per cent (standard deviation 16.5) to 61.7 (17.5). The best and worst days are picked afterwards, so the difference also contains the chance variation of twenty arrows.

Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki
2024
Context Kyudo archers Published later

In the archers' own estimates, those with national placings (7) and those without (8) report similar accuracy in the best conditions (89.3 per cent, standard deviation 5.3, against 85.0 with 10.7, p = 0.36) but different accuracy in the worst (64.3 with 10.2 against 48.8 with 15.5, p = 0.04). Across the whole group the estimate goes from 87.0 to 56.0 per cent. It is a self-reported percentage, not a count of arrows.

Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki
2024
Context Kyudo archers Published later

The study looks for an explanation in the night before and in mood, and sleep goes the opposite way to what one would expect: sleep duration and quality measured the night before were significantly lower before the day with the most hits (p < 0.05), and the vigour score of the mood questionnaire tended to be lower on that day (p = 0.09); once vigour is taken into account, the difference in sleep is no longer significant (p = 0.10 and 0.12). Here, day-to-day variation is not explained by a better night's sleep.

Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki

Status history

2024 Reported Fifteen university kyudo archers, each compared with themselves between their best and worst day over twenty arrows at 28 metres: none hits the same percentage in every session, and the average difference between the good day and the bad one is twenty-two percentage points, from 83.7 to 61.7. In the same group the archers with national placings do not report a higher ceiling on good days, but a higher floor on bad ones. It is a single study, it rests on kyudo and it does not separate real variation from what twenty arrows produce by chance: there is evidence in favour, and it is limited.

Related studies

Theoretical workIl pavimento (The floor): how much of archery is real

Research lines

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). An archer's accuracy varies a great deal from one day to the next (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/accuracy-varies-day-to-day

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_precisionevariabilegiornopergiorno,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {An archer's accuracy varies a great deal from one day to the next},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/accuracy-varies-day-to-day},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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