Matteo Campagna
ITEN
Menu
Menu

Archers classed at a higher level score more points

8 studies · 550 archers measured

ForContextAgainst19902000201020202025, context, n = 2071986, context, n = 1882025, for, n = 372022, for, n = 312026, context, n = 302003, for, n = 202017, for, n = 202011, for, n = 17
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.

When level is assigned from outside, through national-team selection or membership of a squad, and the score is measured afterwards, the direction is always the same. Ten Turkish national-team archers scored 1296-1322 FITA points against 1147-1157 for club beginners; ten Olympic-level archers from the British squad outscored ten archers from a university club at 30 m (F = 12.38, p = 0.003); sixteen from the Chinese national squad scored 8.7 points per arrow at 70 m against 6.8 for the Beijing squad. The gap holds on average, though, not for the individual: in the Beijing squad someone reached 8.2, above the weakest member of the national squad (7.7); between high school and university in Taiwan the step is 74 points in recurve and 7 in compound, where scores are already close to the maximum; in Malaysia the distributions at the state games and the university championships overlap. Many studies, moreover, form their groups on the score itself, and there the comparison is circular. A level label follows the score on average, in Olympic recurve more than in compound, and says little about the individual archer.

Also phrased as: "elite versus novice scores"; "level and score"; "national team archers score more"; "your class tells how well you shoot"

In practice

In studies and in clubs it is taken for granted that saying elite, national or beginner amounts to saying a certain score, and groups are formed on the label.

Evidence

  • 1986
    Context Archers Published later

    188 US recurve archers between 1982 and 1984, from beginners to an Olympic champion, split into four skill groups on the yearly average of their official FITA scores: 1272 points at world level (nine archers) and 1221 at upper national-collegiate level (thirty-two), and so on down. The ladder of levels is there, but the groups are built on the score itself, so the comparison is circular and does not say whether a label assigned from outside follows the score.

    A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang

  • 2003
    For Archers Published later

    10 Turkish national-team archers and 10 club beginners, half men and half women: FITA scores of 1296 (standard deviation 43) and 1322 (24) in the two elite subgroups against 1157 (35) and 1147 (40) in the beginners, with 8 and 10 years of training against 5 and 4. The comparison is descriptive, and the elite archers were also four to eight years older.

    Activation patterns in forearm muscles during archery shooting · H. Ertan, B. Kentel, S.T. Tümer, F. Korkusuz

  • 2011
    For Archers Published later

    7 novice and 10 experienced adolescents measured in a real indoor competition: the mean score per arrow is higher in the experienced group (p < 0.001, partial eta squared 0.24), who had 4.1 years of practice (standard deviation 0.9) against 0.4 (0.3). Level explains about a quarter of the variance, and the label here is years of practice.

    Autonomic nervous system modulation during an archery competition in novice and experienced adolescent archers · Andres E. Carrillo, Vasilios X. Christodoulou, Yiannis Koutedakis, Andreas D. Flouris

  • 2017
    For Archers Published later

    10 Olympic-level archers from the British squad, with at least two years of international competition, and 10 archers from a university club, twenty-four arrows at 30 m: radial error clearly lower in the Olympic archers (F(1,20) = 18.42, p = 0.001, partial eta squared 0.55) and score higher (F = 12.38, p = 0.003), while the duration of the shot does not differ (p = 0.153).

    Exploring the quiet eye in archery using field- and laboratory-based tasks · Claudia C. Gonzalez, Joe Causer, Michael J. Grey, Glyn W. Humphreys, R. Chris Miall, A. Mark Williams

  • 2022
    For Archers Published later

    16 archers from the Chinese national squad and 15 from the Beijing squad, Olympic recurve at 70 m: mean score per arrow 8.7 (standard deviation 0.5) against 6.8 (1.4), p = 3.8 by ten to the minus five, with age and sex distribution the same and years of training different, 8.1 against 4.3. The individual values overlap, though: from 7.7 to 9.4 in the national squad and from 2.4 to 8.2 in the provincial one.

    Research on Top Archer's EEG Microstates and Source Analysis in Different States · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Hui Xiao, Jin Wu, Wenya Nan, et al.

  • 2025
    For Archers Published later

    37 Taiwanese pre-elite archers from high-school and university teams, with the ranking round score closest to the date of testing: in recurve 550 points at high school (465 to 638) and 624 at university (599 to 657), in compound 663 (639 to 684) and 670 (644 to 689). The step up in level is worth 74 points in recurve and 7 in compound, where scores are already close to the maximum, and in both divisions the ranges overlap.

    Associations of Scoring Accuracy with Postural Stability and Strength Measures in Archers on a Standard Archery Site · Chun-Hao Fan, Chien-Nan Liao, Wei-Hsiu Hsu

  • 2025
    Context Archers Published later

    207 Malaysian archers from fourteen states, a 72-arrow round: at the state games scores run from below 500 to over 650 points out of 720, and the distribution at the university championships overlaps, with the best at the same level. The event an archer competes at says little about the individual score. Conference proceedings.

    Exploring the relationship between competitive anxiety and archery performance: evidence from Malaysian athletes · Muhammad Farhan Hakim Rhyme, Rozita Abdul Latif

  • 2026
    Context Archers Published later

    30 compound archers described as professionals, with their own bows, five ends of three arrows at 18 m: starting score 88.62 ± 12.09 out of 150, about 5.9 points per arrow, and 104.60 ± 23.70 after twelve weeks, about 7.0. It is not a comparison between levels, but it shows a level label next to a score far from the maximum.

    Associations between changes in postural control, shoulder proprioception, and shooting accuracy in professional compound archers · Sema Acaröz, Tuba Yerlikaya, Hüseyin Bilal Özkader, Yelda Kıngır Soykurt

Status history

  1. 1986 Not studied The first large sample splits 188 US recurve archers into four levels, from world level down, with FITA averages falling from 1272 points. But the levels are built on the average of the year's scores, so the comparison is circular: no study has yet set a level assigned from outside against the score.
  2. 2003 Reported Ten Turkish national-team archers and ten club beginners: 1296 and 1322 FITA points in the two elite subgroups against 1157 and 1147, about a hundred and fifty points apart. It is the first comparison between a label assigned from outside and the score, but it is descriptive and the elite archers were also older: a single study, so reported.
  3. 2011 Reported In a real indoor competition ten experienced adolescents score more per arrow than seven novices (p < 0.001), but the difference in level explains only a quarter of the variance. These are two studies pointing the same way, both small, and in the second the label is years of practice, four years against a few months: the evidence grows but remains limited.
  4. 2017 Reported Ten Olympic-level archers from the British squad and ten from a university club, twenty-four arrows at 30 m: lower radial error and higher score in the first group (F = 12.38, p = 0.003). It is the third independent sample, with the clearest label possible and a statistical test, and no study points the other way. All of them, though, are cross-sectional comparisons between different groups, and a comparison of that kind goes no further than reported: the status stays there.
  5. 2022 Reported Sixteen archers from the Chinese national squad score 8.7 points per arrow at 70 m against 6.8 for the Beijing squad, a highly significant difference, with age and sex distribution the same. But the individual values overlap: in the provincial squad someone reaches 8.2, above the weakest member of the national squad at 7.7. The average direction is confirmed again, still through a comparison between different groups, and the status stays at reported.
  6. 2025 Reported Two findings arrive that set a limit. In Taiwan, between high-school and university teams, the ranking round score rises from 550 to 624 in recurve and only from 663 to 670 in compound, where scores are already close to the maximum; in Malaysia, across 207 archers, the distributions at the state games and the university championships overlap, with the best at the same level. The average direction holds, but how much the label tells depends on the division and on who assigns it, and the status stays at reported.
  7. 2026 Reported Thirty compound archers described as professionals start from 88.6 points out of 150 with fifteen arrows at 18 m, about 5.9 per arrow. It is not a comparison between levels and it does not move the status, but it is a reminder that in a paper a level label can sit beside a score far from the maximum.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.

See the full assessment
Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Archers classed at a higher level score more points (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/declared-level-and-score

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_livellodichiaratopunteggio,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Archers classed at a higher level score more points},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/declared-level-and-score},
  note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Other claims in this domain

See all claims on competition and scoring