At the moment of the shot, compound archers have a higher heart rate than recurve archers

The summary today

There is a single small study, and it points the way the claim does. At a club in Zagreb eight archers, four compound and four recurve, each shot fifteen arrows at 18 metres wearing a heart rate monitor, and the compound archers had the higher heart rate at all four moments measured: two seconds before the release 107.6 beats per minute against 101.1, one second before 109.1 against 100.8, at the release 111.5 against 103.2, one second after 112.9 against 104.7. The gap remains when arrows of the same score are compared (on the 10s, 118.5 against 107.0), so it is not explained simply by the compound archers shooting better, 9.17 points per arrow against 8.80. The limits, though, are large. The analysis treats the 120 arrows as independent observations when they come from eight people: the comparison is really between four archers and four others, and the p-values are inflated as a result. The group had three women and five men, and the study does not say how they were split between the two bows; there is no resting heart rate, which would show whether the difference comes from the shot or from the people; and the shooting was a training session, without the pressure of competition.

Also phrased as: "heart rate compound vs recurve"; "heart rate in compound archery"; "compound shooting and nerves"; "heart rate and bow type"; "pulse at release in compound and recurve"

Evidence

• 2015
  For Archers Published later

  8 archers from a Zagreb club (4 recurve and 4 compound, 3 women and 5 men, average season's best 553.5 in the 18 m indoor round), 15 arrows each at 18 metres with a heart rate monitor: at release 111.48 ± 13.98 beats per minute in compound against 103.18 ± 16.35 in recurve, and compound is also higher two seconds before (107.57 against 101.08), one second before (109.10 against 100.75) and one second after (112.90 against 104.73), with analysis of variance at p<0.01 for all four measures. The test treats the 60 arrows per group as independent. The gap holds by score: at release, 101.25 against 97.86 on the 8s (only 4 compound arrows) and 118.50 against 107.00 on the 10s.

  Heart rate values and levels of attention and relaxation in expert archers during shooting · Andrea Vrbik, Raphael Bene, Ivan Vrbik

Status history

1. 1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody had yet compared the heart rate of compound and recurve archers while shooting. Studies of heart rate during aiming looked at archers using one type of bow, and the difference between the two bows remained a question with no data.
2. 2015 Reported In Croatia eight club archers, four compound and four recurve, each shoot fifteen arrows at 18 metres with their heart rate recorded. The compound archers have the higher heart rate at every moment measured around the release, 111.5 beats per minute against 103.2 at the shot, and the gap remains when arrows of the same score are compared. The arrows, though, are treated as independent measurements, so the comparison is really between four people and four others, and the study does not say how the three women in the group were split between the two bows: there is evidence in favour, and it is minimal.

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