Archers can wear sensors while shooting without being disturbed

2 studies · 29 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 answer comes only from what archers say, and over very few arrows. In 2019 nineteen experienced archers wore a heart rate monitor and an EEG headband in a simulated head-to-head competition, and in the final questionnaire all of them said the measurements had not affected their shooting; each competition, however, was a single arrow at 18 metres. In 2025 a related but different result arrived: archers and judges who tried an automatic scoring system, with a webcam mounted on a spotting scope on a tripod, all answered that it did not disturb their concentration, although nine in ten needed help the first time. There, though, nobody was wearing the device. These are the impressions of those who tried them, with no comparison of scores with and without the devices, and the one about worn sensors comes from a journal with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Also phrased as: "wearable sensors in archery"; "heart rate monitor in competition"; "measuring while shooting"; "instruments worn by the archer"

In practice

Among archers and coaches there is a widespread idea that anything worn while shooting, from a sensor to a headband, changes the shot, which is why measurements in competition are viewed with suspicion.

Evidence

2019
Context Archers Published later

Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. Nineteen experienced archers (6 men, 13 women) wear a heart rate monitor and an EEG headband in a simulated head-to-head competition at 18 m, one arrow per competition with 15 seconds to shoot: in the questionnaire all of them state that the measurements did not affect their shooting.

Effects of a Single-Dose of Mind-Body Practice on the Heart Rate Variability, Brain Activity and Shooting Performance in Archers: A Pilot Study Questionable venue · Peter X. L. Li, Chung S. C. Chan, Kenneth K. Y. Lai, Jennifer P. C. Wong, William W. N. Tsang
2025
Context Archers Published later

After a field trial of an automatic scoring system with a webcam mounted on a spotting scope on a tripod, 100 per cent of archers and judges answer that the system does not disturb, or does not disturb at all, their concentration; 90.9 per cent needed help the first time. The percentages, multiples of 9.1, point to about eleven respondents. The device is not worn.

Real-Time Arrow Detection and Scoring on Archery Targets Using YOLOv8 with Euclidean Distance-Based Zone Estimation · Safri Adam, Novi Aryani Fitri, Sarah Bibi, Muhammad Ridhwan Sufandi

Status history

2019 Not studied Nineteen experienced archers shoot a simulated head-to-head competition wearing a heart rate monitor and an EEG headband, and in the questionnaire all of them state that the measurements did not affect their shooting. It is a self-assessment, over one arrow per competition, in a journal with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.
2025 Not studied Archers and judges who tried an automatic scoring system with a webcam on a spotting scope all answer that it does not disturb their concentration, although nine in ten needed help the first time. The device stands on a tripod rather than being worn by the archer, so this is related evidence rather than an answer to the question: it stays as context, and the status remains not studied.

Research lines

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Archers can wear sensors while shooting without being disturbed (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/sensors-while-shooting

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_sensoriingaranondisturbano,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Archers can wear sensors while shooting without being disturbed},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/sensors-while-shooting},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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