Matteo Campagna
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Along its flight the arrow loses an appreciable part of its launch speed

12 studies

ForContextAgainst20102015202020252007, for2011, for2011, for2011, context2012, context2012, for2013, for2015, for2016, for2020, for2020, for2022, context
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 loss has been measured since 2007 in several independent laboratories, by different methods, and they all find the same thing: the arrow slows steadily under air resistance, and how much it slows depends on the arrow. The first to measure it work it out from the whistle of the point, through the Doppler effect, and find that untrimmed feathers produce about three times the drag of parabolic ones. An electronic point on a compound arrow records the drop from about 82 to 78.2 metres per second over fourteen metres; a chronograph moved out to ninety metres follows three compound arrows along the whole field; twenty-five shots by a shooting machine at seven distances between 27 and 82 metres give a decay rate of 2.31 thousandths per metre for an arrow launched at 74.5 metres per second; an inertial sensor inside the shaft measures about 8 per cent lost over 55 metres indoors, and the same authors note that over a seventy metre field the loss is around 15 per cent. With wooden bows and wooden arrows between 2 and 5 per cent of the speed goes in the first five metres, more with the more powerful bow, and in the model fitted to shots from a replica Apache bow a 9.7 gram cane arrow halves its energy within fifteen metres. Within a single flight the slowing changes pace, because the deceleration drops from 0.65 to 0.30 G when the layer of air around the shaft turns laminar again, and it changes with the point and with the fletching. On the Olympic recurve shot by an archer there is a single measurement, on one archer on a sixty metre indoor range, and it gives the drag coefficient but not the speed lost; the other data come from compounds, shooting machines, traditional bows and compressed-air launchers.

Also phrased as: "the arrow slows down in flight"; "how much speed the arrow loses"; "arrow impact speed"; "arrow deceleration"; "the arrow arrives slower than it leaves"

In practice

People reason from the launch speed read on a chronograph, a metre or two from the bow, as if the arrow kept it all the way to the target.

Evidence

  • 2007
    For Equipment tests Published later

    Speed measured from the whistle of a purpose-made point, through the Doppler effect, with three microphones in a row in a room about 13 m long, one shot per arrow, on two arrows with identical shafts. The one with parabolic feathers goes from 56.98 m/s at 4 m from the bow to 56.08 at 9 m, the one with untrimmed feathers from 56.39 at 2.2 m to 53.64 at 7.1 m; the authors derive a drag about three times higher for the untrimmed feathers. It is above all the test of a method.

    Measuring the flight of an arrow using the Acoustic Doppler Shift · Mark French, Tom Kirk

  • 2011
    For Equipment tests Published later

    An electronic point with an accelerometer, tested against the NIST reference chronograph: an Elite Hunter compound at 60.6 pounds, an Easton ST Epic arrow of 24.75 g including the 6.48 g point, a shooting machine, a target at 13.94 m. At launch the point reads about 82.1 m/s (82.6 on the reference chronograph), on impact 78.19 m/s on average, with a flight time of 173.9 ms: just under 5 per cent lost over fourteen metres. The percentage is worked out from these values; the authors do not state it.

    A miniaturised arrow ballistic measurement system · John Barton, Jan Vcelak, Javier Torres-Sanchez, Brendan O'Flynn, Cian O'Mathuna, Robert V. Donahoe

  • 2011
    For Equipment tests Published later

    Speeds measured with a chronograph moved out to 90 m on three very different Easton arrows (Protour 470, LightSpeed 400, Axis FMJ) fired by a shooting machine from two compounds, compared with a drag model that adds up point, nock, shaft and vanes. For the Protour 470 at 78.6 m/s the initial drag equals 0.94 times the weight of the arrow, 73% of it from the shaft; the calculated speeds follow the measured ones, with a chronograph accuracy of about 0.3 m/s. In the simulated comparison of arrows with a spine close to 400, the fastest off the bow is overtaken by the others beyond 30 to 50 m.

    The aerodynamic drag and axial rotation of an arrow · J L Park

  • 2011
    Context Equipment tests Published later

    In the paper on oscillation in flight, the drag measured on a Protour 470 shot from a compound at 78.9 m/s starts at 0.93 times the weight of the arrow; the author puts it between 0.8 and 2.0 times the weight for the compound and between 0.5 and 1.2 for the recurve. Same author, same arrow and same kind of bow as the drag paper of the same year, so it stands as context.

    Arrow behaviour in free flight · J L Park

  • 2012
    Context Equipment tests Published later

    The same sensor, fitted to carbon crossbow bolts (Parker Safari Magnum at 150 pounds) with two hunting broadheads, four shots per configuration at 45.72 m: from 88.04 to 80.91 m/s with the fixed-blade head (minus 8.1 per cent, 84.5 per cent of the energy retained) and from 87.7 to 80.24 m/s with the mechanical head (83.7 per cent). It is a crossbow bolt with hunting heads, not an archery arrow, and it comes from the same group as the 2011 test.

    Arrow-mounted Ballistic System for Measuring Performance of Arrows Equipped with Hunting Broadheads · John Barton, Jan Včelák, Javier Torres-Sanchez, Brendan O’Flynn, Cian O’Mathuna, Robert V. Donahoe

  • 2012
    For Equipment tests Published later

    A 14.3 g Easton A/C/E arrow shot 36 times by an expert national-team archer from her recurve, at about 58 m/s, on a 60 m indoor range: two high-speed cameras, 13 m from the archer and 45 m further on, measure the speed at the two points, and the slowing gives a drag coefficient of about 2.65, with the layer of air always turbulent. The same arrows launched by compressed air give about 1.5 to 1.6 when the flow stays laminar and about 2.6 when it turns turbulent. It is the only measurement of the slowing on arrows shot by an archer, but the paper does not report the speed lost as a percentage, and the archer acts as the launcher.

    Aerodynamic properties of an archery arrow · Takeshi Miyazaki, Keita Mukaiyama, Yuta Komori, Kyouhei Okawa, Satoshi Taguchi, Hiroki Sugiura

  • 2013
    For Equipment tests Published later

    A laminated recurve shot from a mechanical device at 50 lb with a 33 g arrow: in ten shots measured with two chronographs, at the bow and at 15 m, the speed falls by 1.7 m/s. The work is archaeological and uses arrows of historical weight, not target arrows.

    The Adoption of the Bow and Arrow: A Model Based on Experimental Performance Characteristics · Steve A. Tomka

  • 2015
    For Equipment tests Published later

    A 20.62 g carbon arrow shot by machine from a compound: a launch speed of 74.5 m/s on the chronograph, then 25 shots at 7 distances between 27.4 and 82.3 m, with the average speed worked out from the times recorded by two microphones. The slowing is steady, with a decay rate of 2.31 thousandths per metre, giving a drag coefficient of 1.94 and, at a Reynolds number of about 35,000, turbulent flow. In the same work, at 70 m one extra metre per second at launch raises the impact by about 13 cm.

    Applications of Physics to Archery · H. O. Meyer

  • 2016
    For Model Published later

    A replica Apache cane arrow of 9.7 g shot from a wooden bow drawn at about 16 kg: from the ranges and the flight times taken on a stopwatch an effective cross-section of 3.61 square centimetres is worked out, and the ballistic model calibrated on those shots gives 10 J at launch at 45 m/s, 6.2 J at 10 m and 5 J at 15 m, half the energy lost over the first fifteen metres. By the same calculation a 30 g arrow launched at 50 m/s (37.5 J) reaches 100 m with 11 J. The authors conclude that the useful range of the cane arrow was well under 20 m. The loss is calculated, not measured along the flight.

    Archery by the Apaches – implications of using the bow and arrow in hunter-gatherer communities · Žiga Šmit

  • 2020
    For Equipment tests Published later

    A/C/E 1206 arrows with straight vanes, fired by compressed air over 55 m indoors with a 200 Hz inertial sensor inside the shaft: in a shot launched at 56.4 m/s, with 1.04 s of flight, the speed falls by about 8 per cent, worked out by integrating the deceleration, which averages 0.65 G up to 0.40 s and about 0.30 G after 0.45 s. In the introduction the authors note that over a 70 m range the arrow's speed falls by around 15 per cent.

    Experimental and Computational Study of Archery Arrows Fletched with Straight Vanes · Julio Ortiz, Atsushi Serino, Toshinari Hasegawa, Takahito Onoguchi, Hiroki Maemukai, Takeshi Miyazaki, Hiroki Sugiura

  • 2020
    For Equipment tests Published later

    Wooden bows held in a mechanical device, wooden arrows, two chronographs at 1 and 6 m from the bow. The same 34.78 g arrow at 29.5 inches loses 4.83% of its speed over those 5 m, from 48.99 to 46.63 m/s, from the 55 lb yew longbow, and 2.35%, from 43.69 to 42.66 m/s, from the 48 lb elm flatbow. With the flatbow the fletching moves the energy loss from 1.93% with 4 inch feathers to over 12% with flu-flu fletching. Prehistoric-style bows and arrows, not target equipment.

    The important role of bow choice and arrow fletching in projectile experimentation. A ballistic approach · Christian Lepers, Veerle Rots

  • 2022
    Context Equipment tests Published later

    Automatic analysis of footage at 3,000 frames per second on A/C/E arrows fired by compressed air in a 55 m hall: on a logarithmic scale the speed falls in a straight line with distance, and for the same 57 m/s launch the slope is steeper with the bullet point, which makes the air layer turbulent, than with the streamlined point, which leaves it laminar even when launched at 60 m/s. It does not give the percentage lost.

    Automatic image analysis of an archery arrow in free flight using high-speed video cameras · Riku Murakami, Hiroya Mamori, Takeshi Miyazaki, Naoya Takahashi

Status history

  1. 2007 Reported The first measurement along the flight comes from sound. A point that whistles on a single note passes over three microphones in a row, and the Doppler effect gives the speed at each microphone: in a thirteen metre room, an arrow with parabolic feathers goes from 56.98 to 56.08 metres per second between four and nine metres from the bow, one with untrimmed feathers from 56.39 to 53.64 between two and seven. The slowing shows, and so does its dependence on the fletching, but it is one shot per arrow over a short stretch, and a single study: reported.
  2. 2011 Corroborated Two laboratories measure the same thing in two different ways. A point fitted with an accelerometer, on a 24.75 gram Easton arrow shot by a machine from a 60.6 lb compound, records the drop from about 82 metres per second at launch to 78.2 at impact, fourteen metres further on: just under 5 per cent lost over a short stretch. In Australia a chronograph moved out to ninety metres follows three very different compound arrows along the whole field, and the measured speeds match a drag model which, for a Protour 470 at 78.6 metres per second, starts at 0.94 times the weight of the arrow. With the acoustic measurement of 2007 there are now three independent laboratories, with equipment tests that count as direct evidence in this domain: corroborated.
  3. 2012 Corroborated For the first time the slowing is measured on arrows shot by an archer. On a sixty metre indoor range an expert national-team archer shoots 36 arrows from her recurve at about 58 metres per second, and two high-speed cameras take their speed at thirteen metres and forty-five metres further on: the drag coefficient that comes out, about 2.65, is that of an air layer that is always turbulent, whereas the same arrows launched by compressed air sometimes stay laminar and slow down less. The paper does not give the speed lost as a percentage. It points the same way: the status stays corroborated.
  4. 2013 Corroborated A measurement with a recurve, shot from a mechanical device in an archaeological study: at 50 lb with a 33 gram arrow, over ten shots, two chronographs at the bow and at fifteen metres record 1.7 metres per second less. It points the same way: the status stays corroborated.
  5. 2015 Corroborated Another measurement, made in yet another way. Twenty-five shots by a shooting machine at seven distances between 27.4 and 82.3 metres, timed from the sound of release and impact with two microphones, show a steady slowing: launch speed 74.5 metres per second and a decay rate of 2.31 thousandths per metre, giving a drag coefficient of 1.94, with an airflow that is turbulent from the start. The status stays corroborated, and for the first time there is a curve over almost all the competition distances.
  6. 2016 Corroborated The extreme case of the light arrow. From shots with a replica Apache bow drawn at about 16 kilograms, with ranges measured and times taken on a stopwatch, the effective cross-section of a 9.7 gram cane arrow is worked out, and the model calibrated on those shots has it leaving with 10 joules at 45 metres per second, falling to 6.2 at ten metres and to 5, half, at fifteen. By comparison, a 30 gram arrow launched at 50 metres per second reaches a hundred metres with 11 joules. It is a calculation, but it says that how much is lost depends on mass: the status holds.
  7. 2020 Corroborated The Tokyo group that filmed the archer's arrows in 2012 now measures from inside the arrow. With an inertial sensor in the shaft, on arrows fired by compressed air over 55 metres indoors, a shot launched at 56.4 metres per second flies for 1.04 seconds and loses about 8 per cent of its speed, obtained by integrating the deceleration; the authors note that over a seventy metre field the loss is around 15 per cent. The deceleration is not constant: 0.65 G in the first four tenths of a second, about 0.30 G afterwards, when the airflow around the shaft turns laminar again. The same year, with wooden bows held in a mechanical device, the same arrow loses 4.83 per cent of its speed over the first five metres from the 55 lb longbow and 2.35 from the 48 lb flatbow. The slowing is confirmed, and its pace is seen to change: corroborated.
  8. 2022 Corroborated Automatic analysis of high-speed footage makes the slowing readable on site, and shows what it depends on: all fired at 57 metres per second, arrows with a bullet point slow down faster than those with a streamlined point, because with the first the air layer is turbulent and with the second it stays laminar, even when launched at 60. A supporting confirmation: the status stays.

Related

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Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Along its flight the arrow loses an appreciable part of its launch speed (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/arrow-speed-loss-in-flight

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_perditavelocitainvolo,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Along its flight the arrow loses an appreciable part of its launch speed},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/arrow-speed-loss-in-flight},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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