In barebow, archers prefer the weight set-up that leaves the bow steadier
1 study · 7 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single study, but a direct one: eleven weight set-ups on the same barebow, measured with accelerometers and an inertial sensor on the riser and rated blind by seven club archers. The result points the claim's way: the more the bow vibrates and moves after the shot, the worse the rating. The correlation is strongest where the hand holds the bow, on the riser next to the pressure button (minus 0.895 for peak-to-peak amplitude), rather than on the upper limb (minus 0.575), and what counts is the amplitude of the vibration rather than how long it lasts, which correlates with the rating only on the limb. After the shot what weighs is the bow's sideways movement (down to minus 0.763) and, a little less, its pitch, while roll and yaw play no part in the rating. The bare bow moves 139 millimetres sideways against 17 to 19 for the two preferred set-ups, two weights with the heavier in the centre, and its behaviour after the shot scores 2 out of 5 against 4. The limits are those of the sample: seven archers, four shots per set-up in the movement measurements, and no link with the score, because telling two set-ups apart by points would take, the authors calculate, 900 to 1,050 arrows each.
Also phrased as: "barebow riser weights"; "barebow weight set-up"; "the bow should sit still in the hand"; "barebow vibration"; "how many weights to put on a barebow"
In practice
In barebow the riser weights are chosen by trying combinations until the bow sits still in the hand, and there is no agreement on which is best.
Evidence
-
2023
For Archers Published later
7 club barebow archers (2 intermediate, 5 advanced) rate blind, from 1 to 5, 11 weight set-ups on the same bow; triaxial accelerometer at 12,000 Hz at five points. With the signal filtered at 500 Hz, perceived quality correlates negatively with the amplitude and energy of the vibration: on the riser next to the pressure button r = minus 0.895 for peak-to-peak and minus 0.899 for RMS (about 80 per cent of the variability), high on the riser minus 0.732 and minus 0.676, on the upper limb minus 0.575 and minus 0.035. The duration of the vibration does not correlate, except on the limb. It is an association across seven raters.
Analysis of preferred weight configuration for barebow shooting style · Francesco Pietra, Philip Loveday, Robert Reid
-
2023
For Archers Published later
Bow movement after the shot measured with an inertial sensor next to the pressure button, 4 shots per set-up. The rating of dynamic behaviour worsens with sideways movement (r = minus 0.642 in absolute value and minus 0.763 with sign) and with pitch (minus 0.598 and minus 0.553), not with roll and yaw. The bare bow moves 139.2 mm sideways, against 16.9 mm with 250 g in the centre and 200 g low and 19.4 mm with 350 g in the centre and 200 g low (the minimum, 13.0 mm, belongs to the set-up with 200 g in the centre and 350 g low), and scores 2.0 out of 5 against 4.0 for the best set-ups. The archers prefer two weights to one, with the heavier in the centre (350-200 and 250-200 g).
Analysis of preferred weight configuration for barebow shooting style · Francesco Pietra, Philip Loveday, Robert Reid
-
2023
Context Archers Published later
The figures of the phenomenon and the limit of the score. As the arrow leaves, the bare bow's upper limb peaks at 1,150 g, and the vibration falls below 15 g between 0.425 s (full recurve stabilisation) and 0.592 s (a single 250 g weight in the centre), 0.535 s for the bare bow; this duration correlates with the rating only on the limb (r = minus 0.628). The bow weighs 1,889 g bare, 2,366 to 2,517 g with two weights and 2,731 g with recurve stabilisation. On scoring, a single advanced archer shoots 30 arrows per set-up at 50 m on a 122 cm face: the scores, between 228 and 262 out of 300, all fall within two standard deviations of the mean, and the authors' simulation estimates that comparing two set-ups by points would take 900 to 1,050 arrows each. The archer reports adapting to each set-up after a few arrows.
Analysis of preferred weight configuration for barebow shooting style · Francesco Pietra, Philip Loveday, Robert Reid
Status history
- 2023 Reported The first and only study arrives all at once. On a barebow of 32 nominal pounds, eleven weight set-ups are measured with an accelerometer at five points and an inertial sensor on the riser, and rated blind by seven club archers, two intermediate and five advanced. Perceived quality falls as the amplitude and energy of the vibration rise, with the strongest correlation on the riser next to the pressure button (minus 0.895) and the weakest on the upper limb (minus 0.575), and as the bow's sideways movement after the shot grows (down to minus 0.763); the duration of the vibration counts only on the limb, and roll and yaw do not count. The preferred set-ups are two weights with the heavier in the centre, which cut the sideways movement from 139 millimetres for the bare bow to 17 to 19. Seven subjects, few shots and no comparable score: reported.
Related
Related articles
- Does better equipment put points on the scorecard? What shooting machines and archers showShooting machines, archers handed a bow that is not theirs and blind ratings: what the studies say about how much equipment counts towards your score.
- Barebow archery: what it is and how you aim without a sightWhat barebow is, what World Archery, FITARCO, FIARC and IFAA allow, the distances you compete at and how to aim with string walking, face walking and gap.
- Stabilisers in archery: what they actually do, beyond the folkloreWhat research has measured about stabilisers: how the bow moves at release, muscle work, vibration, barebow weights and accuracy.
Research lines
Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.
See the full assessmentCite
Campagna, M. (2026). In barebow, archers prefer the weight set-up that leaves the bow steadier (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/barebow-weights-steadier-bow
@misc{campagna2026_pesibarebowsensazione,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {In barebow, archers prefer the weight set-up that leaves the bow steadier},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/equipment/barebow-weights-steadier-bow},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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