Shooting with stabilisers costs the muscles more work

The summary today

There is a single measurement, from 1990, on seven elite archers who shot nine arrows with stabilisers and nine without, at 70 and 90 metres, in random order and with their own bows. Without stabilisers the electrical activity was lower in almost all the muscles recorded, with p below 0.05, and in four of the five with complete data the difference ranges from about 7 to 13 points of maximal contraction, at 70 and at 90 metres alike. The one exception is the brachioradialis of the bow arm, the forearm that holds the bow, which works harder without stabilisers, 11.36 against 8.25 per cent at 70 metres, as if compensating for the missing stabilisation. The timing pattern with which the muscles switch on does not change, however, and neither does precision. The result is clear, but its limits are obvious: nine arrows per condition, archers who had never shot without stabilisers, and electrical activity measures how switched on a muscle is, not how much force it produces. That less activity means less fatigue is the authors' hypothesis, not a measurement.

Also phrased as: "stabilisers are tiring"; "stabiliser weight"; "shooting without stabilisers"; "bow arm fatigue"; "stabilisers and muscles"

Evidence

• 1990
  For Archers Published later

  Seven elite archers, nine arrows with and nine without stabilisers at 70 and 90 metres, in random order: without stabilisers the integrated electromyography is lower in every muscle except the brachioradialis of the bow arm, with p below 0.05; in the table the muscle labels do not match those in the text and one row has incomplete data. Precision does not change between the two conditions.

  Muscular Activity of Different Shooting Distances, Different Release Techniques, and Different Performance Levels, with and without Stabilizers, in Target Archery · J.P. Clarys, J. Cabri, E. Bollens, R. Sleeckx, J. Taeymans, M. Vermeiren, et al.

• 1990
  Context Archers Published later

  The exception: without stabilisers the brachioradialis of the bow arm works harder, 11.36 against 8.25 per cent of maximal contraction at 70 metres and 10.47 against 8.18 at 90, as if compensating for the missing stabilisation. The archers had never shot or competed without stabilisers.

  Muscular Activity of Different Shooting Distances, Different Release Techniques, and Different Performance Levels, with and without Stabilizers, in Target Archery · J.P. Clarys, J. Cabri, E. Bollens, R. Sleeckx, J. Taeymans, M. Vermeiren, et al.

• 1990
  Context Archers Published later

  The timing pattern of activation, classified with the IDANCO system, stays the same with and without stabilisers and at 70 as at 90 metres: the shifts in timing and amplitude are not significant, and the synchronisation between muscles is very similar across all the trials.

  Muscular Activity of Different Shooting Distances, Different Release Techniques, and Different Performance Levels, with and without Stabilizers, in Target Archery · J.P. Clarys, J. Cabri, E. Bollens, R. Sleeckx, J. Taeymans, M. Vermeiren, et al.

Status history

1. 1990 Reported The only measurement arrives: seven elite archers shoot nine arrows with and nine without stabilisers at 70 and 90 metres, and without stabilisers the electrical activity falls in almost all the muscles examined, with p below 0.05. The one exception is the brachioradialis of the bow arm, which works harder, 11.36 against 8.25 per cent of maximal contraction at 70 metres, as if compensating for the missing stabilisation; the timing pattern of activation, on the other hand, does not change. A direct measurement and a clear difference, but a single study, nine arrows per condition and archers who had never shot without them: reported.

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