Field card: Physical training
An A4 sheet to take to the range: the terms that recur in the studies in this domain, with a one-line definition, and the registry claims that are currently corroborated, contested, contradicted or refuted.
It fits on a single A4 sheet. You can also print with Ctrl+P, or Cmd+P on a Mac.
Terms
- Handgrip dynamometry
- Measurement of grip strength with a dynamometer squeezed in the hand, expressed in kilograms.
- Specific strength
- Strength trained in the movement and joint angles of the shot, with the bow, resistance bands or devices that reproduce the draw, as distinct from general gym strength.
- Holding test
- The time an archer can hold the bow at full draw in the shooting position, timed on the bow itself or on a device that reproduces the action.
- Aerobic capacity and VO2max
- The maximum amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise, usually expressed per kilogram of body mass, and the standard measure of aerobic capacity.
- Side plank
- A holding test on one side, resting on a forearm and the feet with the body in line, timed until the position gives way.
- Shoulder proprioception
- It is the ability to sense, without looking, where the shoulder is and how it is moving.
- Fine manual dexterity
- The precision and speed of small hand and finger movements, measured with pegboards in which pegs are inserted against the clock, such as the Purdue Pegboard.
- Isometric endurance
- The ability to hold a contraction without movement for as long as possible, as when an archer stays at full draw.
- EMG median frequency
- The frequency that splits the power spectrum of a muscle's electrical signal into two halves of equal power.
- Force steadiness
- How little force fluctuates while it is held at a set level, for instance half of maximal strength or the archer's own draw weight.
- Scapular stabilisation
- Work on the muscles that hold the shoulder blade in place and guide its movement, with the lower trapezius foremost.
- Instrumented riser
- A wooden riser linked to a spring and a load sensor, which measures how much force an archer produces in the drawing action and how long it can be held.
Claims
- Contested In national-level archers a randomised trial finds no effect on the score; in beginners the studies are more favourable, but more fragile.
- Contested A single study of forty young archers: a protocol at 50 and 70 m lowers the fatigue index, but those shooting at 70 m without it did not improve.
- Contested Some small programmes see the weakest archers gain the most, others do not, and none has removed regression to the mean.
- Contested A single study of twenty archers compares shoulder fatigue in men and women, and its text and its tables do not say the same thing.
- Contested Stronger archers usually have a few more years of practice, but sometimes the difference disappears.
- Contested In youth and club groups longer arms go with higher scores, while among national-level archers they do not.
- Contested High-level archers often have long arms and a narrow chest, but data comparing levels are scarce and the profile does not track score.
- Contested Half the comparisons between levels find stronger archers taller and heavier than beginners and half do not, and age often plays a part.
- Contested Five studies of archers find scores rising after band work, but the randomised trial that isolates the bands sees no difference from simply shooting.
- Contested A randomised trial on elite archers sees no change in score, two smaller studies see it rise: the shoulder improves, the points do not always follow.
- Contested Two small studies of archers find balance improved after core work, with doubtful figures, and one study of beginners sees no difference.
- Contested Archers show asymmetry in the arms and finger pinches but not in the trunk or spine, and no study has followed the same archers over time.
- Contested Three small studies set full-draw hold time beside the score: the link appears in young trained archers but not in beginners.
- Contested Seven of nine samples of archers find no link between the single-leg balance test and the score, and the highest correlation is collinearity.
- Contested Two studies in child archers: one links eye-hand coordination to the score with a model that is hard to believe, and the other finds no link at all.
- Contested Grip and push-ups give mixed results in archers, and draw strength tracks the score only in small mixed samples: the question joins different qualities.
- Contested In the same twenty archers, at a hundred arrows two shoulder muscles decline and others compensate, but tone and stiffness stay the same: it is disputed.
- Contested In a single study of twenty young archers, push-ups beat pull-ups only in those who started with good endurance; in the others the two exercises are level.
- Contested In archery, body fat is linked to score only when estimated from the somatotype: measured with skinfolds in the same archers, the link disappears.
- Contested Four small core-training studies in archers split: two find strength or stability improved, one sees no difference, and one sees a change on one test of four.
- Contested A randomised trial of 31 elite archers found a better aligned line of force after strengthening; a second study saw no change at the drawing shoulder.
- Contested The only study to test the gap found boys aged 12 to 14 well ahead; studies of younger children show similar scores, but without a statistical test.
- Contested In a single 1993 experiment a tone that flags collapses in the draw makes it steadier in five archers out of six and less steady in the sixth.
- Contested Two small studies of archers find no clear link between shoulder position sense and score: the only hint holds for a single angle of the bow shoulder.
- Contested Two studies of archers link estimated VO2max to the score, while two in younger teenagers find nothing.
- Contradicted The only study that counts finds no link between fine dexterity and score.
- Contradicted The two measurements closest to the question go against it: a programme comparison favours general strength, and an association weighs strength above holding.
- Contradicted For draw force a single trial is already highly repeatable; for electromyography one trial gives a reliability of 0.75 and the mean of five reaches 0.94.