Beta-blockers improve accuracy in archery
3 studies · 17 archers measured
The summary today
The idea comes from pistol shooting, where two studies had found a benefit; in archery the ban dates from 1985. The only controlled study of archers in the bibliography, randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled in 15 national-team archers, saw heart rate fall with two different beta-blockers but no improvement in score, body sway or aiming stability. The status rests on this one study because it is the design that tests the claim directly, randomised and placebo-controlled, and no study of archers in the bibliography points the other way; it is still a single study, though, with a single dose and a simulated indoor match at 18 metres.
Also phrased as: "beta-blockers in archery"; "do beta-blockers stop tremor"; "propranolol and aiming"; "why beta-blockers are banned in archery"
In practice
It is often said that beta-blockers are banned in archery because they slow the heart and stop tremor, and so improve aiming.
Evidence
-
1990
Context Archers Published later
4 elite archers, 240 arrows: the best arrows were associated with a lengthening of the cardiac cycle before the loose and with the first finger movement of the loose falling in the ST or mid-cycle phase of the ECG. It is an association, not a drug test.
Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in Archery · David Keast, Bruce Elliott
-
2019
Context Archers Published later
13 international-level archers: with heart rate raised to about 166 to 168 beats per minute by shuttle runs, scores at 18 metres did not change compared with shooting at rest.
Effect of heart rate on shooting performance in elite archers · Caner Açıkada, Tahir Hazır, Alper Asçı, Sinem Hazır Aytar, Cevdet Tınazcı
-
2021
Against Archers Published later
15 male archers from the Turkish national squads, 20.5 years old on average, a randomised double-blind crossover with four trials of 30 arrows at 18 m (bisoprolol 5 mg, propranolol 40 mg, placebo and nothing): shooting heart rate falls by 12.8% with the selective drug and 8.6% with the non-selective one, a very large effect on the heart, while the score does not improve. The only effect that showed up on the points was a drop with propranolol, which did not survive the Bonferroni correction. Aim-point fluctuation in the three tenths of a second before release also stays as it is on placebo (7.86 ± 2.50 cm with bisoprolol, 9.05 ± 2.31 with propranolol, 8.29 ± 1.91 with nothing, 8.41 ± 2.02 with placebo), as does centre-of-pressure displacement (10.29 ± 4.17 and 10.26 ± 3.72 against 11.03 ± 4.00 and 11.86 ± 3.74, not a significant difference). The same experiment also measures three things that help in reading the result: the two drugs are not equivalent to each other, since the selective one lowers the heart rate more than the non-selective one and leaves the aim a little steadier, yet neither does better than placebo; knowing you have taken a tablet changes nothing, with placebo and no drug at 75.1 ± 8.4 and 74.8 ± 6.1 beats lying down and 94.1 ± 13.4 and 94.0 ± 7.2 standing; and simply standing up, before the bow is even in hand, raises the rate by 20.2 beats on average, a rise that falls to 13.3 with the drug.
Effects of beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviour · Emin Ergen, Tahir Hazir, Mesut Celebi, Ayşe Kin-Isler, Serdar Aritan, Volkan Daghan Yaylıoglu, et al.
Status history
- 1990 Not studied The archer's heart rate and the moment the loose starts had been studied for some time, and that is where the idea of shooting better with a slower heart comes from. In the registry's bibliography, though, nobody had tried doing it with a drug: the claim was circulating with no direct test at all.
- 2019 Not studied A result on archers weakens the premise without testing the drug: with heart rate raised to around 166 to 168 beats by shuttle runs, the scores at 18 metres of thirteen international-level archers do not change compared with shooting at rest. If a much higher heart rate does not worsen the score, it is less obvious that lowering it would improve it; but a direct test with a beta-blocker is still missing.
- 2021 Contradicted The first randomised study of archers in the bibliography finds no improvement in score, postural sway or aiming with either a selective or a non-selective beta-blocker.
Related
Related articles
- The heart at the moment of the shot: slowing, a lower heart rate and diastoleReleasing between beats, a heart that slows during the aim, a lower heart rate worth points: what studies have measured of the archer's heart at the shot.
- Caffeine and alcohol in archery: what the science saysCaffeine, alcohol, beta-blockers and nicotine in archery: what studies in archers have measured, almost always with a single study per substance.
- Mental skills training in archery: what the measurements on archers showWhat has been measured on archers' mental training: score, confidence, anxiety, programme length, mock competitions and each of the tools in turn.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Beta-blockers improve accuracy in archery (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/beta-blockers-accuracy
@misc{campagna2026_betabloccantiprecisione,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Beta-blockers improve accuracy in archery},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/beta-blockers-accuracy},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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