The same archer's heart rate changes from one session to the next
4 studies · 82 archers measured
The summary today
Two studies on archers, small and designed for other purposes, point this way. In 1990 four elite Australian archers measured in sessions between one and just over three months apart have a resting heart rate that changes significantly from one session to the next. In 2025 thirty-two Indian archers shoot two identical sessions: in the second the heart rate while shooting is lower on average, and the score is the same, 279.4 against 279.5 out of 300, although the authors do not test the heart rate difference. An older clue is weak: in 1984, in ten Japanese university archers, the rise in heart rate follows oxygen uptake in the women (r = 0.539) and not significantly in the men (r = 0.390), with five people of each sex. Effort still counts: in the 1990 work shooting raises heart rate by 3 beats a minute in the compound archer and by 6 to 25 in the recurve archers, in proportion to the draw weight held at full draw. Nobody has properly measured the repeatability of an archer's heart rate, with many sessions and a stated margin of error, so today we know that it changes, not by how much. For anyone using a heart rate monitor, it means a comparison between two days needs reading with caution.
Also phrased as: "heart rate and archery"; "heart rate monitor for archers"; "an archer's resting heart rate"; "heart rate as a sign of calm"; "heart rate variation between sessions"
In practice
With heart rate monitors and biofeedback, the idea has spread that heart rate at the moment of the shot is a reliable index of how calm an archer is, to be compared from one training session to the next.
Evidence
-
1984
Context Archers Published later
10 Japanese university archers with three draw weights: the correlation between the rise in heart rate and oxygen uptake per minute is r = 0.539 in the women, accepted, and r = 0.390 in the men, not accepted. The authors put it down to the low intensity of shooting and to large individual variability. With five people of each sex, the gap between the two correlations is not enough to say that heart rate comes apart from effort.
Physical Fitness and Energy Metabolism of the Archers (Part 2) · Koji Tsuji, Takatsune Tsumiyama, Yoshiho Katayama
-
1984
Context Archers Published later
In the same study heart rate rises as soon as the end begins, stays high throughout the shooting and returns to resting values about two minutes later.
Physical Fitness and Energy Metabolism of the Archers (Part 2) · Koji Tsuji, Takatsune Tsumiyama, Yoshiho Katayama
-
1990
For Archers Published later
4 elite Australian archers, one man with a compound bow, one man and two women with recurves, measured in sessions 32 to 100 days apart: the same archer's mean resting heart rate changes significantly between the first and third sessions.
Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in Archery · David Keast, Bruce Elliott
-
1990
Context Archers Published later
In the same work shooting raises heart rate significantly, by 3 beats a minute in the compound archer and by 6 to 25 in the recurve archers, in proportion to the draw weight held at full draw; mean heart rate, on the other hand, does not differ between good, average and poor arrows.
Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in Archery · David Keast, Bruce Elliott
-
2009
Context Archers Published later
36 Japanese archers, from high-school students to adults: the interval between beats shortens from about 700 to 713 milliseconds at rest to 638 to 648 while shooting, and a preliminary test by the same authors gives a heart rate of around 90 beats a minute at release. Regional journal.
Physiological and Psychological Changes Caused by Archery Athletes Monitoring Their Own Heartbeat in Shooting Situation, and the Effects on Performance · Hideaki Takai, Osamitu Saijyo, Yasuhisa Kusumoto
-
2025
For Archers Published later
32 Indian archers, 15 elite and 17 non-elite, two sessions of 30 arrows at 18 metres: in the second, heart rate while shooting is lower on average, while the score stays the same, 279.4 ± 7.43 against 279.5 ± 9.76 out of 300. The authors do not report a test on the heart rate difference.
Can we predict archery performance using shooting heart rate and other biophysical parameters? A machine learning approach · Chandra Sekara Guru, Uma Mahajan, Anup Krishnan, Karuna Datta, Deep Sharma
Status history
- 1984 Not studied The first data close to the question come from ten Japanese university archers: the rise in heart rate during shooting follows oxygen uptake in the women and not significantly in the men, and the authors explain it by the low intensity of the movement and by differences between individuals. With five people of each sex the gap between the two correlations does not show whether heart rate comes apart from effort, and nobody has yet compared the same archer's heart rate across different sessions.
- 1990 Reported The first study of the measurement itself: in the four elite Australian archers, measured in sessions between one and just over three months apart, the same archer's resting heart rate changes significantly from one session to the next. The same study shows that effort counts, since heart rate rises with the draw weight held at full draw. A single study, on four people and designed for other questions: reported.
- 2009 Reported A Japanese study of thirty-six archers, from high-school students to adults, gives an order of magnitude: heart rate speeds up from rest to shooting, with the interval between beats falling from about 700 to about 640 milliseconds, and at release it sits around ninety beats a minute. It does not compare different sessions, so it is context: the status holds.
- 2025 Reported Thirty-two Indian archers shoot two identical sessions of thirty arrows: in the second, heart rate while shooting is lower on average, while the score does not move, 279.4 against 279.5 out of 300. It is the second study pointing the same way and the first with a sample of a few dozen, but the authors do not test the heart rate difference, and neither of the two measures heart rate repeatability with a method designed to do so: reported.
Related
Related articles
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). The same archer's heart rate changes from one session to the next (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/heart-rate-unstable-measure
@misc{campagna2026_frequenzacardiacamisurainstabile,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {The same archer's heart rate changes from one session to the next},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/heart-rate-unstable-measure},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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