Little sleep the night before does not worsen accuracy
2 studies · 21 archers measured
The summary today
The two measurements available point the same way, and both are small. In 2017 six young Korean archers shot 36 arrows at 30 metres after a normal night and after a whole night spent awake: 336.8 points in the first case, 334.8 in the second, a difference the analysis cannot tell apart from chance. In 2024 fifteen university kyudo archers, with their sleep measured by a sensor under the mattress, had their days with more hits after the shorter nights, 287 minutes against 350, and with lower sleep efficiency, 88.7 per cent against 94.1, while perceived quality, the time taken to fall asleep and night waking told nothing apart. Neither study says that sleeping little does any good: the first has six middle-school boys and a single night, the second compares the best and worst days of the same archers after the event, in a discipline other than Olympic archery, and on the night after the better days sleep even goes the opposite way. What can be said is that, in the few archers measured, a short night did not show up in the score.
Also phrased as: "poor sleep before a competition"; "the night before the tournament"; "a sleepless night and archery"; "sleep matters for the score"; "too little sleep spoils the shot"
In practice
Archers are told to sleep well the night before a competition, and anyone who spent it tossing and turning arrives at the range convinced they have already lost a few points.
Evidence
-
2017
For Archers Published later
6 Korean middle-school boys, 14.5 ± 1.3 years old with 4.7 ± 1.1 years of practice, shooting 36 arrows at 30 metres in three conditions: after a normal night 336.83 ± 15.98 points, after a whole night without sleep with a placebo 334.83 ± 9.62, after the same night with caffeine 339.16 ± 14.66. No difference between the three conditions (F = 0.986, p = 0.407). Regional journal.
Effect of Blood Glucose and Growth Hormone on Performance of Middle School Archery Players with Sleep Loss and Caffeine Intake · Jeong Uk Park, Tae Dong Kwon
-
2024
For Kyudo archers Published later
15 university kyudo archers, 20 arrows at 28 metres in the morning on two or three days, comparing the day with more hits and the day with fewer: hits 83.7% ± 16.5% against 61.7% ± 17.5%, and on the night before total sleep of 286.7 ± 84.2 minutes against 349.7 ± 99.9, measured with a sensor under the mattress (P = 0.02). The better days follow the shorter nights.
Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki
-
2024
For Kyudo archers Published later
In the same study, sleep efficiency on the night before is lower ahead of the better days: 88.7% ± 9.3% against 94.1% ± 1.9% (P = 0.03). It is an after-the-event comparison between days of the same archer, not a night shortened on purpose.
Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki
-
2024
Context Kyudo archers Published later
The other measures of the night before do not tell the days apart: the time taken to fall asleep (P = 0.17) and waking after sleep onset (P = 0.42) measured by the sensor, and none of the five factors of the questionnaire on perceived sleep quality.
Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki
-
2024
Context Kyudo archers Published later
In a secondary analysis on 10 of the 15 archers, sleep on the night after the shooting day goes the opposite way: after the better days there is less waking and higher efficiency (p < 0.05). The authors present it as a result that needs confirming.
Relationship between mood and sleep status with performance accuracy in university kyudo athletes · Masaki Yoshioka, Misato Takada, Makinori Matsuo, Seiji Maeda, Keisei Kosaki
Status history
- 2017 Reported The first measurement on archers is a deprivation test, not an observation. Six Korean middle-school archers, fourteen and a half years old on average and with almost five years of practice, shoot 36 arrows at 30 metres in three conditions: after a normal night, after a whole night without sleep with a placebo, and after the same night with caffeine. Between the normal night and the sleepless one the score hardly moves, 336.8 against 334.8, and the analysis of the three conditions finds no difference. It is six boys, a single night and a regional journal, and finding no difference in so small a sample does not rule out a modest effect: reported.
- 2024 Reported The first data from outside the laboratory arrive, and they point the same way. Fifteen university kyudo archers shoot twenty arrows in the morning on two or three days, with their sleep measured by a sensor under the mattress: the days with more hits, 83.7 per cent against 61.7, were preceded by the shorter nights, 287 minutes against 350, and by lower sleep efficiency, 88.7 per cent against 94.1. Perceived quality, the time taken to fall asleep and night waking tell nothing apart. There are now two supporting studies and none against, but one is a test on six boys and the other an after-the-event comparison between good and bad days, in kyudo: the status stays reported.
Related
Related articles
- Hydration and nutrition on competition day in archery: a practical guideHow much to drink and what to eat on competition day in archery: what the day costs, what dehydration changes and what studies on archers have measured.
- Sleep and recovery in archery: what the studies on archers showWhat studies on archers' sleep show: the night before a competition, how long archers sleep, the link with diet and evening habits put to the test.
- The pre-competition week in archery: what the studies sayThe week before an archery competition: the taper, the load of a competition day, nerves, social media, sleep and food, and what has been measured.
Related studies
Research lines
Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.
See the programmeCite
Campagna, M. (2026). Little sleep the night before does not worsen accuracy (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/little-sleep-night-before-accuracy
@misc{campagna2026_sonnonotteprima,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Little sleep the night before does not worsen accuracy},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/little-sleep-night-before-accuracy},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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