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Recurve archers get injured more often than compound archers

2 studies · 395 archers measured

ForContextAgainst2016201820202022202420262016, for, n = 2392016, context, n = 2392017, against, n = 156
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

There is only one direct comparison: among 239 archers in Florida, surveyed at competitions and in clubs, 53.9% of recurve users reported a shooting-related injury against 35.3% of compound users, and the highest share was among women shooting recurve, 70.7% against 30.4-45.5% for men and women shooting compound. The same paper warns, however, that bow type explains little, with a correlation with injury of r=0.186, as weak as the one with training days; and since women get injured more than men (57.6% against 35.3%) and the analysis does not account for sex, the effect of the bow and the effect of sex cannot be separated. A year later, among 156 Indian competitive archers, current shoulder pain did not depend on the bow: 24 of 40 compound archers and 22 of 37 recurve archers had it, and the test found no association (χ²=1.69). The second study looks at the shoulder rather than all injuries, but in the first, seven in ten of the injured archers had hurt precisely the shoulder. With two studies pointing in different directions, and neither matched for shooting volume or draw weight, it cannot be said that the recurve carries more risk.

Also phrased as: "recurve or compound for injuries"; "the compound is less tiring"; "recurve injuries"; "compound injuries"; "which bow is easier on the shoulder"

In practice

It is often said that the compound is kinder to the body, because the cams let you hold a fraction of the draw weight at aim, while with the recurve the full weight stays on the fingers and shoulder throughout the aim.

Evidence

  • 2016
    For Archers Published later

    239 archers from north central Florida, mean age 31.7 and 65.2% men, surveyed at competitions and in clubs: 53.9% of recurve users reported a shooting-related injury against 35.3% of compound users; among women shooting recurve the share rises to 70.7%, against 30.4-45.5% for men and women shooting compound.

    Prevalence And Characteristics Of Archery-related Injuries In Archers · Bryan Prine, Amanda Prine, Trevor Leavitt, Joseph Wasser, Heather K. Vincent

  • 2016
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same sample, having an injury correlates with bow type at r=0.186 (p=0.004) and with training days per week and months per year at r=0.148-0.167 (p<0.05): the bow explains only a small part of who gets hurt. Almost all the injuries are overuse injuries, and the shoulder is the most affected site (70.3%).

    Prevalence And Characteristics Of Archery-related Injuries In Archers · Bryan Prine, Amanda Prine, Trevor Leavitt, Joseph Wasser, Heather K. Vincent

  • 2017
    Against Archers Published later

    156 Indian competitive archers, 91 men and 65 women, mean age 20.3: current shoulder pain is not associated with bow type. Pain is reported by 24 of 40 compound archers, 22 of 37 recurve archers and 39 of 79 wooden-bow archers (χ²=1.69, not significant). The measure is shoulder pain, not injuries as a whole.

    Prevalence of Shoulder Pain in Competitive Archery · Jasleen Kaur Grover, Akhoury Gourang Kumar Sinha

Status history

  1. 2016 Reported The question starts with a survey of 239 archers in Florida: 53.9% of recurve users reported a shooting-related injury against 35.3% of compound users, and 70.7% of women shooting recurve did. The same study warns that bow type explains only a small part of who gets hurt (r=0.186), and the analysis does not separate the bow from sex, which matters in its own right: 57.6% of women were injured against 35.3% of men. One sample, from the clubs and competitions of one region, presented as an abstract: reported.
  2. 2017 Contested Among 156 Indian competitive archers, current shoulder pain does not change with the bow: 24 of 40 compound archers, 22 of 37 recurve archers and 39 of 79 wooden-bow archers have it, with no association (χ²=1.69). The study measures shoulder pain rather than all injuries, but in the Florida sample the shoulder is precisely the most frequent site: seven in ten of the injured archers had hurt it. With one sample for and one against, the studies on archers point in different directions: contested.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Recurve archers get injured more often than compound archers (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/recurve-compound-injuries

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_arcierericurvoinfortuni,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Recurve archers get injured more often than compound archers},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/recurve-compound-injuries},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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