Matteo Campagna
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Archers over fifty have a stronger grip, a brisker walking pace and better balance than senior athletes in other sports

1 study · 18 archers measured

ForContextAgainst2016201820202022202420262017, for, n = 182017, context, n = 18
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 a single piece of data, and it is a conference abstract. At the University of South Dakota eighteen competitive archers over fifty went through the same physical screening as 1,628 senior athletes from other sports, and came out ahead on four measures: grip strength (p = 0.001), walking speed, both usual and fast (p = 0.002 and 0.001), and single-leg balance on foam (p = 0.01). On the other measures, from waist circumference to chair stands, there are no differences. The abstract, however, gives no means, nor the age and sex of the two groups, so we do not know how large the differences are or whether the archers were younger. The archers also reported more hours of strength training than the others (p = 0.048), which on its own could explain the stronger grip. It is a cross-sectional comparison: it describes how these archers are, not whether archery gives them these qualities or whether the people who take it up already have them.

Also phrased as: "archery for older adults"; "archers over 50"; "archery and balance"; "grip strength in older archers"

In practice

Archery is often put forward as the sport you can do at any age, and people say that holding the bow at full draw, standing still on the line and walking back and forth to the target keep strength and balance going over the years.

Evidence

  • 2017
    For Archers Published later

    18 competitive archers over 50 against 1,628 senior athletes from other sports in the same University of South Dakota screening: grip strength F = 10.59, p = 0.001; usual gait speed F = 9.44, p = 0.002; fast gait speed F = 10.46, p = 0.001; single-leg balance on foam F = 6.32, p = 0.01. The abstract gives no means.

    PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN COMPETITIVE SENIOR ARCHERS · B. Jordre, W. Schweinle, M. Johnson, A. OKief, I. Pohlman

  • 2017
    Context Archers Published later

    On the screening's other measures, namely waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index and chair stands, archers and other senior athletes do not differ.

    PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN COMPETITIVE SENIOR ARCHERS · B. Jordre, W. Schweinle, M. Johnson, A. OKief, I. Pohlman

  • 2017
    Context Archers Published later

    The senior archers reported spending more time on strength training than the other athletes (F = 3.89, p = 0.048) and slightly less on cardiovascular training: an alternative explanation, at least for the stronger grip.

    PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES IN COMPETITIVE SENIOR ARCHERS · B. Jordre, W. Schweinle, M. Johnson, A. OKief, I. Pohlman

Status history

  1. 1990 Not studied Nobody in the registry's bibliography had compared the physical condition of older archers with that of their peers in other sports: the question has no data.
  2. 2017 Reported The first data arrive, from a screening at the University of South Dakota: eighteen competitive archers over fifty have a stronger grip (p = 0.001), a faster walking pace, both usual and fast, and better single-leg balance on foam (p = 0.01) than 1,628 senior athletes from other sports. It is a conference abstract with no means, and a cross-sectional comparison with archers who also report more strength training: there is evidence in favour, but it is limited.

Related

Related articles

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Archers over fifty have a stronger grip, a brisker walking pace and better balance than senior athletes in other sports (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/senior-archers-physical-performance

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_arcieriseniorformafisica,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Archers over fifty have a stronger grip, a brisker walking pace and better balance than senior athletes in other sports},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/health/senior-archers-physical-performance},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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