The more anxious an archer is before the shot, the faster they breathe
1 study · 39 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single study, on beginners, in a journal with questionable editorial standards. Thirty-nine Turkish students just out of a fourteen-week course fill in an anxiety questionnaire, sit for four minutes with their breathing and heart recorded, then shoot ten arrows at eighteen metres. At rest, before the task, those reporting more cognitive anxiety breathe faster (r = 0.49), the same holds to a lesser degree for somatic anxiety (r = 0.35), and those who feel more confident breathe more slowly (r = -0.33); heart rate variability, on the other hand, is not related to any part of the questionnaire. During the shooting the picture gets more complicated: across the whole sample more cognitive anxiety goes with less frequent breathing (r = -0.43), but in the more neurotic half of the group the same correlation turns positive and strong (r = 0.73). It is an association in beginners, measured at rest, and because of the venue the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.
Also phrased as: "anxiety and fast breathing"; "short breath from nerves"; "breathing and anxiety before the shot"; "breathing rate and anxiety in archery"; "shallow breathing under pressure"
In practice
Archers are told that breathing gives away tension before they notice it themselves: an anxious archer breathes short and high in the chest, which is why they are taught to slow the out-breath and count their breaths before stepping up to the line.
Evidence
-
2018
Context Archers Published later
Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 39 Turkish beginners (12 women, aged 18-27) after a 14-week course, CSAI-2 and then four minutes of seated recording before the task: breathing rate is related to cognitive anxiety (r = 0.49, p = 0.002) and to somatic anxiety (r = 0.35, p = 0.003), and those who feel more confident breathe more slowly (self-confidence r = -0.33, p = 0.041); Spearman correlations.
Somatic Anxiety May Represent Archers' Actual Autonomic Nervous System Activity But How: Moderating Role of Personality Traits Questionable venue · Nihal Dal, Serdar Tok, Erman Doğan, İlker Balıkçı, Aylin Zekioğlu, Fatih Çatıkkaş
-
2018
Context Archers Published later
Before the task no part of the questionnaire is related to heart rate variability (HF, LF, LF/HF) across the whole sample: the link with anxiety shows in the breathing, not in the heart.
Somatic Anxiety May Represent Archers' Actual Autonomic Nervous System Activity But How: Moderating Role of Personality Traits Questionable venue · Nihal Dal, Serdar Tok, Erman Doğan, İlker Balıkçı, Aylin Zekioğlu, Fatih Çatıkkaş
-
2018
Context Archers Published later
During the ten arrows at 18 metres on an 80-centimetre face the sign reverses across the whole sample: cognitive anxiety and breathing rate r = -0.43, p = 0.006. But in the half of the sample with higher neuroticism the same correlation is positive, r = 0.73, p = 0.001, and there faster breathing goes with a lower score (r = -0.59).
Somatic Anxiety May Represent Archers' Actual Autonomic Nervous System Activity But How: Moderating Role of Personality Traits Questionable venue · Nihal Dal, Serdar Tok, Erman Doğan, İlker Balıkçı, Aylin Zekioğlu, Fatih Çatıkkaş
Status history
- 2018 Not studied The only study arrives, on thirty-nine Turkish beginners who have anxiety, breathing and heart rate variability measured at rest and then shoot ten arrows at eighteen metres. Before shooting, more cognitive anxiety goes with faster breathing (r = 0.49) and more self-confidence with slower breathing (r = -0.33), while heart rate variability is not related to any part of the questionnaire. During the shooting the sign reverses across the whole sample and cognitive anxiety goes with less frequent breathing, though not in the more neurotic half of the group. It is a single cross-sectional study, on beginners, in a venue with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.
Related
Related articles
- Pre-shot routine in archery: how to build one on evidenceWhat to put in a pre-shot routine, how long it should last and what the data say: consistent timing, breathing, target panic and relaxing before the shot.
- How to breathe before you draw: what the studies have measuredHow much and how fast to breathe before the shot: measurements on the range, where the six-breaths figure comes from, and what changes for anxiety and score.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). The more anxious an archer is before the shot, the faster they breathe (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/anxiety-breathing-rate-before-shooting
@misc{campagna2026_ansiarespiropretiro,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {The more anxious an archer is before the shot, the faster they breathe},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/anxiety-breathing-rate-before-shooting},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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