Matteo Campagna
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Archers do not have better visual skills than athletes from other sports

1 study · 28 archers measured

ForContextAgainst20102015202020252010, for, n = 282010, context, n = 28
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.

Only one study has put to the test the idea that archers see better than other athletes, and it cuts that idea down to size. Twenty-eight South African archers shooting compound, recurve and traditional bows, from beginners to experienced archers and aged 12 to 58, were measured with a battery of visual tests and compared with the norms published in 2002 for elite athletes from other sports: on visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, stereopsis and eye-hand coordination their norms come out lower, although for eye-hand coordination the authors describe the difference as not large. They do better on two measures only, eye-body coordination on a balance board and visual-motor response time with the right hand, while with the left hand they stay below. The comparison, however, is between norms gathered in different places and years, not between people measured side by side, and the sample mixes levels and disciplines: it says the archers measured do not stand out, not that they see worse.

Also phrased as: "archers have better eyesight"; "an archer's eye"; "visual skills in archery"; "a marksman's eye"

In practice

People often say archery is a sport for good eyes, and that those who shoot well have exceptional eyesight.

Evidence

  • 2010
    For Archers Published later

    28 archers (11 compound, 8 recurve, 9 traditional; 21 men and 7 women, aged 12-58, from beginners to experienced), with norms built on the sample and compared with those published in 2002 for elite athletes from other sports: lower norms for static visual acuity (Snellen chart), contrast sensitivity (FACT test), stereopsis (Randot) and eye-hand coordination (Wayne Saccadic Fixator), with the difference described as not large for eye-hand coordination. The values are in tables 1-4 (pp. 22-23); the comparison is between norms, with no statistical test between the two groups.

    The role of vision and visual skills in archery* · B. Strydom, J. T. Ferreira

  • 2010
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same sample two measures go the other way: eye-body coordination on a balance board linked to the Wayne Saccadic Fixator has higher norms than those of the elite athletes, and visual-motor response time is higher with the right hand and lower with the left, with differences described as small (tables 5 and 6, p. 24). 27 of the 28 archers were right-handed.

    The role of vision and visual skills in archery* · B. Strydom, J. T. Ferreira

Status history

  1. 2010 Reported The first and only comparison arrives: twenty-eight South African archers from every discipline and level, measured with a battery of visual tests, have lower norms than those published for elite athletes from other sports on acuity, contrast sensitivity, stereopsis and eye-hand coordination, and higher ones only for eye-body coordination and right-hand response time. A single descriptive study, comparing norms gathered in different years and places rather than people measured side by side: the evidence in favour is there and it is limited.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Archers do not have better visual skills than athletes from other sports (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/archers-visual-skills

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_abilitavisivearcieri,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Archers do not have better visual skills than athletes from other sports},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/archers-visual-skills},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Other claims in this domain

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