Concentration is the mental skill archers are weakest at

The summary today

Two small studies from 2020, in two different countries and with two different questionnaires, do not say the same thing. In sixteen archers from the West Java regional squad, measured on only three skills, concentration reaches 68.3 per cent of the possible score, in the band the authors call poor, below anxiety control (74.4) and mental preparation (72.3); from one question to the next, though, it ranges from 60 to 85 per cent, so the weak spot is not uniform. In eleven elite Turkish archers, measured on twelve skills, focusing itself comes ninth, at 19.6 on a scale that goes up to 28: in the lower half, but not at the bottom. The bottom places go to refocusing after a distraction, at 13.1, and competition planning, while commitment and self-confidence are at the top. A third sample, thirty-two young Malaysians in a journal of questionable standing, puts concentration mid-table, with coachability and peaking under pressure lowest. These are all skills the archers rate themselves, in tiny groups, and no study compares them with other sports: in one group concentration is the lowest skill, in another it is the ability to get it back, and we do not know whether archers are especially weak there.

Also phrased as: "archers lack concentration"; "concentration is the weak point"; "losing focus in competition"; "archers' mental skills profile"; "refocusing after a bad arrow"

Evidence

• 2018
  Context Archers Published later

  32 young Malaysian archers from a state development programme, measured with the ACSI: concentration sits at 5.84 ± 1.55, mid-table, while the lowest are coachability (5.16 ± 1.30) and peaking under pressure (5.44 ± 1.22) and the highest confidence and motivation (7.41 ± 1.68) and coping with adversity (7.00 ± 1.83). The journal is of questionable standing, so the figure does not decide the status.

  Supervised pattern recognition of archers’ relative psychological coping skills as a component for a better archery performance Questionable venue · Z. Taha, R. M. Musa, M. R. Abdullah, A. B. H. M. Maliki, N. A. Kosni, S. M. Mat-Rasid, A. Adnan, H. Juahir

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  16 archers from the West Java regional squad preparing for the national games, questionnaire adapted from the Psychological Skills Inventory for Sports: concentration at 68.3 per cent of the possible score (poor band, 55-69), below anxiety control at 74.4 and mental preparation at 72.3 (fairly good band, 70-79). None of the three reaches the good band, from 80 upwards.

  Analisis Deskriptif Aspek Psikologis Atlet Panahan Pelatda PON Jawa Barat XX 2021-Papua · Ryan Agung Hendrayana, Komarudin, Yunyun Yudiana

• 2020
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same 16 archers the weak spot is not uniform: across the eight concentration questions the score runs from 60 per cent on the lowest to 85 on the highest, with a mean of 68.3.

  Analisis Deskriptif Aspek Psikologis Atlet Panahan Pelatda PON Jawa Barat XX 2021-Papua · Ryan Agung Hendrayana, Komarudin, Yunyun Yudiana

• 2020
  Against Archers Published later

  11 elite Turkish archers (5 women, 6 men), OMSAT-3 scores before a mindfulness programme, on scales from 4 to 28: focusing itself comes ninth of twelve skills (19.55 ± 5.31), in the lower half but not at the bottom. The lowest are refocusing (13.09 ± 3.08) and competition planning (14.91 ± 6.33), the highest commitment (26.27 ± 1.55) and self-confidence (24.73 ± 3.00).

  Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Skill Development Program on Elite Archers’ Mental Skills and Mindfulness Levels · Zeynep Ayça Terzioğlu, S. Gülfem Çakir

• 2020
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same 11 archers the lowest skill is refocusing after a distraction: read broadly, as holding concentration and getting it back, there is a weak spot, but it lies in getting it back, not in holding it.

  Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Skill Development Program on Elite Archers’ Mental Skills and Mindfulness Levels · Zeynep Ayça Terzioğlu, S. Gülfem Çakir

Status history

1. 2018 Not studied The first mental skills profile of a group of archers appears in a journal of questionable standing, and it does not put concentration at the bottom: in thirty-two young Malaysians measured with the ACSI, concentration sits at 5.84, mid-table, while the lowest are coachability (5.16) and peaking under pressure (5.44). Data from a questionable venue cannot decide a status, and nothing else touches the question: not studied.
2. 2020 Contested Two studies, in the same year and in two different worlds, do not agree. In sixteen archers from an Indonesian regional squad concentration is the lowest skill, at 68.3 per cent, below anxiety control and mental preparation, and none of the three reaches the good band; from one question to the next the score swings between 60 and 85 per cent. In eleven elite Turkish archers, across twelve skills, focusing itself comes ninth: in the lower half, but the weakest are refocusing (13.1 out of 28) and competition planning, the strongest commitment and self-confidence. Read strictly, concentration is at the bottom in one group and not in the other, with different questionnaires and tiny samples: contested.

Related

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• Concentration in archery: how it is measured, how much it matters and whether it can be trainedWhat studies on archers say about concentration: how it is measured, whether it tracks score, whether it fades late in a round and whether it can be trained.

Research lines

• 55 studiesAttention and cognition in archers: research since 1986
• 32 studiesThe archer's mental profile: forty years of questionnaires

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• ReportedA mental profile tells archers apart from athletes in other sports only in part5 studies · 550 archers measuredStatus since 2018
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