One study found that dehydration does not change how alert an archer feels in competition
1 study · 10 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single Cypriot study: ten national-level archers shoot two simulated 72-arrow competitions at seventy metres, at 36-37 degrees and over 80 per cent humidity, once properly hydrated and once after twenty-four hours of reduced fluid intake, in counterbalanced order. The alertness they report on a 0 to 10 scale changes neither between the two conditions (p = 0.223) nor over the course of the competition (p = 0.660). Perceived concentration behaves less intuitively: when dehydrated it starts lower and stays stable, when hydrated it starts higher and falls through the competition, and by the end the two states are level. When dehydrated the archers are thirstier, feel more tired and have a faster heart rate even at baseline, 85 beats against 78, but the score does not change, 562 against 550 points. The alertness result is a null finding in ten people on a subjective scale: it does not rule out a small effect, and it says nothing about attention measured with a test.
Also phrased as: "drinking during competition"; "dehydration and attention"; "shooting in the heat and mental sharpness"; "hydration in archery"; "thirst and concentration"
In practice
Archers are told to drink regularly at summer competitions, because even mild dehydration is supposed to take away clarity and attention just when the last ends come round.
Evidence
-
2020
For Archers Published later
10 Cypriot national-level archers (7 men, 3 women), two simulated 72-arrow competitions at 70 m at 36-37 °C, hydrated and after 24 hours of reduced fluid intake (urine specific gravity 1.015 against 1.032): self-reported alertness on an analogue scale shows no effect of condition (F(1,9) = 1.7, p = 0.223), of time (p = 0.660) or of their interaction (p = 0.678).
Effects of Dehydration on Archery Performance, Subjective Feelings and Heart Rate during a Competition Simulation · Alexandros Savvides, Christoforos D. Giannaki, Angelos Vlahoyiannis, Pinelopi S. Stavrinou, George Aphamis
-
2020
Context Archers Published later
In the same study, perceived concentration does not change with condition (p = 0.244), but changes over time differently in the two trials (interaction p < 0.001): when dehydrated it starts lower (p = 0.009) and stays stable (p = 0.260), when hydrated it falls through the competition (p < 0.001), and by the end there is no difference (p = 0.320).
Effects of Dehydration on Archery Performance, Subjective Feelings and Heart Rate during a Competition Simulation · Alexandros Savvides, Christoforos D. Giannaki, Angelos Vlahoyiannis, Pinelopi S. Stavrinou, George Aphamis
-
2020
Context Archers Published later
In the same study, when dehydrated the archers are thirstier, feel more tired (p = 0.041) and have a higher heart rate from the start, 85 against 78 beats per minute (p = 0.021), but the 72-arrow score does not change: 562 ± 59 against 550 ± 63 points (p = 0.155).
Effects of Dehydration on Archery Performance, Subjective Feelings and Heart Rate during a Competition Simulation · Alexandros Savvides, Christoforos D. Giannaki, Angelos Vlahoyiannis, Pinelopi S. Stavrinou, George Aphamis
Status history
- 2020 Reported The first and only study arrives: ten Cypriot national-level archers shoot a simulated 72-arrow competition at seventy metres at 36 or 37 degrees, once hydrated and once dehydrated, in crossover order. The alertness they report changes neither between the two conditions nor over the course of the competition. Concentration behaves more curiously: when hydrated it starts higher and falls through the competition, when dehydrated it starts lower and stays stable, and by the end the two states are level. One study, ten participants, self-reported measures: the claim is written in the direction of the result and is reported.
Related
Related articles
- Hydration and nutrition on competition day in archery: a practical guideHow much to drink and what to eat on competition day in archery: what the day costs, what dehydration changes and what studies on archers have measured.
- Shooting in the heat: how many points go, who loses most and what reduces the lossHow many points heat costs in competition, where the loss begins, who loses most and what reduced it across 3,196 professional archers.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). One study found that dehydration does not change how alert an archer feels in competition (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/dehydration-alertness-competition
@misc{campagna2026_disidratazionevigilanza,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {One study found that dehydration does not change how alert an archer feels in competition},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/dehydration-alertness-competition},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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