Matteo Campagna
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In beginners, feeling that the challenge matches one's ability goes with more accurate shooting

1 study · 30 archers measured

The finding comes from a single study, of thirty Turkish university students at the end of a fourteen-week archery course, who shoot ten arrows at 18 metres and straight afterwards complete a nine-dimension flow scale. Two of the dimensions go with arrows closer to the centre: the balance between challenge and skill, that is feeling the task to be neither too easy nor too hard (a correlation of -0.42 with the distance from the centre), and clear goals (-0.44). The other seven dimensions and flow as a whole do not (-0.17). In the model that brings several factors together, the balance between challenge and skill keeps a weight of its own (beta of -0.41), alongside heart rate variability and emotional intelligence. The most serious limitation concerns the order of events: the questionnaire is filled in after shooting, and someone who has just shot well may remember the task as more within their reach, so the arrow in the centre may come before the feeling rather than after it. With nine dimensions examined in thirty people, moreover, two that clear the threshold could be chance. It is an association in beginners, in a regional journal, and it does not show that adjusting the difficulty of the task makes anyone shoot better.

Also phrased as: "flow in archery"; "challenge-skill balance"; "the right challenge to shoot well"; "flow state and accuracy"

In practice

The idea comes from the psychology of flow: archers shoot better when the task is neither too easy nor too hard, which is why learners are advised to adjust distance and target face until the challenge feels right.

Evidence

  • 2019
    For Archers Published later

    30 Turkish university students at the end of a 14-week archery course, 10 arrows at 18 metres and straight afterwards the state flow scale (36 items, nine dimensions), with accuracy given by the median distance of the arrows from the centre. The balance between challenge and skill correlates with the distance at r = -0.42 (Spearman, p = 0.023) and clear goals at r = -0.44 (p = 0.016); overall flow at r = -0.17 and the other seven dimensions between -0.21 and 0.11, all below the threshold.

    Heart Rate Variability, Flow and Emotional Intelligence as Predictors of Novice Archers’ Shooting Accuracy · Nihal Dal, Erman Doğan

  • 2019
    For Archers Published later

    In the same study, in the stepwise regression the balance between challenge and skill keeps a weight of its own (beta = -0.410, t = -2.62) alongside the LF/HF ratio of heart rate variability (beta = -0.358, t = -2.39) and total emotional intelligence (beta = -0.279, t = -1.76); together they explain 38 per cent of the differences in accuracy (adjusted R²). Clear goals do not enter the final model.

    Heart Rate Variability, Flow and Emotional Intelligence as Predictors of Novice Archers’ Shooting Accuracy · Nihal Dal, Erman Doğan

Status history

  1. 1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody has yet linked the dimensions of flow to shooting accuracy: that the right challenge helps the shot remains an idea borrowed from other fields.
  2. 2019 Reported Thirty Turkish beginners shoot ten arrows at 18 metres and then complete a flow scale: two of the nine dimensions go with arrows closer to the centre, the balance between challenge and skill (a correlation of -0.42) and clear goals (-0.44). The other seven and overall flow do not, and with nine dimensions examined, two that clear the threshold could be chance. In the model that brings several factors together, the balance between challenge and skill keeps a weight of its own. The questionnaire, though, is filled in after shooting, so it may reflect the result. A single cross-sectional study, in a regional journal: reported.
Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). In beginners, feeling that the challenge matches one's ability goes with more accurate shooting (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/flow-challenge-skill-balance-accuracy

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_flowsfidaabilitaprecisione,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {In beginners, feeling that the challenge matches one's ability goes with more accurate shooting},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/flow-challenge-skill-balance-accuracy},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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