One study of an archer who shoots with his foot found far greater foot dexterity than in non-archers and a larger area of brain for the toes and knee

2 studies · 1 archers measured

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.

It is a single case, studied carefully. A thirty-five-year-old Paralympic archer, born without arms, who has shot with his feet since the age of sixteen, was compared with twelve or thirteen people with no shooting experience. He inserts a peg with his right foot in 2.2 seconds against an average of 15.3 for the controls, more than seven times faster. Functional imaging shows that the area of motor cortex controlling the toes and knee is larger and shifted sideways, towards the region that normally governs the hand, while ankle and hip look as they do in the controls; moving the leg also lights up the hand area. Magnetic stimulation confirms wider maps for every leg muscle measured, and for tibialis anterior the map crosses the border of the hand area. The shoulder, by contrast, is represented as it is in anyone else. Three measures agree, but on one person, who also uses his feet to eat and to drive: the study cannot say how much comes from the shooting and how much from being born without arms.

Also phrased as: "armless archer"; "shooting with the feet"; "brain plasticity in archery"; "motor cortex of the foot"; "para archer who shoots with his foot"

In practice

It is often said that the body adapts to any way of shooting, and that those who shoot with their feet develop a feel and control in the foot comparable to a hand's.

Evidence

2020
For Archers Published later

Peg-board test with the right foot: the archer inserts all 25 pegs within 60 seconds, 2.2 s per peg, against an average of 15.3 s in the 13 controls, more than seven times faster.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2020
For Archers Published later

Functional imaging against 12 controls: in primary motor cortex there are more active voxels for the toes (t(11) = 21.56) and the knee (t(11) = 26.52), both p below 0.001, but not for the ankle (p = 0.23) or the hip (p above 0.99). The enlargement concerns the segments he uses to shoot.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2020
For Archers Published later

The sideways shift of the centre of activation also concerns only the toes (t(11) = 36.47) and the knee (t(11) = 20.24), both p below 0.001; ankle and hip stay where they are in the controls.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2020
For Archers Published later

Moving the leg, the archer also activates the region that normally controls the hand: more active voxels for the toes (t(11) = 495.47), ankle (34.39) and knee (41.90), all p below 0.001, not for the hip, and a stronger signal in the same area in all four movements.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2020
For Archers Published later

With navigated magnetic stimulation the motor map is wider for all five leg muscles measured (for example tibialis anterior t(11) = 8.58, p below 0.001), and shifts sideways for four of the five; for tibialis anterior the edge of the map reaches x = -40, beyond the border of the hand area at x = -32.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2020
Context Archers Published later

Control experiment on the right shoulder, against 10 controls: no difference in the extent or position of activation. The reorganisation has a clear boundary and does not affect the whole body.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2020
Context Archers Published later

Who the archer is: 35 years old, congenital amputation of both arms, shooting since the age of 16, two Paralympic Games and a record for the longest accurate shot at 310 yards. He also uses his feet to eat with a knife and fork and to drive, so the use of the foot does not come from shooting alone.

Cortical reorganization of lower-limb motor representations in an elite archery athlete with congenital amputation of both arms · Kento Nakagawa, Mitsuaki Takemi, Tomoya Nakanishi, Atsushi Sasaki, Kimitaka Nakazawa
2024
Context Review Published later

A scoping review of adaptive shooting disciplines retells the same case: an elite archer aged 35, born without arms, compared with 12 people without disability, whose toe and knee representation in primary motor cortex is enlarged sideways, with larger motor responses. It adds no data: it is the 2020 case told second-hand, and it does not count as a second study.

Adaptive Shooting Disciplines: A Scoping Review of the Literature with Bibliometric Analysis · Luca Puce, Carlo Biz, Halil Ibrahim Ceylan, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, Matteo Formica, Khaled Trabelsi, et al.

Status history

1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody had yet measured the foot dexterity or the brain of an archer who shoots with his feet: on the question there is no evidence.
2020 Reported The case comes from a Japanese neuroscience group: a thirty-five-year-old Paralympic archer, born without arms, compared with a dozen people with no experience. He inserts pegs with his right foot in 2.2 seconds against 15.3; in the scanner the toe and knee area is larger and shifted towards the hand region, while ankle and hip do not change; magnetic stimulation gives wider maps for every leg muscle, and the shoulder does not differ from the controls'. Three methods in agreement, but a single archer, who uses his feet throughout daily life: reported, with no generalisation.
2024 Reported A review of adaptive shooting disciplines lists the case among the studies of archers with disabilities and summarises its findings: a larger cortical area for toes and knee, larger motor responses. These are the same data as in 2020, with no second archer and no new measure, so the status stays reported.

Research lines

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). One study of an archer who shoots with his foot found far greater foot dexterity than in non-archers and a larger area of brain for the toes and knee (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/foot-archer-brain-plasticity

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_plasticitapiedearcieresenzabraccia,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {One study of an archer who shoots with his foot found far greater foot dexterity than in non-archers and a larger area of brain for the toes and knee},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/foot-archer-brain-plasticity},
  note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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