In competition an archer's heart rate stays well above resting values

The summary today

Every study that has measured it finds an archer's heart beating faster in competition than at rest, and none finds the opposite. The clearest figure is also the oldest: in 1994 five kyudo archers go from 93-140 beats per minute in free practice to 138-162 in competition. Outside kyudo the numbers are similar, but they come from simulated competitions or from very few people: 128 beats while aiming in the men and 142 in the women of an Indonesian university group, 112 in one experienced archer, between 82 and 120 in two archers wearing a sensor shirt, and between 115 and 148 in the best ends of one international-level archer monitored over two real competitions, without her resting value. The weak point is the word 'well'. When the same archer is also measured at rest, the rest is almost always seated, and the two controlled studies that do so find the heart rate always above rest; the one that gives figures finds a moderate gap, from 82 to 95 beats per minute in eleven archers during a simulated competition. The only comparison with standing rest, in 36 Japanese archers, finds the interval between beats shorter while shooting, without saying by how much. And another study shows that standing up is enough on its own to add about twenty beats compared with lying down, before the bow is even picked up. That the heart rate rises in competition is documented; how far it rises above the same archer's standing rest, in an official Olympic-style competition, nobody has measured.

Also phrased as: "high heart rate in competition"; "archer heart rate during competition"; "the heart speeds up in competition"; "heart rate while aiming in competition"

Evidence

• 1994
  For Kyudo archers Published later

  5 Japanese university kyudo archers followed in free practice and in competition: mean peak heart rate per shot from 93 to 138, 111 to 149, 126 to 146, 103 to 147 and 140 to 162 beats per minute, with individual ANOVAs all at p<0.001; in the first ends of the competition about 150 beats (pp. 195-196). The comparison is with practice, not with rest.

  Changes of Heart Rate, Somatic Anxiety, and Performance of Japanese Archers during Practices and Matches · Masakazu Miyamoto

• 1994
  Context Kyudo archers Published later

  With heart rate recorded every 5 seconds, each shot draws a wave and the peak comes about 10 seconds after the release (p. 195): the highest value falls after aiming, not during it.

  Changes of Heart Rate, Somatic Anxiety, and Performance of Japanese Archers during Practices and Matches · Masakazu Miyamoto

• 2007
  Context Archers Published later

  One Brazilian international-level archer, aged 25, monitored with a heart rate monitor over two competitions, one indoor and one outdoor, with the rate read at the end of every end: the heart rate band associated with her best ends lies between 115 and 128 beats per minute at 18 metres, 135 and 148 at 30, 117 and 125 at 50, 120 and 122 at 60, and 119 and 132 at 70 (Table 1, p. 330). These values come from real competition, but from a single person and without her resting value: they say how high the heart rate is, not how far above rest.

  Linking affect and performance of an international level archer incorporating an idiosyncratic probabilistic method · Michael B. Johnson, William A. Edmonds, Luiz Carlos Moraes, Edson S. Medeiros Filho, Gershon Tenenbaum

• 2009
  For Archers Published later

  36 Japanese archers aged 16-24, within-subject crossover with balanced order, with and without their own heartbeat in headphones: in both conditions the R-R interval is shorter during shooting than in the minute of standing, eyes-open rest before the session (session effect F(2,70)=6.16, p<0.005; pp. 16-17). It is a laboratory session, not a competition.

  Physiological and Psychological Changes Caused by Archery Athletes Monitoring Their Own Heartbeat in Shooting Situation, and the Effects on Performance · Hideaki Takai, Osamitu Saijyo, Yasuhisa Kusumoto

• 2014
  For Archers Published later

  One experienced recurve archer, photoplethysmography at the finger over 3 shots: mean heart rate while aiming 112.10 beats per minute (pp. 769-770). Three arrows, no resting value for the same archer, no statistical analysis.

  Biomechanics Measurements in Archery · Zulkifli Ahmad, Zahari Taha, Hasnun Arif Hassan, Mohd Azrul Hisham, Nasrul Hadi Johari, Kumaran Kadirgama

• 2019
  Context Archers Published later

  Feasibility test of a shirt with fibre-optic sensors: in 2 archers, one man and one woman, over 24 shots at 70 m in 4 sessions, the heart rate per shot lies between 82 and 120.5 beats per minute (pp. 10-11). There is no resting value for the same archers to compare it with.

  Cardio-Respiratory Monitoring in Archery Using a Smart Textile Based on Flexible Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors · Daniela Lo Presti, Chiara Romano, Carlo Massaroni, Jessica D'Abbraccio, Luca Massari, Michele Arturo Caponero, et al.

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  10 Cypriot national-level archers, 12 ends of 6 arrows at 70 m, 72 arrows with a 10-minute break after the sixth end, hydrated and dehydrated in a crossover: the heart rate stays above the resting value throughout the competition in both conditions (time effect F(13,117)=136.3, p<0.001, η²=0.931; p. 5 and Figure 4). Rest is taken seated: 78 ± 6 beats per minute hydrated and 85 ± 5 dehydrated.

  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

• 2021
  For Archers Published later

  11 recurve archers in a randomised placebo-controlled crossover: in the placebo condition the heart rate goes from 82.23 beats per minute seated to 95.41 during the simulated competition, pNN50 drops from 14.16 to 5.56% and the LF/HF ratio rises from 2.44 to 5.28 (p<0.05), with values back to baseline after the competition (p. 5). It is the most clearly measured gap, and it amounts to 13 beats above seated rest.

  Nicotine supplementation enhances simulated game performance of archery athletes · Bao-Lien Hung, Li-Jung Chen, Yi-Ying Chen, Jhih-Bang Ou, Shih-Hua Fang

• 2021
  Context Archers Published later

  15 male archers from the Turkish national teams, aged 20.5 ± 1.9: before any drug the resting heart rate is between 73.2 and 76.1 beats per minute lying down and between 93.5 and 98.2 standing, an average rise of 20.2 beats due to posture alone (ηp²=0.936; Table 1, p. 3). The authors note that in their simulated match the heart rate while shooting was not high, lower than values reported in official competitions.

  Effects of beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviour · Emin Ergen, Tahir Hazir, Mesut Celebi, Ayşe Kin-Isler, Serdar Aritan, Volkan Daghan Yaylıoglu, et al.

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  10 Indonesian university recurve archers, 6 men and 4 women, simulated competition with alternating shooting over 5 series of 3 arrows and 20 seconds per arrow: mean heart rate while aiming 128.13 ± 7.11 beats per minute in the men and 142.37 ± 9.55 in the women (p. 147). The methods say resting heart rate was taken before the session, but the value is not reported.

  Analysis of heart rate and scores in student archery athletes · Nadya Dwi Oktafiranda, Sri Indah Ihsani, Kuswahyudi Kuswahyudi

Status history

1. 1994 Reported The first data come from kyudo: five Japanese university practitioners followed with a heart rate monitor in free practice and in competition. The mean peak heart rate for each shot rises in all of them, from 93, 111, 126, 103 and 140 beats per minute to 138, 149, 146, 147 and 162, with the first ends of the competition around 150, and on every shot the peak comes about ten seconds after the release. The comparison is with practice, not with rest, and the subjects are five kyudo archers: reported.
2. 2007 Reported The first heart rate recorded in real competitions outside kyudo: in one Brazilian international-level archer, monitored over two competitions, the heart rate band that goes with her best ends lies between 115 and 148 beats per minute depending on the distance. These figures are far from any resting value, but they come from one person and her own rest was not measured: it is not a comparison, and the status stays reported.
3. 2009 Reported The first comparison with standing rest arrives: thirty-six Japanese archers aged 16 to 24 shoot in a laboratory session, once listening to their own heartbeat through headphones and once not, and in both conditions the interval between beats is shorter while shooting than in the minute of standing rest before the session. It confirms that shooting in itself raises the heart rate, but it is a laboratory session, not a competition, and the study does not say by how many beats: the status stays reported.
4. 2014 Reported The first value taken during aiming in a recurve archer: in one experienced archer, over three shots, the heart rate measured at the finger sits around 112 beats per minute, very far from any resting value. It is a single case over three arrows, without that archer's resting value and without statistics: the status does not move.
5. 2020 Reported After two archers measured in 2019 with a sensor shirt, between 82 and 120 beats while aiming at seventy metres, the first simulated competition with the same archers' resting value arrives. Ten Cypriot national-level archers shoot 72 arrows at 70 metres twice, hydrated and dehydrated, and in both trials the heart rate stays above the resting value throughout, starting from 78 beats seated in the hydrated trial. It is the first controlled study in archers to show the heart rate staying above rest in competition, but the rest is seated and the gap can only be read off a graph: the 'well' in the claim is still to be shown, and the status stays reported.
6. 2021 Reported Two studies finally put a size on the gap, and it is smaller than the sentence suggests. In eleven recurve archers, in the placebo condition, the heart rate goes from 82 per minute seated to 95 during a simulated competition, and returns to its starting value straight afterwards. In fifteen archers from the Turkish national teams, simply moving from lying down to standing adds 20 beats on average, before the bow is even picked up, and the authors note that in their simulated match the heart rate while shooting was not high. The heart rate rises in competition, but part of the gap is posture: the supporting evidence remains limited, reported.
7. 2023 Reported In a simulated competition with alternating shooting, ten Indonesian university recurve archers aim at 128 beats per minute for the men and 142 for the women, very high values for a movement that makes no aerobic demand. The study, however, says it took the resting heart rate before the session but does not report the value, so the figure says how high the heart rate is while aiming, not how far above rest it is. It adds to the earlier studies without changing the picture: reported.

Related

Related articles

• The heart at the moment of the shot: slowing, a lower heart rate and diastoleReleasing between beats, a heart that slows during the aim, a lower heart rate worth points: what studies have measured of the archer's heart at the shot.
• Competition anxiety: what it costs an archer's score, and when it arrivesDoes competition anxiety cost archers points? What the studies measured, when in a competition the tension arrives and where the research stops.
• HRV in archery: what it says about recovery and training loadHRV in archery: which index to use, why the weekly average matters and what research says about recovery, training load and heart rate in competition.

Research lines

• 48 studiesThe heartbeat and the shot: heart rate and HRV since 1981
• 27 studiesHow much the body switches on in competition

Other claims in this domain

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