Mental skills training raises an archer's confidence

The summary today

Four studies measure archers' confidence before and after a mental programme, all of them small, and three see it rise. The clearest result comes from a twelve-week mindfulness programme for twelve competitive archers in Hong Kong: state confidence goes from 19.5 to 27 points, a very large effect (d = 2.24), and cognitive and somatic anxiety fall. In the Chinese national team, sixteen archers followed through five months of weekly sessions, confidence rises little during the intervention and significantly only in the months after, from 88.6 to 93.6, with one participant getting worse on every measure. In forty-five young Malaysian archers it climbs steeply where imagery and self-talk are combined, from 7.9 to 18.4, but the journal has questionable editorial standards. The first study, in 2010 on three archers from the Korean reserve national squad, had seen no change over eight weeks. The four studies share the same limit: confidence is measured only in those who follow the programme and never in a group carrying on with ordinary training, so the effect of the programme cannot be separated from the attention received or from the competition calendar. The two studies that also gave their questionnaires to a control group, one Indian and one Korean, do not fill the gap, because they do not measure confidence on a readable scale: the first reports only the total mental skills score, the second gathers confidence in interviews with those who did the programme.

Also phrased as: "mental training and self-confidence"; "imagery builds confidence"; "mental preparation for archers"; "competition confidence and mental training"

Evidence

• 2010
  Against Archers Published later

  Three male archers from the Korean reserve national squad, eight weeks of mental skills training (biofeedback, cognitive restructuring, shot routines) before the World Youth Championships, CSAI-2 measured before, midway and at the end: for confidence, as for cognitive and somatic anxiety, there is no clear trend over time, and individual differences are large. No statistical test, given the number of archers. In interviews after the championships the archers describe a steadier posture and a shift from breathing alone to routines, shot cues and relaxation, and the authors infer an effect of the routine on confidence; the questionnaire does not show it.

  The Effects of Psychological Skills Training in the Archery Field · Byung Hyun Kim, Chang Hwon Yang

• 2016
  Context Archers Published later

  30 Indian archers who had competed at national and international level, allocated by coin toss either to six weeks of psychological skills training combined with shoulder strengthening or to their coaches' usual training: the total score on Bull's mental skills questionnaire, which includes a confidence subscale, improves in the treated group according to the authors, who give only two figures for the two groups, 50.841 and 0.932, which cannot be read as means. The subscales are not reported, and the journal has questionable editorial standards.

  Effect of psycho-physiotherapeutic approach in enhancing performance among elite archers Questionable venue · Namrita Dhillon, Narkeesh Arumugam, Harprit Kaur, Shefali Gambhir

• 2020
  Context Archers Published later

  20 Korean archers from company-sponsored teams, 10 in an eight-week strengths-based positive psychology programme and 10 controls: the questionnaires measure knowledge and use of one's own strengths and optimism, not confidence. Confidence appears only in interviews with the ten on the programme, who say they believe in themselves more and have higher self-esteem; the controls were not interviewed. A regional journal.

  The application of strength-based positive psychology program for elite archers · Youngsook Kim, Inchon Park

• 2022
  For Archers Published later

  45 archers at a Malaysian sports school in three groups of 15 (imagery alone, imagery plus self-talk, self-talk alone), six weeks, eighteen one-hour sessions, with no control group: pre-shot self-confidence goes from 7.87 ± 1.40 to 18.40 ± 1.12 with combined imagery and self-talk, from 9.80 ± 1.55 to 12.80 ± 1.47 with self-talk alone and from 7.87 ± 1.40 to 8.93 ± 1.78 with imagery alone (table 1, p. 43). Journal with questionable editorial standards.

  Effects of Imagery Training and Self-Talk towards State Anxiety and Archery Performance Questionable venue · Mohammad Amir Hakim Mat Isar, Nelfianty Mohd Rasyid, Shaharudin Abdul Aziz

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  16 archers from the Chinese national team, a single-case design with a baseline phase, five months of weekly 60-90 minute sessions and a following phase without intervention, state confidence (SSCI) measured once a month: phase effect F(1, 15) = 3.39, p = 0.047, η² = 0.18; baseline 88.63 ± 17.22, intervention 90.70 ± 17.59 (not significant), after the intervention 93.61 ± 17.91 (p = 0.037). Case by case the response varies widely: one participant gets worse on all three of the study's measures, confidence included.

  Applying skill-oriented and spirit-oriented psychological training to Chinese national archery team athletes: a single-case mixed-methods study · Na Xu, Weihua Yan, Mingyu Sun, Rui Li, Yingchun Wang, Lizhong Chi

• 2023
  Context Other sport Published later

  5 junior air pistol shooters, eight weeks of mental training, no control group: trait sport confidence goes from 4.94 ± 1.17 to 6.60 ± 0.65 (p = 0.049, d = 1.75), while confidence measured with a scale specific to archery and shooting rises from 4.16 ± 0.73 to 5.02 ± 0.39 without reaching significance (p = 0.074, d = 1.46). Another sport, and five people.

  Psychological skills training impacts autonomic nervous system responses to stress during sport-specific imagery: An exploratory study in junior elite shooters · Gunyoung Lee, Jihoon Ryu, Teri Kim

• 2024
  For Archers Published later

  12 competitive archers in Hong Kong, a twelve-week mindfulness programme, against 12 controls matched for sex, ranking and competition: confidence (CSAI-2 subscale) goes from 19.50 ± 6.53 to 27.00 ± 4.77 (t(11) = -7.78, p < 0.001, d = 2.24), cognitive anxiety falls from 19.83 to 13.25 (d = 1.68) and somatic anxiety from 16.92 to 12.25 (d = 1.46). The questionnaires were given only to the programme group: the control group is there for competition scores (from 626.83 to 638.17 against 625.67 to 622.67, interaction p = 0.024), not for confidence.

  Examining the Feasibility of a Mindfulness Flow Program for the Hong Kong Archers · Ka K. Lo, Mimi M. Y. Tse, Joanne W. Y. Chung, Queenie P. S. Law, Fenghua Sun

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  30 Indian national-level archers in three groups of 10 (self-regulation, imagery, control), twelve weeks: motivational general-mastery imagery, that is seeing oneself confident and in control, has higher means in the trained groups (5.63 ± 1.04 and 5.05 ± 0.99 against 4.41 ± 0.65) but the difference is not significant (F(2, 22) = 2.537, p = 0.102). It measures imagery of confidence, not confidence itself, and the journal has questionable editorial standards.

  Effect of psychological intervention on mental imagery of national level archers Questionable venue · Thepfukolie Punyu, Saon Sanyal Bhowmik

Status history

1. 2010 Contradicted The first mental programme on archers that also measures confidence: three archers from the Korean reserve national squad do eight weeks of biofeedback, cognitive restructuring and routines before the World Youth Championships, and their state confidence shows no clear trend, with large differences from one to the next. In interviews they say the routine helped them, but the questionnaire does not move. A single study, on three people and without statistics, and it runs against the claim: contradicted.
2. 2020 Contradicted Between 2016 and 2020 two studies with a control group arrive, but neither measures confidence on a scale that can be read. The first, an Indian randomised trial of thirty archers in a journal with questionable editorial standards, reports a better total mental skills score without giving the subscales; the second, twenty Korean archers from company-sponsored teams, uses questionnaires on personal strengths and optimism, and confidence appears only in interviews with the ten who followed the programme. Both are context, and the only measured result on confidence is still the 2010 one, which runs against the claim: contradicted.
3. 2023 Contested In the Chinese national team sixteen archers follow five months of weekly psychological training: state confidence rises little during the intervention and significantly in the months after, from 88.6 to 93.6, but one participant gets worse on every measure. It is the first result in favour from a reliable venue: the one from the year before, forty-five young Malaysian archers whose pre-shot confidence went from 7.9 to 18.4 after six weeks of imagery and self-talk, appeared in a journal with questionable editorial standards and by rule cannot decide a status. In the same year five young pistol shooters report more trait confidence after eight weeks of mental training, but they come from another sport. Among the studies that can decide, then, there is one in favour and one against, the Korean study of 2010 on three people and without statistics: both are small and they point in opposite directions, so the status is contested.
4. 2024 Reported The clearest result: twelve competitive archers in Hong Kong follow a twelve-week mindfulness programme and their state confidence goes from 19.5 to 27 points (d = 2.24), with cognitive and somatic anxiety falling. There is a matched control group, but it is used only for scores: confidence is measured solely in those who follow the programme. With two studies in favour from reliable venues, against only the Korean null on three people without statistics, the evidence in favour prevails and it is limited: the status moves to reported. It goes no higher, because every study in favour is a before and after with no control for confidence.

Related

Related articles

• Self-confidence and score: what goes together and what comes firstSelf-confidence and score in archers: what the studies measured, how strong the link is, and why nobody knows whether confidence comes before the points.
• Mental skills training in archery: what the measurements on archers showWhat has been measured on archers' mental training: score, confidence, anxiety, programme length, mock competitions and each of the tools in turn.

Research lines

• 52 studiesMental training: what has been tested on archers since 1979
• 102 studiesFrom the total on the scorecard to the arrow's coordinates

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA larger working memory does not make an archer more accurate3 studies · 79 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA longer quiet eye improves shooting accuracy3 studies · 58 archers measuredStatus since 2017
• ReportedA mental profile tells archers apart from athletes in other sports only in part5 studies · 550 archers measuredStatus since 2018
• ReportedA mental training programme improves the elite archer's mood1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023
• ReportedA mental training programme reduces burnout in elite archers1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023

See all claims on mind and attention