Archers who win medals have greater mental toughness

The summary today

The question of whether medal winners have greater mental toughness has a single direct comparison, and a fragile one. Forty Indian university archers, twenty medallists at the inter-university championships and twenty non-medallists, fill in a questionnaire on which fewer points mean more toughness: the medallists score 4.45 out of 24, the non-medallists 14.20, with about three times fewer weakness points on all four components. The widest gap is on concentration, the narrowest on control under pressure. Figures this clear-cut on forty people are a reason for caution in themselves, and there are others: the journal has questionable editorial standards, the comparison is made once the medals have already been awarded, and winning may make people more confident rather than the other way round. The other study on the subject, 269 archers at Indonesian provincial championships, compares distance categories rather than winners and non-winners, and mainly serves as a warning about the instrument: almost all scores sit a few points below the maximum of 40, and the differences between distances, less than a point, become significant only because of the number of people. That medallists report more toughness rests on a single study, in a journal with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Also phrased as: "mental toughness and results"; "mental toughness in archery"; "medals are won in the head"; "mental strength of medallists"

Evidence

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  269 archers at Indonesian provincial championships, SMTQ questionnaire before competing: 37.56 ± 1.28 at 40 m (147 archers), 36.92 ± 1.93 at 50 m (64) and 36.57 ± 1.82 at 70 m (58), ANOVA F=9.547 with p<0.001, but 50 and 70 m fall in the same subset (Duncan, p=0.170) and only 40 m stands apart (Tables 1, 4 and 5, pp. 485-486). It does not compare winners with non-winners, and the link with competition score is not validly tested.

  The impact of mental toughness on accuracy in archery athletes: a comparative study across distances · Febriansyah Dwi Cahyo, Yudik Prasetyo, Bernadeta Suhartini, Mar’atul Afifah, Asyidika Vito Indarto, Achmad Zakaria

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  The questionnaire is squeezed towards the top: the observed ranges are 35-40 at 40 m, 33-40 at 50 m and 32-39 at 70 m out of a maximum of 40, with standard deviations between 1.28 and 1.93 (Table 1, p. 485). With a scale this narrow among competitive archers it is hard to tell people apart, which stands as a warning for anyone using it.

  The impact of mental toughness on accuracy in archery athletes: a comparative study across distances · Febriansyah Dwi Cahyo, Yudik Prasetyo, Bernadeta Suhartini, Mar’atul Afifah, Asyidika Vito Indarto, Achmad Zakaria

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 20 medallists and 20 non-medallists among Indian university archers aged 18-25 at the inter-university championships, on a reversed scale where a lower score means more toughness (0-24): 4.45 ± 1.61 against 14.20 ± 2.42, t=15.02 with 38 degrees of freedom, p<0.001 (p. 15).

  Comparative Analysis of Mental Toughness among Medallist and Non-Medallist University Archery Players Questionable venue · Amit

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. Component by component, six items each, medallists against non-medallists: commitment and motivation 1.20 ± 0.83 against 3.75 ± 1.25 (t=7.59), concentration 1.05 ± 0.83 against 3.85 ± 1.14 (t=8.91), control under pressure 1.05 ± 0.60 against 3.15 ± 1.31 (t=6.51), self-confidence 1.15 ± 0.93 against 3.45 ± 1.05 (t=7.32), all with p<0.001 (Tables 2 and 3, pp. 15-16). The widest gap is on concentration, the narrowest on control under pressure.

  Comparative Analysis of Mental Toughness among Medallist and Non-Medallist University Archery Players Questionable venue · Amit

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  On the questionnaire's bands the medallists, at 4.45, fall at the edge of the best band (0-4) and the non-medallists, at 14.20, at the worse end of the intermediate one (5-14); the group without medals is also the less uniform, standard deviation 2.42 against 1.61 (Tables 2 and 3, pp. 15-16). The comparison is made once the medals have been awarded, so it cannot say whether toughness comes before winning or after.

  Comparative Analysis of Mental Toughness among Medallist and Non-Medallist University Archery Players Questionable venue · Amit

Status history

1. 2025 Not studied On the question itself there is still no comparison between archers who win and archers who do not. The largest study of archers' mental toughness, 269 archers at Indonesian provincial championships, compares distance categories: 37.56 at 40 metres against 36.92 at 50 and 36.57 at 70, differences of less than a point made significant by the number of people, with a questionnaire squeezed towards the top and almost every score a few points below the maximum. The link with competition score is not validly tested. On medals there is still no relevant evidence: not studied.
2. 2026 Not studied The first direct comparison arrives. Forty Indian university archers, twenty medallists and twenty non-medallists, separate on all four components of the questionnaire, with about three times fewer weakness points in the medallists: the widest gap is on concentration, the narrowest on control under pressure, and the medallists fall at the edge of the best band. Figures this clear-cut on forty people are a reason for caution in themselves, and the comparison looks backwards, at medals already won. The journal has questionable editorial standards: the registry reports the study but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

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