One study found that nicotine gum improves archers' concentration and manual dexterity
1 study · 11 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single study, from 2021, with a design suited to the question: eleven national-level university recurve archers, all men and non-smokers, chew either a gum containing two milligrams of nicotine or a flavour-matched gum without it for thirty minutes, taking both conditions in turn. With nicotine the mean time for correct rejections in a figure-matching test falls from 8.23 to 7.29, and the grooved pegboard, a test of fine dexterity, is completed in 48.8 seconds instead of 53.4. Motor reaction times do not change. In the simulated competition that follows the tests the mean score over 36 arrows, averaged across three days, rises from 290.6 to 298.1, a result the registry reads in the entry on scores. The limits are serious: eleven people, a single dose, the order of the two conditions not reported, and the correct rejection time printed in milliseconds, a unit that cannot be the right one for a figure-matching task. Nicotine is addictive, and the registry records the result without recommending its use.
Also phrased as: "nicotine gum"; "nicotine and concentration"; "a cigarette before shooting"; "nicotine and dexterity"
In practice
Around the range one hears that a cigarette or a piece of nicotine gum before shooting helps concentration and keeps the hands steady.
Evidence
-
2021
For Archers Published later
11 national-level university recurve archers, non-smokers, randomised placebo-controlled crossover with 2 mg gum: thirty minutes after the gum the mean correct rejection time on the Cognitrone falls from 8.23 ± 0.98 to 7.29 ± 0.87 (p = 0.038; the unit is printed as milliseconds) and the grooved pegboard goes from 53.41 ± 4.05 to 48.76 ± 3.18 seconds (p = 0.003).
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
In the same study motor reaction times do not differ between nicotine and placebo. The simulated competition score, the mean of three days of 36 arrows, rises from 290.58 ± 10.09 to 298.05 ± 8.56 (p = 0.009), and heart rate while shooting is higher with nicotine, 101.7 against 95.4 beats per minute.
Nicotine supplementation enhances simulated game performance of archery athletes · Bao-Lien Hung, Li-Jung Chen, Yi-Ying Chen, Jhih-Bang Ou, Shih-Hua Fang
Status history
- 2021 Reported The first and only study of the question, with a suitable design: eleven national-level recurve archers, non-smokers, a gum with two milligrams of nicotine against an identical gum without it, taking both conditions in turn. With nicotine the correct rejection time in an attention test improves (7.29 against 8.23) and so does dexterity on the grooved pegboard (48.8 against 53.4 seconds), while motor reaction times do not change. A single study on eleven archers, with a single dose: reported.
Related
Related articles
- Concentration in archery: how it is measured, how much it matters and whether it can be trainedWhat studies on archers say about concentration: how it is measured, whether it tracks score, whether it fades late in a round and whether it can be trained.
- Caffeine and alcohol in archery: what the science saysCaffeine, alcohol, beta-blockers and nicotine in archery: what studies in archers have measured, almost always with a single study per substance.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). One study found that nicotine gum improves archers' concentration and manual dexterity (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/nicotine-concentration-dexterity
@misc{campagna2026_nicotinaconcentrazionearcieri,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {One study found that nicotine gum improves archers' concentration and manual dexterity},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/nicotine-concentration-dexterity},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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