Before competition, stress markers in archers' saliva rise, and stay higher in those who shoot worse

The summary today

Five studies on different samples, in Korea and in Brazil, show competition raising stress markers in archers' saliva. In Korean women university archers, alpha-amylase, which tracks immediate arousal, doubles or nearly quadruples in the minutes before the start, from 43.8 to 87.4 units per millilitre in 2016 and from 28.5 to 102.5 in the 2024 placebo group, while cortisol arrives later and keeps rising even after the end. In Brazil cortisol is higher on competition day than on a rest day or a free practice day, with a large difference on waking (d = 1.20). The second half of the claim has three studies in favour: in 2016 more amylase goes with lower scores (r = -0.87), in 2018 the archers placed between twentieth and thirtieth have more amylase three minutes before and more cortisol half an hour after than the top ten, and in 2023 more cortisol on waking goes with lower scores (r = -0.5). Half an hour before the start, however, the two 2018 groups are identical, so the difference only appears with the competition upon them. These are all observed associations, in samples of 8 to 40 archers, from just two research groups and largely in Korean women: they do not say whether a high marker spoils the shooting or whether a competition going badly is what raises it.

Also phrased as: "cortisol and competition"; "salivary alpha-amylase in archers"; "competition stress measured in saliva"; "stress hormones and score"; "more stressed archers shoot worse"

Evidence

• 2016
  For Archers Published later

  19 archers from Korean women's colleges with more than ten years of practice, individual 30 m event at the 34th President's Cup (July 2016): salivary alpha-amylase 43.80 ± 11.3 U/ml ten minutes before, 87.40 ± 22.4 one minute before and 78.20 ± 20.4 ten minutes after the end (F = 4.30, p < 0.05), with both later values above the starting one.

  Correlation Between Salivary Alpha-amylase, Anxiety, and Game Records in the Archery Competition · In Soo Lim

• 2016
  For Archers Published later

  In the same 19 archers more alpha-amylase goes with more reported anxiety (r = 0.62) and with a lower score (r = -0.87), and anxiety in turn goes with a lower score (r = -0.84), all with p < 0.01. Scores lie between 341 and 355, with a mean of 349.2 ± 4.6: such a strong correlation over such a narrow range calls for caution.

  Correlation Between Salivary Alpha-amylase, Anxiety, and Game Records in the Archery Competition · In Soo Lim

• 2018
  For Archers Published later

  18 women university archers at the individual 50 m event of the 21st Korean national team trials (July 2018), split by placing: 9 between first and tenth (mean 339.5 ± 4.1) and 9 between twentieth and thirtieth (323.3 ± 3.4). Three minutes before, alpha-amylase is 51.6 ± 15.8 U/ml in the top group and 67.4 ± 9.7 in the other, half an hour after the end 42.3 ± 10.5 against 60.1 ± 13.7; cortisol half an hour after is 1.46 ± 0.2 against 1.98 ± 0.2 µg/dl (p < 0.05).

  Comparative analysis of the correlation between anxiety, salivary alpha amylase, cortisol levels, and athletes' performance in archery competitions · In-Soo Lim

• 2018
  Context Archers Published later

  Half an hour before the competition the two groups cannot be told apart: alpha-amylase 28.1 ± 6.2 against 31.0 ± 7.1 U/ml, cortisol 1.23 ± 0.2 against 1.22 ± 0.7 µg/dl. In the lower-placed group the values three minutes before predict those half an hour after the end (r between 0.67 and 0.75, p < 0.05), and in the top group these correlations are absent: in those who shoot worse, arousal lasts longer.

  Comparative analysis of the correlation between anxiety, salivary alpha amylase, cortisol levels, and athletes' performance in archery competitions · In-Soo Lim

• 2021
  For Archers Published later

  8 recurve archers from the Brazilian national team (4 men, 4 women), a simulated competition compared with a rest day: salivary cortisol is higher after every distance, peaking after the 70 m and then falling while staying above resting values. The values appear only in a figure, and the authors write that the share due to physical effort cannot be separated from the share due to the stress of being assessed.

  Caracterização das demandas fisiológicas e intervenção nutricional no Tiro com Arco · Levy Aragão de Oliveira

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  40 male archers at the Brazilian championships, saliva collected on waking, at 7.15, on the free practice day and on the first competition day: cortisol is higher on competition day (p < 0.001, d = 1.20), and the same holds for reported anxiety (d = 1.20). Master's thesis from the University of São Paulo, from the same laboratory as the 2021 study.

  A quantificação do estado emocional em ambiente competitivo: estudo de caso no tiro com arco · Darlan Souza

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  In the 37 archers with a competition score available, more cortisol on waking goes with a lower score (r = -0.5), and more reported anxiety goes with a lower score even more clearly (r = -0.7). The sample is taken in the morning, hours before shooting, so it describes the state archers arrive with rather than their state on the line.

  A quantificação do estado emocional em ambiente competitivo: estudo de caso no tiro com arco · Darlan Souza

• 2024
  For Archers Published later

  18 archers from Korean women's colleges at the individual 50 m event of the 40th President's Cup (June 2023), randomly assigned to L-theanine or placebo, 9 per group. In the placebo group, thirty, twenty and ten minutes before the start and twenty minutes after the end: anxiety 2.8, 4.8, 8.7 and 4.6 out of ten; alpha-amylase 28.5, 58.3, 102.5 and 61.7 U/ml; cortisol 4.5, 6.2, 14.6 and 18.9. A significant effect of time for every measure (p < 0.05 for anxiety, p < 0.001 for amylase and cortisol); theanine lowers anxiety, amylase and cortisol in the minutes before the start, and score is not reported as an outcome.

  Effects of supplement L-theanine on cognitive anxiety, salivary alpha-amylase, and cortisol in archery competition · In-Soo Lim

Status history

1. 2016 Reported The first salivary measurement in competition arrives: in nineteen Korean women university archers alpha-amylase doubles in the minute before the start, from 43.8 to 87.4 units, and ten minutes after the end it is still almost double, so it is not a peak that clears at once. Those with more of it report more anxiety and score lower (r = -0.87), although all the scores lie between 341 and 355. A single small cross-sectional study: reported.
2. 2018 Reported The same laboratory repeats the study on eighteen archers at the Korean national team trials over 50 metres and adds cortisol. The two markers have different timings: alpha-amylase peaks three minutes before shooting and then falls, cortisol keeps rising until half an hour after the end, and in both cases the values are higher in the nine placed between twentieth and thirtieth than in the top ten. Half an hour before the competition, however, the two groups are identical. Two studies on archers pointing the same way, but from the same group and only associative: the status stays reported.
3. 2021 Reported An independent sample arrives: eight archers from the Brazilian national team, with salivary cortisol higher in a simulated competition than on a rest day after every distance, peaking after the 70 metres. The authors themselves warn that physical effort cannot be separated from the stress of being assessed. The rise now has two independent lines of research, the link with placing still hangs on a single group, and the Brazilian figures appear only in a graph: reported.
4. 2023 Reported Forty archers at the Brazilian championships have much higher waking cortisol on competition day than on the free practice day (a large difference, d = 1.20), and among the thirty-seven with a score available more cortisol goes with lower scores (r = -0.5). The second half of the claim now also has support outside Korea, but these are still observational studies, showing associations and not effects: the status does not rise beyond reported.
5. 2024 Reported Eighteen Korean women university archers are sampled thirty, twenty and ten minutes before the start of a national competition over 50 metres, and again twenty minutes after the end. In the placebo group the rise is steep and orderly: reported anxiety goes from 2.8 to 8.7 out of ten, alpha-amylase from 28.5 to 102.5 units, cortisol from 4.5 to 14.6, and after the competition amylase falls while cortisol rises further, to 18.9. It confirms the first half of the claim with the same pattern as in 2018, but it does not look at scores: the status stays reported.

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Research lines

• 56 studiesAnxiety and confidence in archery competition since 1986
• 27 studiesHow much the body switches on in competition

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

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