A school archery course improves pupils' motivation and wellbeing

The summary today

Three studies of young people learning to shoot at school all point the same way, and none of the three has a comparison group. In 2017, at a Turkish secondary school, thirty-two beginners did twelve weeks of archery, one lesson a week, and at the end reported more motivation on every scale: health rose from 3.59 to 4.60 out of five, social enjoyment from 3.61 to 4.53, while competition grew least of all, from 3.44 to 3.93; in interviews they spoke of more self-confidence. In 2022, at an Indonesian lower secondary school during remote teaching, six months of recreational archery went with a fall in school burnout, the high levels dropping from 12 pupils out of 64 to 3, but a third of the class stayed exactly in the middle band. In 2026 a qualitative study in two primary schools described children who wanted to keep shooting when the lesson was made of short games. The limitation is the same for all of them: without a group doing another activity with the same attention from the teachers, the effect of archery cannot be separated from that of a new course that pupils enjoy, and the first survey appeared in a journal with doubtful editorial standards, so in the registry it counts as context and the status rests on the Indonesian studies.

Also phrased as: "archery in schools"; "archery in physical education"; "school archery course"; "archery is good for young people"; "archery and school wellbeing"

Evidence

• 2017
  Context Archers Published later

  32 Turkish secondary school beginners, 12 weeks of archery with one lesson a week, no comparison group: on a 1 to 5 scale every motive for exercise rose, health from 3.59 to 4.60 (t = 10.77), social enjoyment from 3.61 to 4.53, appearance from 3.65 to 4.34, skill development from 3.95 to 4.56 and competition, the lowest and the one that grew least, from 3.44 to 3.93 (p = 0.009). The journal has doubtful editorial standards.

  Investigation of Participation Motivations in Exercises of Students Participating in Archery in Extra Curricular Activities Questionable venue · Nevin Gündüz, Muzaffer Toprak Keskin, Fuat Erduğan

• 2017
  Context Archers Published later

  In 15 to 30 minute interviews with 18 of the 32 pupils, 9 girls and 9 boys, more self-confidence emerges after the course; agreement between the coders was 80 per cent.

  Investigation of Participation Motivations in Exercises of Students Participating in Archery in Extra Curricular Activities Questionable venue · Nevin Gündüz, Muzaffer Toprak Keskin, Fuat Erduğan

• 2017
  Context Archers Published later

  The strongest reason to train remains learning to shoot well, before and after the course (skill development 3.95 and 4.56, the highest subscale at both points), and in the interviews many describe discovering that archery is much harder than they had imagined.

  Investigation of Participation Motivations in Exercises of Students Participating in Archery in Extra Curricular Activities Questionable venue · Nevin Gündüz, Muzaffer Toprak Keskin, Fuat Erduğan

• 2022
  For Archers Published later

  64 pupils at an Indonesian lower secondary school during remote teaching, a single group followed through six months of recreational archery: the high and very high levels of school burnout fell from 12 out of 64 to 3 out of 64, and the lowest band rose from 16 to 27 (Wilcoxon Z = -3.61, p < 0.001). No control group, in the middle of the pandemic.

  Burnout Levels in Online Learning at New Normal Era of COVID-19 Pandemi Using Archery as Playing Concept on SMP-IT Ibnu Sina Wuluhan Students · Efrizal Amrullah Akhmad, Sugiono Warsito, Luthfi Farda M

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  The fall does not involve everyone: the middle band of burnout is identical before and after, 21 pupils out of 64, so a third of the class does not move.

  Burnout Levels in Online Learning at New Normal Era of COVID-19 Pandemi Using Archery as Playing Concept on SMP-IT Ibnu Sina Wuluhan Students · Efrizal Amrullah Akhmad, Sugiono Warsito, Luthfi Farda M

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  70 university beginners, three weeks of lessons with plywood and PVC bows, no control group: reported mood improved, but the published scores are not compatible with the scale used (49.00 and 53.63 on a questionnaire that runs from 5 to 25) and the p value does not match the stated t. They are university students, not school pupils, and the result does not stand up as evidence.

  Increasing students' mood state and self-confidence: 3 weeks plywood bow pvc archery program · Abdurrohman Muzakki, Bustanol Arifin, Setiya Yunus Saputra, Edi Setiawan, Ruslan Abdul Gani, Zsolt Németh

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  40 children in the last two years of primary school at two Indonesian schools, archery lessons organised in game cycles of 30 to 60 seconds repeated 3 to 5 times: analysis of videos and images of the lessons shows children who want to keep shooting, while traditional drills soon bore them. There is no measurement and no comparison.

  Game-Based Archery Learning in Physical Education: A Qualitative Exploration of Elementary School Students' Attention Experiences · Sudisto Sudisto, Agus Gunawan

Status history

1. 2017 Not studied The first survey of a school course arrives: twelve weeks of archery at a Turkish secondary school, thirty-two beginners measured before and after, with no comparison group. Motivation rises on every scale, health from 3.59 to 4.60 out of five and social enjoyment from 3.61 to 4.53, more than competition, and in interviews the pupils report more self-confidence. The journal, though, has doubtful editorial standards, and under the registry's rule a doubtful venue never decides a status: the figure is read as context, and there is still no evidence that can decide.
2. 2022 Reported The first study in a venue with no warnings arrives: sixty-four Indonesian lower secondary pupils during remote teaching, and after six months of recreational archery the high levels of school burnout fall from twelve to three, while the lowest band grows from sixteen to twenty-seven (Wilcoxon Z = -3.61). But the middle band does not move by a single pupil, there is no control group and much else changed during six months of pandemic. The same year a three-week course for university students reports better mood with scores that are incompatible with the scale. It points the same way as the Turkish survey, but it is a before and after with no control: reported.
3. 2026 Reported A third study, this time qualitative: at two Indonesian primary schools forty children take lessons built on game cycles of thirty to sixty seconds repeated three to five times, and they say they want to keep shooting, while traditional drills soon bore them. With no measurement and no comparison group, it adds a voice but not a stronger design: the status stays reported.

Related

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• Does archery improve children's attention? What the studies have measuredArchery and children's attention: courses with no comparison group show gains, randomised studies find no effect, and only one study looks at grades.

Research lines

• 21 studiesArchery as an intervention: attention, school, health and inclusion
• 35 studiesTeaching and learning archery: sixty years of instructional trials

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA larger working memory does not make an archer more accurate3 studies · 79 archers measuredStatus since 2012
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• 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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