Better aerobic capacity goes with higher scores

The summary today

Four studies on archers have set aerobic capacity beside the score, and they split down the middle. In favour are two groups with an estimated VO2max of around 46 ml/kg/min: in twelve young Malaysian archers the better ones sit at 45.9 against 42.9 and the correlation with the score is 0.682; in twenty-three university club archers aerobic capacity is the measure that weighs most on the score at 18 metres, 27 per cent of the variance. Against are two groups of younger teenagers: in eighteen Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14, at 27.4 ml/kg/min, far below the groups in favour, the correlation is 0.281 and not significant, and in twenty under-13 archers the beep test does not predict the score in a regression with four other tests (p = 0.209). In all four, VO2max is estimated from a field test rather than measured, and none allows for age, height and experience, which go with both fitness and score. A 2021 result links lung capacity to the score in children, but a lung volume is not aerobic capacity. And the only aerobic training study that counted arrows saw them rise alongside fitness with no control group, with shooting trained in parallel, and with one youngster whose score improved while his VO2max fell.

Also phrased as: "aerobic capacity and archery"; "aerobic training for archers"; "running and archery score"; "fitness and accuracy"; "cardiovascular endurance in archery"

Evidence

• 2016
  Context Archers Published later

  17 young archers aged 13 to 19 in Terengganu: in a principal component analysis estimated VO2max (loading 0.78) groups with one-minute sit-ups (0.75), with age (-0.69) and body mass index (-0.71) on the opposite side, and the authors call that component endurance. Shooting score was not measured.

  The Application of Principal Components Analysis to Recognize Essential Physical Fitness Components among Youth Development Archers of Terengganu, Malaysia Questionable venue · Rabiu Muazu Musa, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Mainul Haque

• 2018
  Context Archers Published later

  32 young Malaysian archers aged 13 to 24 grouped by cluster analysis on measures of lung function (forced vital capacity, maximum voluntary ventilation, peak flow) and resting blood pressure: the 27 with high lung capacity also have higher scores than the 5 with low capacity, but the score difference appears only in the profile graph, with no test, and the score comes from six arrows at 50 metres. Aerobic capacity is not measured.

  A Multivariate Analysis of Cardiopulmonary Parameters in Archery Performance · Vijayamurugan Eswaramoorthi, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Naresh Bhaskar Raj, et al.

• 2019
  Context Archers Published later

  30 archers from a club in Palembang, six weeks of interval running three times a week against a control group: in the 12-minute run the trained group goes from 1.88 to 2.32 km, the controls from 1.89 to 1.90 (p < 0.001). Shooting score was not measured.

  Pengaruh Latihan Square terhadap Daya Tahan Aerobic Atlet Sriwijaya Archery Club · Arisman

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  12 young Malaysian recurve archers (16.0 ± 1.6 years) split by score: VO2max estimated with the 20-metre shuttle run is 45.9 (5.6) ml/kg/min in the better group against 42.9 (3.7) (Z = -2.09, p = 0.037) and correlates with the score at 0.682 (p = 0.014). Height, arm span and grip strength also separate the two groups.

  Anthropometric And Physical Fitness Components Comparison between High- And Low-Performance Archers · Jiun Sien Lau, Rosniwati Ghafar, Hairul Anuar Hashim, Erie Zuraidee Zulkifli

• 2021
  Context Archers Published later

  42 archers aged 9 to 12 (31 boys, 11 girls), score over 30 arrows at 18 metres: forced vital capacity correlates at 0.378 and forced expiratory volume in one second at 0.367 (p < 0.05), and in the girls vital capacity at 0.631; respiratory muscle strength does not (maximal inspiratory pressure r = 0.058, expiratory r = 0.262, both not significant). These are lung volumes, not aerobic capacity, and age and height are not controlled for.

  The relationship between shooting performance and respiratory muscle strength in archers aged 9-12 · Ozgur Bostanci, Menderes Kabadayi, Muhammet Hakan Mayda, Ali Kerim Yilmaz, Coskun Yilmaz

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  23 university club archers in Jakarta, estimated VO2max 46.46 ± 2.88 ml/kg/min, score 555.13 ± 26.01 out of 600 at 18 metres: in the path analysis aerobic capacity bears on the score with a coefficient of 0.520 (p < 0.001), 27 per cent of the variance, more than core endurance (0.266) or arm length (0.253). Those with more aerobic fitness also hold the plank longer (0.511, p = 0.011). The abstract reports 24 archers, the table 23.

  THE INFLUENCE OF ARM LENGTH, VO2 MAX AND CORE STABILITY ON ARROW SKILLS · Rifqi Rabbani, Junaidi, Susilo

• 2023
  Context Archers Published later

  11 archers aged 10 to 13, about eight weeks of aerobic circuit training with no control group and with shooting trained in parallel: estimated VO2max rises from 26.71 to 30.31 ml/kg/min (p = 0.003) and the score over 36 arrows at 30 metres from 287.54 to 309.91. The score rises in all eleven, aerobic capacity in ten: in one boy it falls from 31.4 to 26.8 while his score improves. A journal with questionable editorial standards.

  The Effect of Aerobic Circuit Training on Muscle Resistance, Cardiorespiratory Endurance, and Accuracy Among Archery Athletes Questionable venue · Muh Batistuta Fitoni N, Yudik Prasetyo, Heru Prasetyo

• 2024
  Against Archers Published later

  18 sub-elite Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14, a score of 619.6 ± 22.2 out of 720 over 72 arrows at 70 metres: VO2max estimated with the 20-metre shuttle run, 27.4 ± 2.1 ml/kg/min, is not related to the score (rho = 0.281, p = 0.26). In the same group the tests that are related to the score are others, pinch-grip endurance among them.

  Physical capacity and performance correlation in sub-elite Indonesian archery athletes · Afif Rusdiawan, Donny Ardy Kusuma, Muhammad Labib Siena Ar Rasyid, José Vicente García Jiménez, Mochammad Purnomo, Himawan Wismanadi, et al.

• 2025
  Against Archers Published later

  20 under-13 standard-bow archers: in a multiple regression with balance, coordination, grip strength and push-ups, aerobic capacity estimated with the beep test does not predict the score (p = 0.209), and none of the five tests predicts it.

  Physical fitness and shooting accuracy: an evaluative study on early adolescent archery athletes · Rahmaniar Wahyuningtias, Indra Himawan Susanto, Ananda Perwira Bakti, Soni Sulistyarto

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  21 Balinese school archers aged 15 to 17: VO2max estimated with the multistage fitness test 27.84 ± 4.45 ml/kg/min, from 22.93 to 38.84. The study does not set aerobic capacity beside the score: it shows the level of fitness involved in the youth groups where this question gets asked.

  The Utilization of VO₂Max Data as Archery Athlete Selection and Monitoring Instrument · I Gede Ari Septena Putra, Kadek Yogi Parta Lesmana, I Made Satyawan

Status history

1. 2016 Not studied Archers' aerobic capacity enters the registry as part of a profile, not as a question: in seventeen young Malaysian archers estimated VO2max groups with sit-ups in a component the authors call endurance. The score was not measured, so on the link with the arrows there is nothing.
2. 2018 Not studied The first data to put respiratory function and score in the same group arrive, but without answering: among thirty-two young Malaysian archers the twenty-seven grouped as high lung capacity also have higher scores. The study measures lung volumes and flows and resting blood pressure, not aerobic capacity, the score difference shows only in a profile graph, with no test, and the score comes from six arrows at 50 metres: on the question there is still no evidence.
3. 2020 Reported The first measured link: in twelve young Malaysian archers from a state squad and a sports school, VO2max estimated with the 20-metre shuttle run is higher in the better shooters, 45.9 against 42.9 ml/kg/min (p = 0.037), and it correlates with the score at 0.682. A cross-sectional association in twelve youngsters, in which height and arm span also separate the two groups: reported.
4. 2021 Reported In forty-two archers aged 9 to 12 forced vital capacity is weakly associated with the score over 30 arrows at 18 metres (r = 0.378), while respiratory muscle strength plays no part. It is a lung volume rather than aerobic capacity, and in children of that age it grows with height, which nobody controlled for: it adds context, and the status does not move.
5. 2023 Reported The strongest support so far: in twenty-three university club archers, with an estimated VO2max of 46.5 ml/kg/min, aerobic capacity is the path that weighs most on the score at 18 metres (coefficient 0.520, p < 0.001, 27 per cent of the variance), more than core endurance or arm length. In the same year an aerobic circuit in eleven children raises VO2max and score together, but with no control and with shooting trained in parallel. Two associations pointing the same way, both with VO2max estimated: reported.
6. 2024 Contested The first result against: in eighteen Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14, measured over 72 arrows at 70 metres, VO2max estimated with the shuttle run, 27.4 ml/kg/min on average, is not related to the score (rho = 0.281, p = 0.26). The study is as small as those in favour and appeared in an international journal: the studies on archers point in opposite directions, contested.
7. 2025 Contested In twenty under-13 standard-bow archers the beep test does not predict the score in a regression with four other fitness tests (p = 0.209), and none of the five predicts it. Two studies in favour and two against, and the two against are both in younger teenagers: contested.

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Research lines

• 63 studiesThe archer's physical profile: strength, endurance and size
• 48 studiesWhat predicts the score, and how talent selection tried to use it

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA battery of physical tests identifies the most promising young archers7 studies · 373 archers measuredStatus since 2018
• ReportedA few weeks of archery improves children's balance1 study · 32 archers measuredStatus since 2009
• ReportedA mobility and stretching programme improves an archer's flexibility1 study · 30 archers measuredStatus since 2025
• ReportedA spell of reduced training makes the score drop1 study · 9 archers measuredStatus since 2021
• ReportedA strength programme away from the range increases an archer's measured strength15 studies · 316 archers measuredStatus since 2018

See all claims on physical training