Archers stand more still than people who do not shoot

The summary today

Two force plate comparisons point the same way. Ten Bulgarian recurve archers with more than five years of shooting sway less than fifteen untrained people of the same age in almost every condition, eyes open and closed, on a firm surface and on foam; the one exception is the simplest of all, standing on a firm surface with eyes open in the forward-backward direction, where there is no difference. In a Japanese study 24 archers regain their balance sooner than 34 non-athletes when the dotted box around them starts to swing, and at one point also sooner than 35 ball-sport athletes; the difference, though, appears in two five-second windows and vanishes on the third repetition. The most interesting point is how the advantage shows: closing the eyes barely disturbs the archers, while foam removes almost all of their advantage in sway speed, as if they relied more on their feet and body than on vision. Three limits weigh on this. These are cross-sectional comparisons, so they cannot say whether archery makes people steady or whether the steadiest people take up archery and stay with it. And standing still on two feet is not balancing on one leg, where the advantage is less clear: in an Indian comparison of 194 young people the women archers hold the position longer than women of the same age, while in the men the result changes direction from the right leg to the left. Finally, being an experienced archer does not mean exceptional standing balance: of 30 Indian professionals, measured with no comparison group, more than half are classified as showing sway on a platform test.

Also phrased as: "archers have better balance"; "static balance in archers"; "postural sway in archers and non-archers"; "archery improves stability"; "archers on a force plate"

Evidence

• 2015
  For Archers Published later

  10 male Bulgarian recurve archers aged about 23 with more than 5 years of shooting against 15 untrained people of the same age, force plate, 30 seconds in 4 conditions (eyes open and closed, firm surface and foam): sway amplitude lower in the archers (group effect forward-backward F = 34.4 and side-to-side F = 43.7, p < 0.001) in every condition except the firm surface with eyes open in the forward-backward direction; sway speed lower on a firm surface with eyes open and closed, while on foam the difference remains only with eyes closed in the forward-backward direction. Foam speeds up sway in everyone (F = 33.3 and 36.1, p < 0.001); in the archers closing the eyes changes little.

  Postural Stability during Static Upright Stance in Archers · Katerina Stambolieva, Mihail Otzetov, Dorina Petrova, Rosen Ikonomov, Plamen Gatev

• 2019
  Context Archers Published later

  93 Indian inter-university archers (51 men, 42 women) and 101 people of the same age who do not shoot (51 and 50), with a four-group analysis of variance and no pairwise comparisons. In the Star Excursion Balance Test, a reaching test performed on one leg, the archers reach further than controls of the same sex (on the right 684 and 662 cm against 550 and 574; F = 39.9, p = 0.001). In one-leg balance the picture is mixed: the women archers hold longer than the women controls (on the left 169.1 against 128.4 seconds), while on the left the men archers hold for less time than the men controls, 147.6 against 156.1. These are one-leg tests, not two-footed standing sway, and the journal has questionable editorial standards: context.

  Correlations of Static Balance and Star Excursion Balance Test With Selected Anthropometric Variables in Inter-University Archery Players Questionable venue · Ashwini Patil, Shyamal Koley

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  24 archers, 35 ball-sport athletes and 34 non-athletes aged about 21 to 23, standing inside a dotted box that moves towards them and then swings at 0.42 Hz: in the first trial the archers sway less than the non-athletes at 15 and 20 seconds after the start and less than the ball-sport athletes at 20 seconds, in the second the difference from the non-athletes remains, in the third the groups can no longer be told apart. Results are shown only in a graph, with no values and no correction for multiple comparisons; data collected by mid-2003; nothing is said about the archers' discipline, level or years of shooting.

  Postural stability against full-field dynamic visual disturbance in archery players · Yoshiro Wada, Noriaki Takeda

• 2022
  Context Review Published later

  A review of 21 studies on postural control in athletes: shooters, footballers, wrestlers, tennis players and others sway less than non-athletes when standing with eyes open, but the values are not reported, and standard upright tests may fail to distinguish athletes of different levels, who separate in sport-specific tasks.

  The Role of Neuromuscular Control of Postural and Core Stability in Functional Movement and Athlete Performance · Erika Zemková, Ludmila Zapletalová

• 2023
  For Review Published later

  A review of 126 papers, 10 on archery: it reports that archers stay more stable than ball-sport players and untrained people when vision is disturbed, citing the Japanese study of 2020, with no values and no data of its own.

  Sport-specific training induced adaptations in postural control and their relationship with athletic performance · Erika Zemková, Zuzana Kováčiková

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  30 professional Indian archers aged 20 to 30, Neurocom Balance Master with the m-CTSIB protocol (4 conditions, 3 trials of 10 seconds): 17 out of 30 are classified as showing postural sway. The study looks for a link with foot posture and has no group of non-archers; a regional journal.

  Exploring the relationship between postural sway and foot posture among archers: A comparative analysis · Divya Gohil, Nidhi Yadav, Gaurang Baxi

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  30 professional compound archers, twelve weeks of BOSU balance work added to shooting: the one-leg Stork test lasts 4.11 ± 0.86 seconds on the right and 3.49 ± 0.96 on the left at the start, and 5.03 and 4.50 at the end. This is one-leg balance, not two-footed standing sway, and there is no comparison with non-archers.

  Associations between changes in postural control, shoulder proprioception, and shooting accuracy in professional compound archers · Sema Acaröz, Tuba Yerlikaya, Hüseyin Bilal Özkader, Yelda Kıngır Soykurt

Status history

1. 2015 Reported The first force plate comparison: ten recurve archers with more than five years of shooting and fifteen untrained people stand for thirty seconds in four conditions. The archers sway less in amplitude in every condition but one, the firm surface with eyes open in the forward-backward direction, and more slowly on a firm surface; closing their eyes barely disturbs them, and foam, which speeds up sway in everyone, widens their sway only if they also close their eyes. A single cross-sectional study with ten archers: reported.
2. 2019 Reported A larger comparison, 93 Indian university archers and 101 people of the same age who do not shoot, measures something else, though: balance on one leg and reach while standing on one leg. In the reach test archers of both sexes go further, while in one-leg balance the women archers beat the women controls and the men archers, on the left, stay below the men controls. With no pairwise comparisons, with tests other than standing still on two feet, and in a journal with questionable standards, the finding remains context: the claim still rests on a single force plate comparison, reported.
3. 2020 Reported A second comparison of standing sway, with data collected by mid-2003 and published now, compares 24 archers, 35 ball-sport athletes and 34 non-athletes facing a dotted box that swings around them: after the initial jolt the archers settle sooner, with less sway than the non-athletes at 15 and 20 seconds in the first two trials, but by the third the groups can no longer be told apart. Two comparisons in agreement, both cross-sectional and with no numerical values in the second: an association goes no further than reported.
4. 2022 Reported A review widens the picture beyond archery: shooters, footballers, wrestlers and tennis players sway less than non-athletes when standing with eyes open, while standard upright tests often fail to separate athletes of different levels, who differ in sport-specific tasks. It shows that lower sway is not peculiar to archers, but it adds no data on archers: the status does not change.
5. 2025 Reported A finding that tempers the claim without contradicting it: of 30 professional Indian archers aged 20 to 30, on a platform test in four conditions, 17 are classified as showing postural sway. There is no group of non-archers, so it cannot say whether they stand more or less still than others, but it is a reminder that being an experienced archer does not mean exceptional standing balance. The status stays reported.
6. 2026 Reported In 30 professional compound archers balance on one leg in the Stork test lasts 4.1 seconds on the right and 3.5 on the left, and after twelve weeks of BOSU work it reaches 5.0 and 4.5. Standing still on two feet and balancing on one leg are not the same ability, so the finding does not bear on the claim, which still rests on two cross-sectional comparisons.

Related

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• Posture and stability in archery: what biomechanists revealCentre of pressure, bow movement while aiming, balance before and after the release, the trunk and balance tests: what the biomechanics of stability measures and how much it weighs on the score.
• Balance, core and proprioception: the training you never seeWhat balance and core exercises change in archers, which test is linked to score, and what shoulder position sense does and does not tell you.

Research lines

• 30 studiesArchers' postural stability since 1990
• 26 studiesBalance, core and proprioception: the interventions, year by year

Other claims in this domain

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• 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

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