Finger hold time at full draw is linked to the score

The summary today

Three studies have timed how long archers can hold the string at full draw and set it beside their scores, and they do not point the same way. The clearest, on 18 Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14, finds the highest correlations in a battery of nine tests: rho 0.748 drawing the string with the right hand and 0.632 with the left, against the score over 72 arrows at 70 m, while holding in the normal shooting position stops at 0.445 and no other physical test reaches significance. In 14 young recurve archers at a national youth training centre, holding past the clicker until failure is the test that agrees best with the battery total, 0.838, but that total contains the test itself and is not the score. On the other side, in 11 Ukrainian beginners aged 18 to 20, string hold time does not follow the score, with correlations of 0.14 and 0.26, neither significant. The link shows up in young archers who already train and not in beginners, on samples so small that none of the three results stands on its own; and none of them accounted for draw weight, which could explain part of it, since a heavier bow is likely to be held for less time.

Also phrased as: "holding at full draw and score"; "holding the string for longer"; "training the hold with the bow"; "clicker hold test"; "the longer you hold, the better you shoot"

Evidence

• 2018
  Against Archers Published later

  22 Ukrainian beginners aged 18 to 20 split into two groups; in the experimental group (11), after the intervention, the score is not related to the time the string is held at full draw, r = 0.14 on the left and 0.26 on the right, nor to press-ups (-0.17) or squats (0.06), none of them significant. The only index that moves with the score is mental stability on the Schulte table test (r = -0.55, p < 0.05, where a lower value means more stability). Eleven archers and a regional journal.

  Influence of application of special means of development of equilibrium and precision-target movements on the level and structure of psychophysiological indicators, physical and technical readiness of archers · V.V. Artiuh, Zh.L. Kozina, V.O. Koval, D.V. Safronov, S.V. Fomin, Yu.O. Novikov

• 2024
  For Archers Published later

  18 Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14 from regional centres in Java, mean score 619.6 ± 22.2 over 72 arrows at 70 m. In the hold test the archer draws the string with the fingers and holds it in the correct position for as long as possible, once with the right hand and once with the left: the time correlates with the score at rho 0.748 (p < 0.001) on the right and 0.632 (p = 0.005) on the left. They are the two highest correlations in the battery, out of nine tests and with no correction for multiple comparisons.

  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.

• 2024
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same sample no other test reaches significance: sit-ups r = 0.044, front plank 0.053, single-leg balance -0.084 and 0.174, prone back-extension hold -0.150, shuttle endurance 0.281. Holding in the shooting position, the test closest to the actual shot, stops at r = 0.445 (p = 0.064).

  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
  Context Archers Published later

  14 recurve archers at the Indonesian national youth centre, a battery of seven tests. In the hold test the archer draws as if to shoot and, when the clicker goes, holds the draw for as long as possible: it is the test that correlates best with the total of all seven (r = 0.838, threshold 0.532), ahead of the qualification score (0.825), maximum draws with the bow (0.817) and the elimination score (0.811). The total contains the test itself and the two scores, so this is not a direct correlation between hold and score; the journal is a regional one. That is why it is context rather than support.

  Development of an Archery Technique Test Instrument: Objective Evaluation to Improve Athlete Performance · Rofa Ichsandi, Riko Adi Baskoro, Agung Hadi Saputro, Muhammad Nur Aziz Andriawan

Status history

1. 2018 Contradicted The first study to set string hold time beside the score does so in beginners: in 11 Ukrainians aged 18 to 20, after a training block, the correlations are 0.14 and 0.26, far from significance, and the score follows an index of mental stability instead. It is a single small study, on people who had only just started, in a regional journal: the evidence there is goes against the claim but it is thin, so the status is contradicted.
2. 2024 Contested The first result in favour arrives and it is clear-cut: in 18 Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14, finger hold at full draw is the test in the battery that correlates best with the score over 72 arrows at 70 m, rho 0.748 drawing with the right hand and 0.632 with the left, while none of the other tests reaches significance. These are nine uncorrected comparisons in a cross-sectional association, and the contrary result in beginners still stands: with one study on each side the status becomes contested.
3. 2025 Contested A second youth sample seems to point the same way, but by an indirect route that the registry keeps as context: in 14 recurve archers at the Indonesian national youth centre, holding past the clicker until failure is the test that agrees best with the total of a seven-test battery, r 0.838, ahead of the qualification score itself. The total, however, contains the hold and is not a competition score, so the direct comparison between hold and score stays at one each, trained youngsters on one side and beginners on the other: the status remains contested.

Related

Related articles

• How long you can hold the bow at full draw: seconds, maximal strength and draw weightHow much strength it takes to hold the bow at full draw, what holding time says about your score, and how to read draw weight against maximal strength.
• Dexterity, sensitivity and grip: how archers' hands differ, and how much that weighs on the scoreFine dexterity, fingertip sensitivity, grip strength and hold time: how archers' hands differ, and which of these goes with the score among archers.

Research lines

• 102 studiesFrom the total on the scorecard to the arrow's coordinates
• 48 studiesWhat predicts the score, and how talent selection tried to use it

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