Matteo Campagna
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Archers have a more accurate sense of bow-shoulder position than non-archers

1 study · 44 archers measured

A single study says so, and its numbers are not enough to show it. Twenty-two Indian competitive recurve archers aged 15 to 19 and twenty-two peers who play sport recreationally reproduced two shoulder positions with their eyes closed, 30 and 60 degrees of external rotation with the arm abducted: for the archers' bow shoulder the mean is 25.2 against 34.0 for the others' non-dominant shoulder at 30 degrees (p < 0.001), and 45.6 against 51.7 at 60 degrees (p = 0.015). The authors read the lower value as a smaller error, but the paper does not say what that column measures: if these were the reproduced angles, at 30 degrees both groups would be off by four or five degrees and at 60 degrees the archers would be further off. The design is cross-sectional, the non-archers are tested on their non-dominant arm and the journal has questionable editorial standards, which by rule never decide a status. That is why the registry keeps the study as context and the question remains not studied.

Also phrased as: "shoulder proprioception in archers"; "shoulder joint position sense"; "archers feel their shoulder better"; "eyes-closed shoulder repositioning"

In practice

It is said that years of shooting sharpen the feel of the bow shoulder, until the archer finds the same position on every arrow without looking.

Evidence

  • 2022
    Context Archers Published later

    22 competitive recurve archers from Pune, India, aged 15 to 19 (at least 4 years of practice and 7 hours a week) and 22 peers who play sport recreationally, eyes-closed active repositioning of the abducted shoulder, mean of three trials, bow shoulder against non-dominant shoulder: at 30 degrees of external rotation 25.21 (standard deviation 6.16) against 33.98 (6.72), t = -4.514, p < 0.001; at 60 degrees 45.61 (9.18) against 51.71 (6.59), t = -2.534, p = 0.015. The authors read the lower value as greater accuracy.

    Comparison of Joint Position Sense in Competitive Recurve Archers and Non-Archers in the Age Group of 15-19 Years Old: A Cross Sectional Study Questionable venue · Shreeya Athavale, Namrata Sidhaye-Bhadbhade

  • 2022
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same study the column being compared is not defined: it is not said whether it is the reproduced angle or the error. If it were the angle, at 30 degrees the archers would stop about 5 degrees short of the target and the others would overshoot it by 4, and at 60 degrees the archers would be 14 degrees off and the others 8; if it were the error, 25 degrees on a 30-degree target would be enormous for anyone. The plots of mean errors for those undershooting and overshooting the target do not square with the table means either. Journal with questionable editorial standards.

    Comparison of Joint Position Sense in Competitive Recurve Archers and Non-Archers in the Age Group of 15-19 Years Old: A Cross Sectional Study Questionable venue · Shreeya Athavale, Namrata Sidhaye-Bhadbhade

Status history

  1. 2022 Not studied The first and only comparison between archers and non-archers: on an eyes-closed bow-shoulder repositioning test, 22 competitive recurve archers aged 15 to 19 have lower values than peers who do not shoot, at 30 and 60 degrees of external rotation. The authors read it as greater accuracy, but the paper does not say what the column measures, and read as reproduced angles those numbers would say something else: a result that cannot be read does not carry the claim, and the study stays as context. The question remains not studied.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Where there are no studies on archers, every decision starts from a written hypothesis and is checked against the data over time.

See the full assessment
Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Archers have a more accurate sense of bow-shoulder position than non-archers (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/shoulder-position-sense-archers

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_propriocezionespallaarcieri,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Archers have a more accurate sense of bow-shoulder position than non-archers},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/shoulder-position-sense-archers},
  note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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