Strength training improves aiming stability

The summary today

The only experiment in the bibliography that measured aiming stability after strength training was run on twenty university students who had never shot: side bridges with the trunk inclined at forty degrees, five days a week for four weeks, and bow tremor while aiming fell in the trained group and not in the control group, with comparisons made within each group. The 2026 systematic review settles the point that had been left hanging, namely who those participants were, and adds a detail that narrows the result: alongside the tremor, the only other thing that changes is the median frequency of the middle deltoid, while upper trapezius, lower trapezius and serratus anterior stay as they were. On archers there is a randomised trial from 2008, on forty-five national-level Indian archers: four weeks of elastic band work for the shoulder and arm, together with breathing exercises, made the arm steadier in a seated test with a stylus held inside a four-millimetre hole, which is not aiming with a bow. The other strength studies run on archers measure score or strength rather than the movement of the bow or the sight, and the one that sets drawing force beside bow arm stability, in twenty-seven compound archers, finds no link between the two, but it compares different archers and tests no training. That a steadier aim goes with better scores is documented elsewhere in the registry; that strength work steadies the aim of a trained archer has not been measured with a bow in hand, and that is why the claim rests on a transfer from outside.

Also phrased as: "does gym work make the aim steadier"; "strength exercises to reduce aiming tremor"; "shoulder strengthening and aiming stability"; "strength and a steady bow arm"

Evidence

• 2008
  Context Archers Published later

  45 national-level Indian archers aged 16 to 28, 14 women and 31 men, randomly assigned to three groups of 15: four weeks of shoulder and arm exercises with Thera-Band elastic bands, three times a week, followed by respiratory muscle exercises, against jatamansi, a herbal remedy, and against usual training alone. In an arm steadiness test, seated, holding a stylus inside a 4 mm hole for 60 seconds, the band group touched the sides less often than the other two groups (ANOVA F = 5.64 on the left and 8.97 on the right) and, compared with jatamansi, for less time as well; against usual training alone the difference in contact time is not reported as significant. The same group also gained most on a 12-arrow test at 10 and 20 yards (F = 6.53). It is the only strength experiment on archers that measures arm steadiness, but the measure is a bench test rather than bow movement while aiming, and the strength work comes together with breathing work: for that reason it stays as context.

  Effects of Strength Training and Jatamansi on reducing Hand Tremor amongst archers · Delhila Laishram, Rajender Kumar, Jaspal S. Sandhu

• 2010
  Context Archers Published later

  Ten novice archers holding simulated draw positions with a 26 lb recurve: at full draw, higher shoulder muscle activation partly went with more arm tremor, while at some angles scapular muscle activity went with less humeral tremor. No training was tested.

  Activation and tremor of the shoulder muscles to the demands of an archery task · Jiu-Jenq Lin, Cheng-Ju Hung, Ching-Chieh Yang, Hsing-Yu Chen, Feng-Ching Chou, Tung-Wu Lu

• 2017
  Context Archers Published later

  39 elite recurve archers: higher draw force, quicker clicker reaction and slower postural sway after release predicted higher-scoring arrows. The authors note that strength training studies on archers were lacking.

  Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery · Wayne Spratford, Rhiannon Campbell

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  14 university recurve archers in non-randomised groups: 12 weeks of lower trapezius work raised strength and simulated-round score in the trained group (628 to 639 out of 720). Aiming stability was not measured.

  Twelve-Week Lower Trapezius-Centred Muscular Training Regimen in University Archers · Chien-Nan Liao, Chun-Hao Fan, Wei-Hsiu Hsu, Chia-Fang Chang, Pei-An Yu, Liang-Tseng Kuo, et al.

• 2023
  For General population Published later

  20 university students with no archery experience, randomly assigned: after 4 weeks of side bridges at 40° bow tremor while aiming fell in the trained group, not in controls. 20 lb bow, within-group comparisons.

  Effect of exercise devised to reduce arm tremor in the sighting phase of archery · Hiroshi Shinohara, Ryota Hosomi, Ryuji Sakamoto, Toshiya Urushihata, Shione Yamamoto, Chikashi Higa, et al.

• 2025
  Context Review Published later

  Systematic review of 16 studies on archers: smaller centre of pressure displacement and, in the few studies that measure it, less bow sway are associated with better scores. It does not address training. Abstract only.

  Relationship Between Shooting Performance and Biomechanical Parameters Associated with Body Stability in Archery: A Systematic Review · João Santos, Joana Barreto, Tiago Atalaia, Pedro Aleixo

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  27 regional compound archers from Jakarta, aged 13 to 37: drawing force is not related to bow arm stability, either on the horizontal axis (r = -0.234) or on the vertical axis (r = -0.145), and in the path model the effect is not significant (p = 0.266 and 0.167). It is a cross-sectional association between strength and stability, not a training study, and the stability measure is not described and is dominated by one or two archers: it says that in that group the strongest were not the steadiest, not that strength work leaves the aim as it is.

  Pengaruh Kekuatan Drawing, Stabilitas Lengan Penumpu dan Kecepatan Laju Anak Panah Terhadap Akurasi Tembakan Divisi Compound Jarak 50 Meter · Fitriadi Sandhi Nugroho Yudho, Iman Sulaiman, Johansyah Lubis, Sujarwo

• 2026
  For Review Published later

  Systematic review of 15 intervention studies on archers between 2015 and 2025: for aiming stability the only entry is the 2023 experiment, and the review reports the details that were missing. Twenty inexperienced men aged 20 to 22, side bridges with the trunk inclined at forty degrees, five days a week for four weeks: significant differences in tremor intensity and in the median frequency of the middle deltoid, no difference for serratus anterior, upper trapezius or lower trapezius. It counts as confirmation of that single experiment on non-archers, not as a measurement on archers.

  Systematic Review of Exercise Interventions in Archery: Injury Management and Performance Outcomes · Ambusam Subramaniam, Fairus Fariza Zainudin, Mon Redee Sut Txi

Status history

1. 1990 Not studied No study in the registry's bibliography yet measured the effect of strength training on aiming stability.
2. 2008 Not studied The first experiment on archers comes from the Manipur Archery Association, in India: 45 national-level archers randomly assigned to three groups, and after four weeks of elastic band exercises for the shoulder and arm, together with respiratory muscle exercises, those who did them touched the sides less often than the other two groups while holding a stylus inside a 4 mm hole. That is arm steadiness in a seated test, not aiming with a bow, and the strength work is not separated from the breathing work. Aiming stability after strength training has still not been measured, and the status stays at not studied.
3. 2010 Not studied A study measures activation and tremor of the shoulder muscles in archers during the shooting task, but tests no training: it shows that tremor can be measured, not that strength reduces it. The question stays open.
4. 2023 Transferred A randomised experiment shows that four weeks of an isometric exercise in a position close to shooting reduce bow tremor while aiming. The participants are not archers, so the claim rests on a transfer from outside.
5. 2025 Transferred A study of twenty-seven regional compound archers measures drawing force and bow arm stability together, and the two are not related on either axis: those who draw with more force do not hold the bow any steadier. It is not a training study but a one-off comparison between different archers, and the stability measure is of doubtful reliability, so it does not count against the claim: it only says that strength on its own does not turn into a steadier aim. The one experiment is still the one on students who do not shoot, and the status stays transferred.
6. 2026 Transferred The systematic review takes up that experiment and settles the point that was missing: the twenty participants were university students with no shooting experience, doing side bridges at forty degrees five days a week, and alongside the tremor the only thing that changes is the median frequency of the middle deltoid, while upper trapezius, lower trapezius and serratus anterior stay as they were. On trained archers there is still no measurement of aiming stability after strength work, so the status stays transferred rather than rising.

Related

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• How to improve your archery score: where to start and what to work onHow to measure your level, what sets better archers apart and the levers on your score, from release to mind and load, and how well the evidence holds.

Research lines

• 27 studiesTremor and sway while aiming: telling two phenomena apart since 1990
• 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