Weekly training hours do not go with higher scores

The summary today

The main finding is forty years old: in 115 American recurve archers of mixed levels, the weekly hours they reported for shooting (r = 0.05), physical training (0.07) and mental training (0.15) are not linked to their average score for the year. Twenty years earlier, in an experiment on 58 novice students, groups that came to the tests with up to six sessions' difference did not score differently, although the author noted a non-significant trend in favour of those who had shot more. That is two studies pointing the same way, but one compares different people using hours they reported themselves and the other counts the sessions of a course, not an archer's hours. In 2026 a French thesis points the other way: eight elite archers train about 21 hours a week against the 6 of seven regional archers, and score 654 out of 720 against 523. It is, however, a description of two groups chosen by level, which also differ in age and body mass, with no analysis of the hours, and it is not enough to overturn the picture. Nobody has followed the same archer while their hours changed, and hours are always reported, never logged.

Also phrased as: "more training hours more points"; "training volume and score"; "how many hours a week an archer should train"; "shooting hours and results"; "training more to shoot better"

Evidence

• 1966
  For Archers Published later

  58 novice university students in three classes, 13 sessions over 10 weeks, each following a different progression of distances: the groups came to the tests with up to six sessions' difference, and there is no difference between groups either at the single distances (F(2,57) = 0.87) or over the full round (F(2,57) = 0.84). The author notes only a non-significant trend in favour of the amount of practice over the method. It concerns the sessions of a course, not the weekly hours of trained archers.

  Transfer Effects and Ultimate Success in Archery due to Degree of Difficulty of the Initial Learning · Robert N. Singer

• 1986
  For Archers Published later

  American recurve archers of mixed levels, a questionnaire on training habits and the year's official scores: the weekly hours reported for shooting (r = 0.05), physical training (r = 0.07) and mental training (r = 0.15) are not linked to the score, over 115 archers with complete data and no significant correlation. Hours are reported by the archers and the comparison is between different people.

  A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  16 archers from the Chinese national team and 15 from the Beijing team, aged 23 ± 5 in both groups: all trained at least four days a week for six hours a day before the experiment, and the two levels differ in years of practice, 8.1 against 6.1. Volume is an inclusion criterion, not a measure compared with the score.

  From Expert to Elite? Research on Top Archer's EEG Network Topology · Feng Gu, Anmin Gong, Yi Qu, Aiyong Bao, Jin Wu, Changhao Jiang, Yunfa Fu

• 2026
  Against Archers Published later

  8 French recurve archers in the national top 20 at 70 m and 7 archers from the regional circuit: the elite train about 21 hours a week against about 6, with a mean best score of 654.62 ± 14.25 against 523.3 ± 37.7 out of 720. Across the two groups more hours go with more points, the opposite of the claim, but it is a weak contrary finding: the groups are chosen by level, the hours are approximate and not analysed, and age (19.1 ± 2.7 against 28.8 ± 11.6 years) and body mass (63.6 against 78.4 kg) differ too.

  Analyse multidimensionnelle de la performance en tir à l'arc · Raphaël Jacquot

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  51 elite archers from 22 countries, questionnaire: they train 5.06 ± 1.24 days a week and 4.27 ± 2.06 hours a day, 41.2% six days, and those who train more days also train more hours (r = 0.440, p = 0.001). One in seven (13.7%) reports eight hours a day or more. The study does not measure the score.

  Relationships between nutrition, training frequency, and anthropometric characteristics in elite archers · Natalija Uršulin-Trstenjak, Amanda Mlinarić, Bojan Šarkanj, Ivana Dodlek Šarkanj, Ivana Herak, Manuela Filipec

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  10 Brazilian archers with competitive experience, in a study on social media use before shooting: they train 1.8 ± 0.7 times a week (1 to 3) and took part in 8.4 ± 3.3 competitions in the past year, with 3.8 ± 3 years of competitive practice. It describes the sample, not a comparison with the score.

  Efeitos do uso das redes sociais no desempenho do tiro com arco · Willyan Pagliuso Mafra, Otávio Joaquim Barrato de Azevedo, Loiane Cristina de Souza, Guilherme Torres Vilarino, Suzana Matheus Pereira

Status history

1. 1966 Reported The first finding comes at a slant, from an experiment on learning to shoot: in 58 novice students split into three classes, the groups came to the tests with up to six sessions' difference, and the mean score did not change significantly. The author still notes a trend in favour of the amount of practice. It is a single study on novices, about course sessions rather than weekly hours: the evidence in favour is there, and it is limited.
2. 1986 Reported In 115 American recurve archers of mixed levels, the weekly hours reported for shooting, physical training and mental training do not go with the score, with correlations of 0.05, 0.07 and 0.15, none significant. It is the second study pointing the same way and the first on competing archers, but it is an association between different people, with hours reported by the archers themselves: the status stays reported.
3. 2022 Reported An electroencephalography study describes thirty-one Chinese archers, sixteen from the national team and fifteen from a provincial team, all training at least four days a week for at least six hours a day; what separates the two groups, at the same age, is years of practice, 8.1 against 6.1. Volume here is a criterion for entering the sample, not a result, so it does not move the picture: reported.
4. 2026 Reported The first finding pointing the other way arrives, and it is weak. In a French doctoral thesis eight elite archers train about 21 hours a week and seven from the regional circuit about 6, scoring 654 out of 720 against 523: more hours go with more points, but these are two groups chosen by level, which also differ in age and body mass, and the hours describe the sample rather than being a variable that was analysed. Two other studies only describe how much archers train: fifty-one elite archers from twenty-two countries report an average of five days a week and just over four hours a day, and ten Brazilian archers compete eight times a year while training less than twice a week. One weak contrary study against the two in favour does not change the status: reported.

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Research lines

• 45 studiesTraining volume and load: from 1966 to today
• 102 studiesFrom the total on the scorecard to the arrow's coordinates

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