Yoga improves coordination and balance in young female archers

The summary today

There is a single study of young female archers, and it says yes with small numbers. Twenty-five Indian female archers aged 15 to 17 did eight weeks of asanas and pranayama on top of their shooting: the coordination score rose from 3.68 to 4.32 and the balance score from 32.11 to 32.84, both significantly, while visual hand reaction time stayed at 0.70 seconds and weight and body mass index did not move. It is a before and after with no control group, in a journal with questionable editorial standards, and the differences between one archer and another grow rather than shrink, a sign that the average hides those who gained nothing. The only other figure comes from adults: thirteen elite Indian archers, after six yoga sessions in two weeks, stayed balanced on one leg about 11 to 12 per cent longer, again with no control. Neither study measures the score, and the one on young female archers appears in a venue with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Also phrased as: "yoga for young archers"; "yoga and balance in archery"; "asanas and pranayama for archers"; "yoga and coordination"

Evidence

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  14 elite Indian adult archers, men and women, 13 of whom completed six supervised yoga sessions in two weeks, in the study that builds and tests a yoga programme for archers: time balanced on one leg in the stork test rose from 49.96 to 56.08 seconds on the left (+12.2 per cent) and from 54.40 to 60.43 on the right (+11.1 per cent), p < 0.001, with no control group. These are adults, not young female archers, and coordination is not measured.

  Yoga for Archers: Development, Validation, and Feasibility Testing of a Yoga Module · Abhijit Baishya, Darshana Hazarika, Kashinath Metri

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 25 female archers aged 15 to 17 from the Patiala region of India, chosen without randomisation, eight weeks of asanas and pranayama, before and after with no control group: coordination from 3.68 (standard deviation 1.22) to 4.32 (1.41), t = 2.486; balance from 32.11 (1.92) to 32.84 (2.41), t = 3.247, against a critical value of 2.064. The paper does not describe the tests or the unit of the balance measure, and writes "twenty" archers next to N = 25.

  Effects of yoga training on anthropometric and selected health-related fitness components in female archery players Questionable venue · Kamalpreet Kaur, Parmveer Singh

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same study the differences between one archer and another grow after yoga rather than shrink: the standard deviation of coordination goes from 1.22 to 1.41 and that of balance from 1.92 to 2.41, with average gains of 0.64 and 0.73 points, smaller than the spread itself. The average improvement is not shared by everyone.

  Effects of yoga training on anthropometric and selected health-related fitness components in female archery players Questionable venue · Kamalpreet Kaur, Parmveer Singh

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  The same group shows no change in visual hand reaction time, 0.703 seconds before and 0.702 after (standard deviation 0.07, t = 1.000), nor in weight (58.88 kg before and after) or body mass index (22.68 before and after). Quickness, often among the promises of yoga for archery, is the measure that moves least.

  Effects of yoga training on anthropometric and selected health-related fitness components in female archery players Questionable venue · Kamalpreet Kaur, Parmveer Singh

Status history

1. 2025 Not studied There is still nothing on young female archers. The closest figure comes from thirteen elite adult archers, men and women, who after six yoga sessions in two weeks stay balanced on one leg 11 to 12 per cent longer, in a before and after with no control and no measure of coordination. It says something about balance in experienced adults, not about the question.
2. 2026 Not studied The first study of young female archers arrives: twenty-five girls aged 15 to 17, eight weeks of yoga, coordination from 3.68 to 4.32 and balance from 32.11 to 32.84, while reaction time, weight and body mass index stay put. It is a before and after with no control, with average gains smaller than the spread and differences between the girls that grow, in a journal with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

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Research lines

• 52 studiesMental training: what has been tested on archers since 1979
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