The less the body sways while aiming, the better the shot

30 studies · 423 archers measured

Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

Studies that measure the body on a force plate nearly all point the same way, and two systematic reviews count them on the same side: the less the centre of pressure moves while aiming, the better the arrow tends to be. The most informative sample, 37 pre-elite archers, finds that in recurve the less the body moves in the tenth of a second after release the higher the score, and that in compound what counts is the half second before. Within a single archer the picture is consistent: comparing each one's best and worst arrow, on the worst the centre of pressure travels more than twice as far. Three things stop this going further. First, it is not only how much the body moves but how: while aiming, elite archers show smaller but faster sway than intermediates, and on their own worst arrows the centre of pressure runs faster still. Second, the time window changes the answer, because in the largest elite sample the sway that predicts the score is the one after the release, not the one in the second before. Third, the only intervention that reduced sway, eight weeks of core stability work in twelve teenagers, does not report the score and has correlations running the opposite way, while the one study that deliberately made it worse, by changing the position of the feet, found balance down by more than a third and the score unchanged.

Also phrased as: "postural stability and score"; "standing still while aiming"; "postural sway in archery"; "centre of pressure and accuracy"; "balance and score in archery"

In practice

On the range archers hear that they must stand as still as a statue while aiming, because every bit of body sway ends up on the target.

Evidence

1990
For Archers Published later

4 elite Australian archers (recurve, compound and barebow), 240 arrows on a force plate across two sessions up to 100 days apart: centre-of-pressure sway area runs from 75 ± 10 mm² on good arrows to 3,326 ± 662 mm² on poor ones, and for the same archer the figure on poor arrows exceeds the 241 ± 23 mm² measured standing relaxed with her arms by her sides. Arrows of every quality nonetheless appear across the whole range and sway changes significantly from one session to the other. A clear trend with enormous spread.

Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in Archery · David Keast, Bruce Elliott
1990
Context Archers Published later

The same sample and the same 240 arrows: centre-of-pressure movements along the left-right line, across the target face, contribute more to the sway area than fore-aft ones. It is the first sign that direction matters, and it returns in 2010 with the lateral component and in 2017 with the fore-aft one: a sign that the dominant direction changes with the time window measured.

Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in Archery · David Keast, Bruce Elliott
1994
Against Archers Published later

12 Italian recurve archers, 7 intermediate and 5 high-level, 20 shots at 12 m with three-dimensional analysis, EMG and a force plate: the authors conclude that centre-of-pressure displacement on its own does not distinguish the better archers from the less good, while in the same sample lateral bow sway correlates with FITA score at r = -0.67. No centre-of-pressure figures are reported, so the contrary result cannot be weighed.

Multifactorial analysis of shooting archery · Roberto Squadrone, R. Rodano
2010
For Archers Published later

4 elite women archers from the Turkish national squad, 108 arrows at 18 m indoors on force plates: lateral sway amplitude is 31.7 ± 1.0 mm on arrows scoring 8, 12.5 ± 4.5 on 9s and 16.7 ± 1.0 on 10s, and lateral speed 5.0 / 2.3 / 4.3 mm/s, with correlations r = 0.224 and r = 0.198 (p < 0.05). The analysis of variance does not hold (F = 2.8) and the values for 9s and 10s are not ordered, so the link survives only as a correlation.

Shooting Dynamics in Archery · M. Emre Erkek, Cevdet Tinazci
2010
Context Archers Published later

The same study and the same arrows, fore-aft direction: amplitude 26.2 ± 1.5 / 5.1 ± 1.3 / 4.5 ± 0.4 mm and speed 4.7 ± 0.2 / 1.1 ± 0.2 / 1.5 ± 0.1 mm/s for arrows scoring 8, 9 and 10, with F = 1.0 and F = 1.2, neither significant. Within the group the fore-aft component does not separate the arrows, neither in amplitude nor in speed: if the claim holds, it holds on one direction only.

Shooting Dynamics in Archery · M. Emre Erkek, Cevdet Tinazci
2011
Context Archers Published later

The second publication of the same experiment, 4 elite archers and the same 108 arrows: it reports the same lateral values (31.7 / 12.5 / 16.7 mm), with a non-significant analysis of variance (F = 2.8) and a positive correlation (r = 0.224; p < 0.05), but the text and the abstract give opposite directions for the same figure. For the fore-aft component it reports the same null result as in 2010. The same sample, so it counts once, and the internal contradiction makes it unusable as proof.

Shooting dynamics in archery: A multidimensional analysis from drawing to releasing in male archers · Cevdet Tinazci
2011
Against Archers Published later

15 male recurve archers from sub-elite to elite: centre-of-pressure path length during a 10-second aim in the laboratory is not related to mean score over 150 arrows at 18 m, whereas shoulder steadiness and vertical bow tremor are. It is a conference abstract, and aiming in a laboratory is not shooting.

Biomechanical Predictors of Recurve Archery Performance · Martin H. Rose, Niels Dall, Kaare Seidelin, Bente R. Jensen
2016
For Archers Published later

4 school-age women archers, aged 14 to 16, 36 arrows each at 30 m with accelerometers on nine segments and a stepwise regression for each archer: in all four the highest standardised coefficient is negative (-1.81, -0.42, -1.39, -0.60), meaning the movement that weighs most on the score makes it worse as it grows. Across the four averages, the shin of the front leg weighs almost four times more than the forearm holding the bow (-0.97 against -0.25). Four cases, a regional journal, and standardised coefficients above one, which usually signal an unstable model.

Relationship between Aiming Patterns and Scores in Archery Shooting · ChengHao Quan, Sangmin Lee
2017
For Archers Published later

39 international elite archers at a World Cup, 10 arrows at 70 m on a 1,000 Hz force plate: the score predictors include peak sway speed after the release (235.12 ± 120.12 mm/s), worth 1.20 points; between the stillest archer (99 mm/s) and the most mobile (636 mm/s) the predicted score falls from 8.1 to 5.4, a difference the text gives as 3.8 points but which the two values put at 2.7. Sway in the second before release, 20.10 ± 6.36 mm, does not enter the model: the same study both supports the claim and narrows its time window.

Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery · Wayne Spratford, Rhiannon Campbell
2017
Context Archers Published later

The same sample, the measures that explain why the window matters: sway in the second before release is 20.10 ± 6.36 mm, in the half second after it is 48.03 ± 18.55, more than double, and in both windows the fore-aft direction dominates. Peak speed always falls after the release and is already announced by the sway speed at the moment of release (r = 0.80). It is not the score, but it says which time window to look at.

Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery · Wayne Spratford, Rhiannon Campbell
2017
Context Archers Published later

12 Malaysian archers aged 13 to 18, randomly split between eight weeks of core stability work on top of their usual training and the usual training alone, with sway measured on a force plate during the shot: in the trained group the range of centre-of-pressure displacement falls on both axes compared with the controls (F = 7.952 and 7.887 at four weeks, p < 0.05). The authors report an effect on the score over six arrows at 50 metres as well, but give no value for it, and their correlations run the opposite way to the claim: at four and at eight weeks those with a wider range on the axis perpendicular to the shooting line score more (r = 0.924 and 0.962), the reverse of what they conclude. With sway falling by almost 90 per cent in four weeks and a result that contradicts its own conclusion, the study cannot be counted either for or against: context.

The Effectiveness of a Core Muscles Stability Program in Reducing the Postural Sway of Adolescent Archers: A Panacea for a better Archery Performance · Pathmanathan K. Suppiah, Tomny Wong Kee Kiet, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Jeffrey Low Fook Lee, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki
2017
For Archers Published later

32 young Malaysian archers aged 13 to 20, six arrows at 50 m with an accelerometer on the pelvis: split by cluster analysis into 20 higher scorers and 12 lower scorers, the better group sways less (t = 4.19 on 30 degrees of freedom, p = 0.001; mean difference −0.69 ± 0.45 in accelerometer units). The groups come from the same measures, sway and score included, and the test used is the paired one on two independent groups: it points the claim's way, but the comparison is partly built by the method.

Analysis of biological and mechanical related performance parameters of Malaysian senior youth archers · Zahari Taha, Mainul Haque, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Siti Musliha Mat-Rashid, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Aleesha Adnan
2018
Context Archers Published later

50 young Malaysian archers aged 13 to 20, six arrows at 50 m with sensors: an algorithm splits them into high and low potential using sway, bow movement, finger muscle activity, balance and score, and three support vector machine models then recognise the groups in 64 to 70% of cases. The authors write that the high-potential group does better on almost every measure, but in the box plots the two groups' sway largely overlaps and there is no statistical test.

The Application of Support Vector Machine in Classifying Potential Archers Using Bio-mechanical Indicators · Zahari Taha, Rabiu Muazu Musa, Anwar P. P. Abdul Majeed, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Muhammad Amirul Abdullah, Mohd Hasnun Arif Hassan
2018
Context Archers Published later

6 elite Belgian archers, 90 arrows each at 18 m: on 9s and 10s joint variability is organised to hold the arrow's direction steady (motor abundance index 0.4 to 0.6 against 0.1 to 0.3 on arrows scoring 6 to 8), without every movement being minimised. It explains why standing still is not the same thing as controlling the shot. The article reports only the index, which is a ratio, and not the two variances behind it: that the good arrows carry more compensation rather than simply less disturbance cannot be checked from these data.

The Uncontrolled Manifold Concept Reveals That the Structure of Postural Control in Recurve Archery Shooting Is Related to Accuracy · Ben Serrien, Elout Witterzeel, Jean-Pierre Baeyens
2018
Context Archers Published later

4 Malaysian archers compared in pairs, a gold medallist against a non-medallist and an expert against a novice, arrows at 50 m with an accelerometer on the pelvis: in the graphs pelvic sway is smaller in the medallist and in the expert (figures 5 and 9). It is a one-against-one comparison, shown only in figures and with no test at all, in a journal with doubtful editorial standards, from the same research group as Taha 2017 and 2018.

A multidimensional analysis of physiological and mechanical variables among archers of different levels of expertise Questionable venue · Rabiu Muazu Musa, Mohamad Razali Abdullah, Hafizan Juahir, Ahmad Bisyri Husin Musawi Maliki, Siti Musliha Mat-Rasid, Norlaila Azura Kosni, Aleesha Adnan, Nadiawati Alias, Vijayamurugan Eswaramoorthi
2019
For Archers Published later

27 right-handed male recurve archers, 9 elite (mean FITA score 1,244.5), 9 intermediate and 9 beginners, shooting at 18 m on a 40 cm face while standing on a force plate: the range of centre-of-pressure movement during the shot is significantly smaller in the elite than in the beginners (p < 0.05), with the intermediates in between. Horizontal forces are lower in the elite but without significant differences, and the values appear only in graphs. It is a comparison between levels, not between arrows.

A comparison of the ground reaction forces of archers with different levels of expertise during the arrow shooting · D. Simsek, A.O. Cerrah, H. Ertan, A.R. Soylu
2020
For Archers Published later

8 national-level recurve archers, 5 men and 3 women, 6 arrows each at 13 m, force plates and three-dimensional kinematics: comparing each archer's best and worst arrow, on the worst the centre-of-pressure path is 61.66 ± 38.11 long against 26.64 ± 20.86 (p = 0.012) and displacement in one direction is nearly double, 0.67 ± 0.32 against 0.36 ± 0.17 centimetres (Z = -2.521; p = 0.012), while in the other, 0.52 against 0.48, nothing changes. On the better arrows, body sway and bow sway are also synchronised (r = 0.83 against 0.46). A note on the labels: the methods define that direction as across the target face, while the table caption calls it fore-aft.

Relationship between bow stability and postural control in recurve archery · Karine Jacon Sarro, Thaynã de Castro Viana, Ricardo Machado Leite de Barros
2020
Context Archers Published later

One skilled archer, three drawing techniques over three arrows each on two force plates: in the last second before release the amplitude of the sway (mean distance 1.2 to 1.5 mm, ellipse 10.5 to 21.8 mm²) is below normal standing values, while the speed of the centre of pressure (9.2 to 11.9 mm/s) is above them. While aiming the archer moves less but corrects more often, and that changes the meaning of any amplitude measure. A single case, with differences between techniques at the edge of significance.

Effect of bow drawing technique on skilled archer postural stability: a case study · A. Kuch, J.-F. Debril, M. Domalain, R. Tisserand, T. Monnet
2021
Context Archers Published later

15 male archers from the Turkish national squads in simulated matches at 18 m, a beta-blocker study with four conditions: the correlation between centre-of-pressure sway and score is negative in all of them, but significant only with bisoprolol (r = -0.675), not in the control (-0.057) or with placebo (-0.338). In one sample the link appears or vanishes depending on the condition, a useful reminder of how fragile these correlations are.

Effects of beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviour · Emin Ergen, Tahir Hazir, Mesut Celebi, Ayşe Kin-Isler, Serdar Aritan, Volkan Daghan Yaylıoglu, et al.
2021
Context Archers Published later

The same sample, the quantities involved: in the three tenths of a second before release the aim point sways 8.29 ± 1.91 centimetres across the target in the control condition, and the centre of pressure travels 11.03 ± 4.00 centimetres, with similar values in the other three conditions. At eighteen metres, this is what standing still actually means.

Effects of beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviour · Emin Ergen, Tahir Hazir, Mesut Celebi, Ayşe Kin-Isler, Serdar Aritan, Volkan Daghan Yaylıoglu, et al.
2022
For Archers Published later

15 university compound archers with national competition experience, 15 arrows at 30 m per condition: with arch-support insoles, centre-of-pressure excursion during the shot is smaller and the mean score per arrow higher (9.74 against 9.58) than with flat insoles. The flat ones, though, were always tested first, so order may have counted, and the measurement covers the whole shot rather than the aim alone.

Arch-Support Insoles Benefit the Archery Performance and Stability of Compound Archers · Ting-Ting Wu, Shin-Liang Lo, Hui Chen, Jeng-Sheng Yang, Hsien-Te Peng
2022
For Review Published later

Systematic review of 41 studies: postural sway comes out as a performance indicator in 9 of the 10 studies that consider it, with a single exception, and among the phases of the shot the one that weighs most is the release. It draws on studies already counted here, so it serves as confirmation of the reading rather than as an extra sample.

Performance assessment in archery: a systematic review · Eleonora Vendrame, Valeria Belluscio, Luigi Truppa, Lorenzo Rum, Aldo Lazich, Elena Bergamini, Andrea Mannini
2022
Context Review Published later

The same review, the exception: one study out of ten does not link reduced body sway to performance, because for that group of elite archers what counts is stabilising the orientation of the arrow rather than reducing the movement of the centre of mass. It is the voice that explains why standing still and controlling the shot are not the same thing.

Performance assessment in archery: a systematic review · Eleonora Vendrame, Valeria Belluscio, Luigi Truppa, Lorenzo Rum, Aldo Lazich, Elena Bergamini, Andrea Mannini
2022
For Review Published later

A scoping review of 21 studies on postural control in precision sports: for archery it cites the 39 elite archers at a World Cup and the 8 Brazilian archers, in whom the worst arrow shows longer centre-of-mass and bow paths than the best. The values are not reported in the review and they are the same two samples already counted here.

The Role of Neuromuscular Control of Postural and Core Stability in Functional Movement and Athlete Performance · Erika Zemková, Ludmila Zapletalová
2023
For Archers Published later

9 elite archers of the Korean national team, shooting with and without the clicker at 8 m, force plate with kinematics and EMG: when the archer decides the moment of release herself, a smaller anticipatory postural adjustment in the fore-aft direction goes with more precise aiming (r = 0.75, p = 0.019), while with the clicker the link is not significant (r = 0.62) and laterally there is none (r = -0.16 and -0.24). It says that the part of the sway the archer prepares matters, not that reducing it raises the score.

Effect of Anticipatory Shooting Strategy on Performance Consistency in Skilled Elite Archer · Kitae Kim, Youngsook Kim, Donggyu Baek, Jaebum Park, Junkyung Song
2023
Context Review Published later

A scoping review of 126 papers, ten of them on archery: total centre-of-pressure excursion in the last second before release correlates with score at r = -0.30 overall, but at -0.51 in juniors and -0.24 in seniors. The same figure says different things depending on age, and the original source is from 1986, reported second-hand.

Sport-specific training induced adaptations in postural control and their relationship with athletic performance · Erika Zemková, Zuzana Kováčiková
2023
Context Review Published later

The same review: it reports a study according to which reducing postural sway in the release phase, and not only during the aim, goes with better scores in experienced archers. No figures in the review, and the window indicated is again the release, not the aim.

Sport-specific training induced adaptations in postural control and their relationship with athletic performance · Erika Zemková, Zuzana Kováčiková
2023
Against Archers Published later

11 qualified Russian archers, recurve and compound, 5 ends of 6 arrows in five foot positions: with a T stance the load shifts to the rear foot (58.15 ± 1.94% in compound, 46.77 ± 2.60% in recurve, p < 0.05) and the quality of balance falls by 38.56% in compound and 64.83% in recurve, yet the score does not drop compared with the archers' habitual stance. It is the only study in the bibliography that deliberately worsens balance, and the score does not follow. It is 6 arrows per condition, in a regional journal.

The effect of the feet position on the archery parameters · A.M. Pukhov
2023
Context Archers Published later

22 Turkish archers aged 11 to 14, balance measured on a baropodometric platform for 40 seconds standing before the end: no significant association with score, and the authors do not report the values. It does not go against the claim, it bounds it: what counts is sway during the shot, not sway measured at rest before starting.

Anxiety sensitivity, stress, and postural control: their implications on archery performance in 11-14-year-olds · Hayrettin Hayri Tokmakci, Serkan Özgür, Tuncay Varol
2023
Context Archers Published later

6 elite and 7 sub-elite archers, 18 shots at 70 m on two force plates: while aiming, the elite sway less along the axis perpendicular to the shooting direction, but within each group postural strategy at release does not change the score. Between archers yes, within one level no.

Postural adjustments preceding string release in trained archers · A. Kuch, R. Tisserand, F. Durand, T. Monnet, J-F. Debril
2023
Context Archers Published later

14 national-squad archers and 14 absolute beginners: during the preparation, draw and aim phase the centre of mass of the experienced archers moves much less, with an enclosing area of 6.3 against 11.2 (p < 0.01 by bootstrap), the widest difference among the three body parts examined. It is not the aim alone and it is not the arrow's score, so it stays context: it says the experienced archer moves less, not that moving less scores points.

Dynamical Analyses Show That Professional Archers Exhibit Tighter, Finer and More Fluid Dynamical Control than Neophytes · Hesam Azadjou, Michalina Błażkiewicz, Andrew Erwin, Francisco J. Valero-Cuevas
2023
Context General population Published later

8 healthy men with no shooting experience, using a simulated bow: when the release is decided by the participant, a lower fore-aft sway speed goes with tighter groups (r = 0.80, p = 0.009), while with a release cued externally there is no correlation at all. It is an independent confirmation of the mechanism, but on people who do not shoot, and it does not count towards the quota with evidence on archers.

Multi-muscle Synergies of Postural Control in Self- and External-Triggered Force Release During Simulated Archery Shooting · Junkyung Song, Kitae Kim, Jaebum Park
2025
For Archers Published later

37 pre-elite archers aged 15 to 24, 19 recurve at 70 m and 18 compound at 50 m, on force plates with inertial sensors at the wrists: in recurve, centre-of-pressure displacement in the tenth of a second after release predicts the score (beta -0.351) along with bow-wrist angular velocity (-0.259); in compound, what counts is fore-aft displacement in the half second before (-0.242) and the drawing wrist (-0.259). The regressions are adjusted for sex, age, weight and strength. In the same cohort the recurve archers sway less before release and the compound archers stay stiller after it, a sign that the time window chosen changes the answer.

Associations of Scoring Accuracy with Postural Stability and Strength Measures in Archers on a Standard Archery Site · Chun-Hao Fan, Chien-Nan Liao, Wei-Hsiu Hsu
2025
For Archers Published later

The same cohort, the correlations behind the regressions: those who move the centre of pressure more also move the segments of the body more, with a moderate to strong correlation between the two measures, and both go with lower scores per arrow, with moderate to weak negative correlations. The two instability measures are not independent, so counting centre-of-pressure sway and segment sway as two separate pieces of evidence would be double counting.

Associations of Scoring Accuracy with Postural Stability and Strength Measures in Archers on a Standard Archery Site · Chun-Hao Fan, Chien-Nan Liao, Wei-Hsiu Hsu
2025
For Archers Published later

8 elite recurve archers, 549 arrows at 70 m, comparing arrows within each archer: on arrows scoring 8 or less the mean speed of the centre of pressure while aiming and its lateral component are higher than on 9s and 10s, and the fore-aft component is higher only against the 10s (p < 0.05, values in a figure). In the same work, widened to 15 archers, the elite show smaller sway area and amplitude than intermediates while aiming but higher speeds: the measure that discriminates is speed, not amplitude. The within-archer sample is the same as in the author's doctoral thesis and counts once.

A multi-parameter investigation of elite archery: distinguishing individual and shared performance strategies during the aiming and follow-through phases · Raphaël Jacquot, Khaireddine Ben Mansour, Kévin Bouillet, Jean-Philippe Jehl, Gérôme Gauchard
2025
Context Archers Published later

The same study, the follow-through part: on arrows scoring 8 or less the fore-aft excursion of the centre of pressure and its peak speed are higher than on 9s and 10s, but the lateral excursion is wider on the 10s than on the 9s. One measure runs the opposite way to the others, and that is why the claim cannot be squeezed into a single sentence.

A multi-parameter investigation of elite archery: distinguishing individual and shared performance strategies during the aiming and follow-through phases · Raphaël Jacquot, Khaireddine Ben Mansour, Kévin Bouillet, Jean-Philippe Jehl, Gérôme Gauchard
2025
For Review Published later

Systematic review of 16 cross-sectional studies, quality assessed with the EPHPP: three studies link greater centre-of-pressure displacement to worse scores, and in three of four comparisons between levels the less experienced move more; on centre-of-pressure speed, two studies agree, one finds no correlation and one no difference between levels; on area there is a single correlation and one comparison between levels. It adds that the pelvis and sternum sway less in stronger archers, while the head does not distinguish levels.

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
Against Review Published later

The same review, the null result it reports: in 33 national-level archers with FITA scores above 1,050, two ends of three arrows at 6 metres on two force plates, centre-of-pressure displacement while aiming is not related to the archer's level. Three arrows per condition at six metres is very little, but it is a contrary result inside a review that otherwise counts in favour.

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 Review Published later

The same review, two things that bear on how everything else is read. First: of the 16 studies included, 15 are rated weak on blinding, because nobody kept researchers or archers unaware of the purpose of the research, and the overall judgement gives 1 strong study, 10 moderate and 5 weak, all cross-sectional. Second: the largest of them, 39 elite archers, finds peak centre-of-pressure speed measured after the arrow has already left negatively correlated with score (r = -0.80), and another names instability in the set-up phase as the main indicator (beta = 0.262; p < 0.001).

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

50 arrows by elite archers filmed at televised international competitions, with arm movement extracted from the video by tracking points on both arms: overall movement is related to the score when looked at on its own (rho = -0.325, p = 0.021; coefficient -4.60, p = 0.033), but alongside heart rate it loses weight (-0.56, p = 0.061) and does not separate the tens from the other arrows (p = 0.065). Only right-arm movement holds, even together with heart rate. This is not body sway measured on a force plate, and heart rate seems to account for much of what the movement appeared to show: context.

Contactless Estimation of Heart Rate and Arm Tremor from Real Competition Footage of Elite Archers · Byeong Seon An, Song Hee Park, Ji Yeon Moon, Eui Chul Lee
2026
For Archers Published later

The doctoral thesis containing the 2025 study: in the 8 elite French archers, on a force plate at 70 m, the mean speed of the centre of pressure and its lateral component are higher on arrows scoring 8 or less than on 9s and 10s, and the fore-aft component only against the 10s (p < 0.05). In the follow-through of the worst arrows the fore-aft range and the peak speed are higher, while the lateral range is smaller on the middling arrows than on the high-scoring ones. These are the same 549 shots as the 2025 paper and count once.

Analyse multidimensionnelle de la performance en tir à l'arc · Raphaël Jacquot
2026
Context Archers Published later

The same thesis, comparison between levels across 15 recurve archers: while aiming, the elite show smaller sway area and amplitudes than intermediates (p < 0.001) but higher mean, lateral, fore-aft and peak speeds (p < 0.001), and the thorax moves less, 3.4 ± 3.7 against 5.9 ± 6.8 arbitrary units (p < 0.001), with no difference in the follow-through (p = 0.121). Swaying less and swaying more slowly are not the same thing, and the better archers do the first and not the second.

Analyse multidimensionnelle de la performance en tir à l'arc · Raphaël Jacquot
2026
Against Review Published later

A focused systematic review of five studies, in a journal with doubtful editorial standards: it reports that in 16 regional-level archers split into high and low performers, postural stability is similar in the two groups and the difference lies in the timing of the shot phases. It is the result of a study already in the registry, taken second-hand, and under decision D7 a doubtful journal does not decide a status.

Impact of Kinematic Variables of the Draw Force Line on Performance in Recurve Archery: A Focused Systematic Literature Review Questionable venue · Namchan Norbu Bhutia, Atanu Ghosh, Snehunsu Adhikari, Awesh Khati

Status history

1990 Reported The first figures on archers come from four elite Australian athletes, 240 arrows classed as good, medium and poor on a force plate. The area travelled by the centre of pressure runs from 75 square millimetres on the good arrows to 3,326 on the poor ones, and on the poor arrows the same archer sways more than when standing relaxed with her arms by her sides, where she is at 241. The limitation is in the same figures: arrows of every quality are scattered across the whole range, and the sway changes a great deal from one session to the next. Four archers and an association: reported.
1994 Contested In twelve Italian archers, centre-of-pressure displacement on its own does not distinguish the better archers from the less good. With one study in favour and one against, both on few archers, the studies point in opposite directions: contested. The contrary result is reported without figures, though, and with a different measure from the one used in 1990, so it settles nothing.
2010 Reported Four elite women archers on force plates tip the balance back towards the claim, and add a detail that narrows it: what counts is the lateral component, 31.7 millimetres of displacement on arrows scoring eight against 16.7 on tens, while fore-aft sway distinguishes nothing, neither in amplitude nor in speed. Two studies in favour against one, all on four or twelve archers: reported, because the analysis of variance does not hold up and the link emerges only as a correlation.
2011 Contested Fifteen recurve archers from sub-elite to elite measured on a force plate show no relation at all between centre-of-pressure path length and score: it is the largest sample so far, almost four times those in favour. In the second publication of the elite sample, moreover, the text and the abstract give opposite directions for the same lateral figure, so that evidence cannot be used as proof. With studies on archers disagreeing and carrying similar weight, contested.
2016 Contested In four young women archers the movement that weighs most on the score makes it worse as it grows, and the front leg weighs almost four times more than the forearm holding the bow. These are four school-age cases in a regional journal, with standardised coefficients above one: they confirm the direction without strengthening it, and are not enough to close the disagreement opened in 2011.
2017 Reported The sample changes scale: thirty-nine elite archers from four countries at a World Cup, where a lower sway speed after release goes with higher scores, with the predicted score per arrow falling by almost three points, from 8.1 to 5.4, between the stillest archer and the most mobile. The status returns to reported because the null result of 2011 is a conference abstract on fifteen archers aiming in a laboratory, while this is a sample two and a half times larger, measured while shooting. It does not go beyond reported because sway in the second before release predicts nothing: the window that counts is not the one the claim assumes. The same year brings the first intervention: eight weeks of core stability work reduce sway in twelve young Malaysian archers split into two groups, but the study does not report the score, and its correlations say that those who swayed more scored more, the reverse of what the authors conclude. A result that contradicts itself is not counted on either side. Also in 2017, in thirty-two young Malaysian archers split into higher and lower scorers, the better group sways less at the pelvis (p = 0.001), but the two groups are built by a cluster analysis on the same measures, sway included, and over six arrows: it points the same way without adding weight.
2019 Reported Twenty-seven recurve archers, nine per level, shoot at 18 metres on a force plate: the range of centre-of-pressure movement during the shot is smaller in the elite than in the beginners, with the intermediates in between and not distinguishable from either, and reaction time to the clicker falls with level. It is a comparison between levels, not between arrows, and the values appear only in graphs. The year before, from the same Malaysian research group as in 2017, an algorithm built to pick out young archers of higher potential shows, in box plots, sway distributions that largely overlap, with no test at all. Also in 2018, and again from that group, four archers compared in pairs, a medallist against a non-medallist and an expert against a novice, show in the graphs a stiller pelvis in the two better archers: one against one, with no statistics, in a journal with doubtful editorial standards. Another association in the same direction: the status stays reported.
2020 Reported Eight national-level archers measured on a force plate show, on the worst arrow, a centre-of-pressure path more than twice as long and a lateral displacement nearly double. The same study points out, though, that the difference appears in one direction only and not in all of them, so the status stays reported: these are always associations, and the only intervention did not publish the score.
2021 Reported In fifteen archers from the Turkish national squads, body sway and aim-point sway are measured on the same arrows, and the link with score appears in only one of the trial's four conditions. The first measure of the scale involved also arrives: at eighteen metres the centre of pressure travels about ten centimetres in the three tenths of a second before release, while the aim point sways about eight centimetres across the target. The result is fragile but does not go against the claim, so the status stays reported.
2022 Reported Two reviews do the counting for the first time: of ten studies that measured body sway, nine find it related to performance, and the phase that weighs most is the release. A single voice dissents, because for that group what counts is stabilising the orientation of the arrow rather than reducing the movement of the centre of mass. The evidence widens, but it all stays associative and the only intervention that has reduced sway, in 2017, did not publish the score. The same year, fifteen university compound archers wearing arch-support insoles move the centre of pressure less during the shot and score slightly more, 9.74 against 9.58 per arrow, but the flat insoles were always tested first, so the order may have counted.
2023 Reported The picture widens and stays in the same direction, with two important qualifications. In nine elite women archers a smaller postural adjustment in the thousandths before release goes with more precise aiming fore and aft, and a review adds that sway in the last second weighs on the score more in young archers than in experienced ones. The first qualification comes from twenty-two young Turkish archers, where static balance measured standing before the end is not related to the score: what counts is sway during the shot, not sway measured at rest. The second is that the year's contrary result, eleven Russian archers whose balance gets worse without the score falling, rests on six arrows per condition in a regional journal. The status does not rise to corroborated because these are all cross-sectional associations and an intervention that reports the score is missing, and it does not fall because that contrary result does not carry the weight of the supporting body of studies.
2025 Reported The year brings the widest block of evidence on this question, and almost all of it points the same way. In 37 pre-elite archers on force plates the link holds separately in recurve, where the vibration of the bow wrist after release also counts, and in compound, where fore-aft sway and the steadiness of the drawing wrist count; those who move the centre of pressure more also move the segments of the body more, and both measures go with lower scores. In 8 high-level French archers the worst arrows show a faster centre of pressure already during the aim and higher speed peaks after release. A systematic review of 16 studies finds displacement, speed and area of the centre of pressure all pointing the same way, and names instability in the set-up phase as the main indicator. Indirect evidence comes from fifty arrows filmed at international competitions: arm movement is related to the score until heart rate enters the calculation, after which only right-arm movement remains. The status does not rise to corroborated because these are all cross-sectional associations, an intervention that reports the score is still missing, and inside the same data some measures go their own way: a little lateral sway turns up on the tens, head sway does not distinguish levels, and before release the recurve archers sway less than the compound ones while after it the compound archers stay stiller. The picture widens, but in the detail it does not hold together.
2026 Reported Within the French elite archers the worst arrows come with a faster centre of pressure while aiming and more fore-aft displacement in the follow-through, but the elite show smaller and at the same time faster sway than intermediates: what counts looks like speed rather than amplitude, and the thorax moves less while aiming with no difference after release. A review in a journal with doubtful editorial standards adds that among archers of the same level postural stability does not separate those who score high from those who score low. The only attempt to reduce sway did not publish the score, so the status holds.

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Theoretical workIl pavimento (The floor): how much of archery is real

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APA

Campagna, M. (2026). The less the body sways while aiming, the better the shot (Version 6). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/body-sway-while-aiming

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_oscillazionecorpomira,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {The less the body sways while aiming, the better the shot},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/body-sway-while-aiming},
  note = {Version 6; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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