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The path by which the bow is raised and drawn changes balance while aiming

3 studies · 7 archers measured

ForContextAgainst201820202022202420262020, context, n = 52018, context, n = 12020, for, n = 12020, context, n = 1
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.

The only measurement comes from a single case: an expert recurve archer shot three arrows with each of three drawing paths, high (his usual one), direct and low, at 12 metres with one foot on each of two force plates. In the second before the release the direct draw gives a wider sway in the shooting direction than the high draw (1.0 against 0.6 millimetres) and shifts the average position of the centre of pressure forwards and backwards by about ten millimetres, with significance set at p below 0.10 because of the small number of arrows. In the half second after the release nothing changes, and with the usual technique postural corrections are the fastest, not the slowest, although this difference is not significant. All nine arrows hit the centre, so the study does not say whether the difference in balance changes the score, and the comparison may reward habit more than the drawing path itself.

Also phrased as: "high draw or direct draw"; "raising the bow and drawing down"; "straight-line draw"; "draw style and balance"; "bow raise"

In practice

On the range archers debate whether it is better to raise the bow and draw down from above or to draw straight in line, and it is said that the chosen path changes how steady you are when you reach the aim.

Evidence

  • 2018
    Context Archers Published later

    A university recurve archer shoots 648 arrows at 70 m, alternating a technique called angular and one called linear, in nine environmental conditions: 40 tens with the first (55.6 per cent) against 21 with the second (29.2 per cent) on the first six shots of each end. The two techniques are defined only by that study, balance is not measured, there is no statistical test and the journal has questionable editorial standards.

    Classifying the Archery Performance with Conditional Effects on Angular and Linear Shooting Techniques Questionable venue · W. P. Loh, Y. Y. Chong

  • 2020
    For Archers Published later

    One expert recurve archer, three arrows with each of three drawing paths at 12 m, one foot on each of two force plates: in the second before the release the RMS distance of the centre of pressure in the shooting direction is 0.6 ± 0.3 mm with the high draw, his usual one, and 1.0 ± 0.1 with the direct draw, and the average forward-backward position moves from 61.7 to 72.1 mm (72.7 with the low draw), both with p = 0.09 against the 0.10 threshold set by the authors. The ellipse area (10.5 against 21.8 mm²) does not differ significantly.

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

  • 2020
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same archer the drawing path changes nothing in the half second after the release (p ≥ 0.1), nor the average position in the shooting direction (48.0 to 50.0 mm). With the usual technique the maximum centre of pressure velocity is the highest (55.9 against 39.1 and 40.8 mm/s, differences not significant), and with all three the sway is smaller but faster than in quiet standing, a sign of stiffening. All nine arrows hit the centre.

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

  • 2020
    Context Archers Published later

    Angular velocity sensors on the bows of 5 archers, with shots grouped by signal shape and reviewed on video with a coach: in one archer a two-stage draw, visible as a two-step wave, appears on the shots where she raises the bow higher than usual. It links the bow raise to the way of drawing, not to balance while aiming.

    Archery shots visualization by clustering and comparing from angular velocities of bows · Midori Kawaguchi, Hironori Mitake, Shoichi Hasegawa

Status history

  1. 2018 Not studied A single case, a university archer alternating two techniques over 648 arrows at 70 metres, hits 40 tens with one and 21 with the other. The techniques are defined only by that study and balance is not measured, so there is still no evidence on the question.
  2. 2020 Reported The first measurement of balance arrives: in one expert archer on two force plates the direct draw widens the sway in the shooting direction in the second before the release (1.0 against 0.6 millimetres) and shifts the centre of pressure by ten millimetres, while after the release nothing changes. The same year a study of five archers sees a two-stage draw when the bow is raised higher than usual. One archer, three arrows per technique and a threshold of p below 0.10: reported.

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Research lines

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Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). The path by which the bow is raised and drawn changes balance while aiming (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/drawing-path-and-balance

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_viaditrazioneequilibrio,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {The path by which the bow is raised and drawn changes balance while aiming},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/drawing-path-and-balance},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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