On better arrows the finger flexors work less before the clicker goes off

The summary today

The question has two answers, and they come from two laboratories that measured similar things under very different conditions. In four elite Turkish women archers, 108 arrows at 18 metres indoors, the flexor digitorum superficialis of the drawing hand sits at 85.6 per cent of maximal contraction in the second before the clicker on arrows scoring 8 and at 80.0 on those scoring 10, with a weak but significant correlation (r = -0.29); the same group published those figures twice, the second time describing the sample as male. In eight high-level French archers, 549 arrows at 70 metres, the opposite happens: throughout the aim the finger flexor and extensor of the drawing hand are more active on arrows scoring 10 than on those scoring 8 or less. Between the two studies the distance, the level, the time window and the way arrows are counted all change, and neither is enough to explain the other away. A third study, of 27 archers at three levels, answers a different question: in the 400 milliseconds before the clicker the beginners hold the forearm above their own maximal voluntary contraction and the elite lowest of all, but the comparison is between people, not between arrows.

Also phrased as: "relaxed fingers on the string"; "fingers as hooks"; "passive drawing hand"; "finger tension before the clicker"; "relaxing the fingers for the release"

Evidence

• 2010
  For Archers Published later

  4 elite women recurve archers, 30 arrows each at 18 m indoors, 108 usable arrows, electromyography of the drawing-hand forearm synchronised to the clicker: in the second before it goes off the flexor digitorum superficialis sits at 85.6, 84.4 and 80.0 per cent of maximal voluntary contraction on arrows scoring 8, 9 and 10 (34, 35 and 39 arrows), with F = 5.4, p < 0.05, and a correlation with the score of r = -0.29. Archer by archer the flexor drops in two of the four, and in a third the drawing-hand extensor is more active on the better arrows. The four archers' arrows are analysed together.

  Shooting Dynamics in Archery · M. Emre Erkek, Cevdet Tinazci

• 2011
  For Archers Published later

  Same group, same tables and same figures as the 2010 paper (85.6, 84.4 and 80.0 per cent; F = 5.4, p < 0.05; r = -0.29), but the sample is described as four elite male archers who had represented Turkey. It is the same data set and counts only once.

  Shooting dynamics in archery: A multidimensional analysis from drawing to releasing in male archers · Cevdet Tinazci

• 2014
  Context Archers Published later

  27 recurve archers, 9 elite, 9 intermediate and 9 beginners, 6 shots each, electromyography of 9 muscles: in the 400 ms before the clicker the beginners activate the forearm flexors and extensors above their own maximal isometric voluntary contraction, the intermediates less and the elite least of all (differences between groups p < 0.05). It compares levels, not arrows.

  Kinetic and Kinematic Analysis of Recurve Archery Shooting Technique · Deniz Simsek, Ali Onur Cerrah, Hayri Ertan, A. Ruhi Soylu

• 2014
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same study, over the 800 ms after the clicker forearm activity goes different ways by level: in the elite the flexors and extensors taper off gradually, in the intermediates they rise as soon as the clicker goes, in the beginners the flexors drop while the extensors rise.

  Kinetic and Kinematic Analysis of Recurve Archery Shooting Technique · Deniz Simsek, Ali Onur Cerrah, Hayri Ertan, A. Ruhi Soylu

• 2025
  Against Archers Published later

  8 high-level French recurve archers, 4 women and 4 men, eight ends of nine arrows at 70 m, 549 arrows analysed and split into low (8 or less), mid (9) and high (10): throughout the aiming phase the flexor digitorum superficialis of the drawing hand is less active on low arrows than on mid and high ones, and less on mid than on high; the extensor digitorum on the same side is less active on low and mid arrows than on high ones (p < 0.05). Activity normalised to maximal voluntary contraction; the authors note that the result runs against earlier studies.

  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

• 2026
  Against Archers Published later

  The doctoral thesis containing the 2025 study, on the same 8 elite archers and the same arrows: the flexor digitorum superficialis of the drawing hand is less active on arrows scoring 8 or less than on those scoring 9 and 10, and on 9s than on 10s (p < 0.05). Same data, counts only once.

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

• 2026
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same thesis, across the 549 arrows at 70 m, the extensor digitorum of the drawing hand and the drawing-side multifidus also work harder on high arrows (low and mid less active than high). On the better arrows the drawing hand is not more relaxed: it is more active in both finger muscles.

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

Status history

1. 2010 Reported The first data on the individual arrow come from four elite Turkish women archers, thirty arrows each at 18 metres indoors, with forearm electromyography synchronised to the clicker: in the second before it goes off, the flexor digitorum superficialis of the drawing hand sits at 85.6 per cent of maximal contraction on arrows scoring 8, 84.4 on those scoring 9 and 80.0 on those scoring 10, with a significant test and a weak negative correlation, r = -0.29. Looked at archer by archer the picture frays: the flexor drops as the score rises in two of the four, and in a third it is the extensor of the drawing hand that works harder on the better arrows. One study, four people and everyone's arrows pooled together: reported.
2. 2011 Reported A second paper from the same group carries the same tables, with the same values of 85.6, 84.4 and 80.0 per cent and the same correlation, but describes the sample as four elite male archers. It is the same data published twice, so it counts as a single study and the status does not move; the discrepancy over the sex of the sample remains unexplained.
3. 2014 Reported In 27 recurve archers split into three levels, nine elite, nine intermediate and nine beginners, electromyography shows that in the 400 milliseconds before the clicker the beginners hold the forearm flexors and extensors above their own maximal voluntary contraction, the intermediates lower and the elite lowest of all. After the clicker goes, activity tapers off gradually in the elite, rises in the intermediates, and in the beginners the flexors drop while the extensors rise. This compares archers of different levels, not arrows from the same archer, so the question on this page stays where it was: reported.
4. 2025 Contested Eight high-level French archers, four women and four men, shoot eight ends of nine arrows at 70 metres with their own equipment, and across the 549 arrows analysed the drawing hand behaves the opposite way to what the claim says: throughout the aim the flexor digitorum superficialis is less active on arrows scoring 8 or less than on those scoring 9 and 10, and less on the 9s than on the 10s, and the extensor digitorum goes the same way. The authors themselves point out that the result runs against earlier work. There are now two studies of archers pointing in opposite directions, so the status moves to contested. The conditions are far apart, though: 18 metres against 70, the second before the clicker against the whole aim, four archers with their arrows pooled against eight archers also analysed one by one. Neither paper is enough to dismiss the other.
5. 2026 Contested The doctoral thesis behind the French study presents the same eight archers and the same 549 arrows again: the flexor of the drawing-hand fingers is less active on the worse arrows and more active on the better ones, and on the good arrows the extensor digitorum and the drawing-side multifidus also work harder. It is the same data, so it counts once, and the picture stays as it was in 2025: two independent samples, one on each side. Contestato.

Related

Related articles

• The final pull: what happens in the last millimetres before the clickerHow many millimetres and seconds the final pull takes, how it differs between better and worse arrows, and what the aim and the muscles do as the clicker drops.
• Muscle synergies in archery: the motor patterns of elite archersMuscle synergies in archery: what changes between elite and novice archers, and what happens on the best arrows, at the clicker and at the release.
• The release in archery: anatomy of a few millisecondsHow the archery release works according to the measurements: how long it lasts, how the fingers open, what the arrow does and what you can train.

Research lines

• 24 studiesThe passive release: fifty years to take an idea apart
• 46 studiesShooting EMG from 1971 to today

Other claims in this domain

• CorroboratedBetween one and a half and two tenths of a second pass between the clicker sounding and the arrow leaving7 studies · 94 archers measuredStatus since 1990
• ReportedA camera diagonally behind the archer measures the vertical sway of the aim well, but not the horizontal1 study · 3 archers measuredStatus since 2010
• ReportedA continuous final pull through the clicker leads to better shots9 studies · 56 archers measuredStatus since 1993
• ReportedA sound or light cue about the angle of the bow arm tightens beginners' groups2 studies · 1 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA thumb grip on the string is less tiring than a finger grip3 studies · 9 archers measuredStatus since 1990

See all claims on technique and biomechanics