During the shot the legs and hips move far less than the arms

The summary today

Nobody has set out to measure how much the legs and hips move during the shot, but two studies from 2025 show it in passing and point the same way. In 37 pre-elite recurve and compound archers, with inertial sensors on the ankle, the lower back and both wrists, in the half second before the release the ankle rotates at under 2 degrees per second and the lower back at 3.4 to 4.1; a tenth of a second after the release the ankle stays under 4 degrees per second, the lower back rises to 19.8 to 29.3 and the drawing wrist reaches 215 to 271. Movement, in other words, grows the further you go from the ground. In a study that recognises the phases of the shot from video, on 20 recurve and barebow archers, the knees are left out of the model because they do not move and the hip is among the points carrying the least information. The picture is consistent but descriptive: no study compares archers who move more with archers who move less, and under the feet the centre of pressure still shifts by a few millimetres while aiming and by 15 to 20 at the release, as the body absorbs the recoil, so the lower body moves little but is not still. Nor does still mean idle: in five high-level Russian archers a hip muscle works harder on the drawing side than on the bow side.

Also phrased as: "the legs are the foundation of the shot"; "still legs while shooting"; "stable hips during the shot"; "nothing moves below the waist"; "stance and stability"

Evidence

• 2023
  Context Archers Published later

  13 recurve archers, 6 elite and 7 sub-elite, 18 arrows at 70 m with one foot on each of two force plates: at the release the centre of pressure shifts by 15 to 20 mm away from the target, eight to ten times the sway while aiming (1.9 mm), and in 67 per cent of shots the shift starts before the string leaves. The legs are not still in the sense of idle: they move the weight to absorb the recoil.

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

• 2025
  For Archers Published later

  37 pre-elite high school and university archers, recurve at 70 m and compound at 50 m on an outdoor competition field, inertial sensors at 1,000 Hz on the left ankle, lower back (L4) and both wrists: in the 0.5 s before the release the ankle rotates at 1.7 to 1.8 degrees per second, the lower back at 3.4 to 4.1, the wrists between 3.1 and 12.4; at 0.1 s after the release the ankle sits at 2.2 to 3.9, the lower back at 19.8 to 29.3, the bow wrist at 104.7 to 132.6 and the drawing wrist at 215.5 to 271.4. Movement grows with distance from the ground.

  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
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same study the body is not motionless: in the 0.5 s before the release the centre of pressure travels 51.9 mm in recurve and 61.6 in compound, with a side-to-side sway of 1.1 to 1.5 mm and a front-to-back sway of 3.0 to 3.3 mm. Almost still, not still.

  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

  Video of 20 recurve and barebow archers, 17 key points estimated with YOLOv8 to classify the phases of the shot: the knees were left out of the model because they did not move during the shot, and in the variable importance analysis the left hip in the vertical direction is among the points that count least, while the drawing-arm wrist and elbow in the horizontal direction count most. Regional journal, indirect measure.

  Pose Classification in Archery Sports Based on YoloV8 Using SVM and Random Forest Methods · Yuridikta Adha Muslim, Bedy Purnama, Bayu Erfianto

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  Video at 60 frames per second of 4 Korean national-level archers, archer recognition with sequence networks: 11 of the 17 key points, including the hips, knees and ankles, are left out of the model because they stay fixed during the shot, and with only the 12 coordinates of shoulders, elbows and wrists the model recognises the archer 98.7 per cent of the time. The stillness of the lower body is an assumption taken from other work, not a measurement made in this study.

  Deep Learning Sequence Network for Identifying and Analyzing Archery Shooting Patterns · Jihoon Park, Hyongjun Choi

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  5 Russian recurve archers holding the Master of Sport title, electromyography of 18 muscles on both sides synchronised with 3D analysis and the clicker: the tensor fasciae latae, a hip muscle, works harder on the drawing side with an asymmetry coefficient of 0.35, close to the 0.38 of the erector spinae. A still lower body is not an idle one. Regional journal.

  Manifestation of asymmetry in muscle activity during the execution of shots from a recurve bow · A.M. Pukhov

Status history

1. 2023 Not studied The measurement closest to the question looks at weight, not at the legs. Thirteen recurve archers, six elite and seven sub-elite, shoot 18 arrows at 70 metres with one foot on each of two force plates: while aiming the centre of pressure sways by 1.9 millimetres, but at the release it shifts by 15 to 20 millimetres away from the target, and in 67 per cent of shots the movement starts before the string leaves. It says that the body prepares for and absorbs the recoil with a shift of weight, not how much the legs and hips move, and no study has yet measured those segments during the shot.
2. 2025 Reported The first direct measurements all arrive in the same year, from studies that were looking for something else. In 37 pre-elite recurve and compound archers, on an outdoor competition field, inertial sensors give the ankle under 2 degrees per second in the half second before the release and between 2.2 and 3.9 a tenth of a second after it, against 215 to 271 for the drawing wrist, with the lower back in between. In a study that recognises the phases of the shot from video, on 20 archers, the knees are left out of the model because they do not move and the hip carries very little information. A third video recognition study, on four Korean national-level archers, also drops the hips, knees and ankles from the model on the assumption that they stay still, but without measuring it. The same year, in five high-level Russian archers, electromyography finds a hip muscle more active on the drawing side: the lower body can stay almost still without being idle. Two descriptive studies of archers point the way the claim does, with no comparison between archers and no link to the score: reported.

Related

Related articles

• Foot position: which stance to use and how much weight each foot should carrySquare, open or closed: what top archers use, what changing your stance costs and how the weight is split between the feet, according to the studies.
• Balance, core and proprioception: the training you never seeWhat balance and core exercises change in archers, which test is linked to score, and what shoulder position sense does and does not tell you.

Research lines

• 20 studiesFeet, load and stance: what posturography has measured since 1990
• 30 studiesArchers' postural stability since 1990

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