After the release the body moves far more than it does while aiming
4 studies · 102 archers measured
The summary today
Three independent samples of archers, measured in different ways, point the same way: in the moment after release the body, and above all the arms, moves far more than while aiming. In the most solid study, of 39 elite recurve archers, the centre of pressure under the feet travels on average 20 millimetres in the second before release and 48 in the half second after it, more than twice the distance in half the time; in 37 pre-elite archers the wrists go from 3-12 to 105-271 degrees per second, and the individual values a French study reports for some elite archers show the same jump in the centre of pressure. The pre-elite study also shows where the statement needs narrowing: the ankle only goes from under 2 to 2-4 degrees per second, so the jump belongs mainly to the arms and the bow, far less to the feet. None of the three papers tests the difference between the phases statistically, since the authors treat it as a starting point, and the measurement windows differ in length: that is why, despite three samples in agreement, the status stays reported. Moving a lot after release is not a virtue in itself, though: the elite French archers move more than intermediate archers, yet in the 39 elite archers a lower peak speed after release predicts a better score, and in the French archers' worse arrows that speed is higher.
Also phrased as: "everything moves after the release"; "aiming is the stillest moment of the shot"; "movement in the follow-through"; "sway after the release"
In practice
Archers are taught that after the release the bow drops forward and the drawing hand slides back along the face, that this movement is the natural consequence of the shot, and that aiming is the moment when the body must be at its stillest.
Evidence
-
2017
For Archers Published later
39 elite recurve archers from four countries, 10 arrows at 70 m on a 1000 Hz force platform: the centre of pressure travels 20.10 ± 6.36 mm in the second before release (13.51 front to back, 10.72 side to side) and 48.03 ± 18.55 mm in the half second after (36.31 front to back, 24.57 side to side). Sway speed is 159.87 mm/s at release and peaks at 235.12 mm/s; the peak always comes after release and is closely tied to the speed at release (r = 0.80). The two windows differ in length and the comparison is not tested, but the difference runs entirely one way.
Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery · Wayne Spratford, Rhiannon Campbell
-
2021
Context Archers Published later
11 Japanese university recurve archers, with a triaxial accelerometer mounted on the bow: while aiming the change in acceleration and the bow's two angles show little variability, at release the acceleration changes abruptly, and in the follow-through one of the two angles changes markedly and the other much less. It measures the bow, not the body.
Archery Skill Assessment Using an Acceleration Sensor · Takayuki Ogasawara, Hanako Fukamachi, Kenryu Aoyagi, Shiro Kumano, Hiroyoshi Togo, Koichiro Oka
-
2025
For Archers Published later
8 high-level French recurve archers, 549 arrows at 70 m on a force platform. The study does not compare the two phases and reports individual values only for the archers whose good and bad arrows differed: while aiming one archer's centre-of-pressure area lies between 56.4 and 75.1 mm² and two archers' mean speed between 18.8 and 20.9 mm/s; after release two other archers' area ranges from 122.6 to 333.0 mm², another archer's mean speed from 63.2 to 67.6 mm/s and peak speed from 243.9 to 293.7 mm/s. The jump is clear, but the values for the two phases come from different archers.
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
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2025
For Archers Published later
37 pre-elite Taiwanese archers, recurve and compound, on an outdoor competition field: in the half second before release angular speeds are 1.7-1.8 °/s at the ankle, 3.4-4.1 at the lower back, 3.5-12.4 at the bow wrist and 3.1-7.5 at the drawing wrist; in the tenth of a second after they rise to 2.2-3.9, 19.8-29.3, 104.7-132.6 and 215.5-271.4 °/s. The further a segment is from the ground, the more it moves: the ankle changes little, the wrists by ten to seventy times depending on the side and the bow type. The centre of pressure travels 51.9-61.6 mm in the half second before and 13.5-14.0 mm in the tenth of a second after, over windows of different length.
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
-
2026
Context Archers Published later
A doctoral thesis that gathers the same 8 elite archers as the 2025 paper and adds 7 regional-level archers, at 70 m: in the follow-through the elite archers have higher values than the intermediates on every centre-of-pressure parameter (area, overall and per-axis speed, peak speed and side-to-side range p < 0.001; front-to-back range p < 0.05), while during aiming their area and ranges are smaller. The range of chest movement separates the two levels while aiming (3.4 ± 3.7 against 5.9 ± 6.8 arbitrary units, p < 0.001) but not after release (p = 0.121). For the elite archers it counts as the same study as in 2025.
Analyse multidimensionnelle de la performance en tir à l'arc · Raphaël Jacquot
Status history
- 2017 Reported The first data come from 39 elite recurve archers measured on a force platform in the days before a World Cup event: the centre of pressure travels on average 20 millimetres in the second before release and 48 in the half second after it, and peak sway speed always comes after the arrow has gone. The study was not designed for this comparison, it uses the two windows to predict the score, but the figure is clear. A single sample: reported.
- 2021 Reported An accelerometer mounted on the bows of 11 Japanese university archers shows the same thing from the equipment side: while aiming the bow's acceleration and angles vary little, and in the follow-through the bow rotates clearly. It concerns the bow rather than the body, so it stays as context, and the status does not move.
- 2025 Reported Two independent samples arrive, with different measures. In 37 pre-elite archers the wrists go from 3-12 degrees per second in the half second before release to 105-271 in the tenth of a second after it, while the ankle changes little; among 8 elite French archers, the individual values reported for some of them give a centre-of-pressure area of 56-75 square millimetres while aiming and 123-333 after release, and a mean speed of 19-21 against 63-68 millimetres per second, though from different archers in the two phases. Three studies of archers point the same way and none against; but none of them compares the two phases with a statistical test, and the measurement windows differ in length. The status stays reported, with the proviso that the jump is mainly in the arms.
- 2026 Reported The thesis that gathers the French work adds 7 intermediate archers: after release the elite archers move more than the intermediates on every centre-of-pressure parameter, while the chest, which separated the two levels during aiming, no longer does so in the follow-through. Across levels, then, moving more after release does not mark a less controlled shot, even though within the same level the arrows with the highest peak speed are still the worse ones. For the elite archers these are the same data as in 2025, and the status stays reported.
Related
Related articles
- The follow-through: what happens after the arrow has goneIn the top archers measured, the arrow leaves the string in about 15 milliseconds. What the body does next, what studies have found and where they stop.
- Posture and stability in archery: what biomechanists revealCentre of pressure, bow movement while aiming, balance before and after the release, the trunk and balance tests: what the biomechanics of stability measures and how much it weighs on the score.
- Video analysis and self-coaching in archery: the practical guideHow to film your own shot and what to look for, what the camera measures badly, when sensors help, and what research says about video, feel and the training journal.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). After the release the body moves far more than it does while aiming (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/movement-after-the-release
@misc{campagna2026_movimentodoporilascio,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {After the release the body moves far more than it does while aiming},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/movement-after-the-release},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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