The score is the most repeatable measure we have of an archer
2 studies · 230 archers measured
The summary today
Only one study sets the stability of the score beside that of laboratory measures in the same archers, and it does so in passing: fourteen university recurve archers, measured before and after twelve weeks of training. Over a simulated round of 72 arrows at 70 m the score varies by 3%, with an ICC of 0.84 and a typical error of 4 points; the electrical activity of the muscles in the second before release varies by 8 to 55% depending on the muscle, and strength, measured with a handheld and an isokinetic dynamometer, despite ICCs between 0.87 and 0.93, by 30 to 35%. Two measures, however, challenge the score's lead: strength is more consistent, and on the draw side two shoulder angles also reach a coefficient of variation of 3%, with a lower ICC. On the word "most", then, the same study points both ways, and the status is contested. Two limitations weigh more than the numbers. The two sessions are twelve weeks apart, with training in between that raised the score, so this is not a repeatability test in the strict sense; and the score is the sum of 72 arrows, while muscles and angles are measured on six arrows at 5 m. That the score of a round is fairly stable in itself was already shown in 1969 in a course for beginner schoolgirls, with a correlation of 0.78 to 0.80 between two rounds shot on consecutive days, but with no other measure beside it. The finding says that, for the same archer, the score of a simulated round moves far less than an electromyography trace or a strength test; to say it is the most repeatable measure of all would take a study designed for the purpose.
Also phrased as: "in the end only the score counts"; "the score does not lie"; "score reliability"; "repeatability of archery measures"; "electromyography changes from one session to the next"
In practice
It is said that in the end only the score counts, and that sensors, video and strength tests help explain why but cannot tell you whether an archer is improving.
Evidence
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1969
Context Archers Published later
216 beginner girls in their first year of an Illinois high school, split into two groups learning two different ways of reaching full draw, 19 lessons indoors at 10, 20 and 25 yards: the scores of the two rounds shot on the last two days correlate at 0.80 in the pull group and 0.78 in the push group, and with the Spearman-Brown formula the estimated reliability for four rounds rises to 0.92 and 0.91 (p. 53). It shows that the score of a round is fairly repeatable even in beginners, but it sets it beside no other measure, so it says nothing about the word "most".
Effectiveness of Two Methods of Attaining a Full Draw by Beginning Archers · Florence D. Grebner
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2022
For Archers Published later
14 university recurve archers (7 on the lower-trapezius programme, 7 controls), measured before and after 12 weeks: in the training group the score of the simulated round of 72 arrows at 70 m went from 628 to 639 with an ICC of 0.84, a coefficient of variation of 3% and a typical error of 4 points. In the same comparison, muscle electrical activity in the second before release had coefficients of variation from 18 to 55% (8 to 51% in the controls) and ICCs from 0.32 to 0.97: the score varies far less than an electromyography trace.
Twelve-Week Lower Trapezius-Centred Muscular Training Regimen in University Archers · Chien-Nan Liao, Chun-Hao Fan, Wei-Hsiu Hsu, Chia-Fang Chang, Pei-An Yu, Liang-Tseng Kuo, et al.
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2022
Against Archers Published later
In the same study two measures challenge the score's lead. Strength, on a handheld dynamometer for the lower trapezius and an isokinetic one for the horizontal abductors, has ICCs between 0.87 and 0.93, higher than the score's 0.84, albeit with coefficients of variation of 30 to 35%. And on the draw side, in the training group, shoulder abduction and horizontal extension, recorded with a camera over six arrows at 5 m, reach a 3% variation like the score, with ICCs of 0.76 and 0.45. On one of the two indices the score is not the most repeatable measure.
Twelve-Week Lower Trapezius-Centred Muscular Training Regimen in University Archers · Chien-Nan Liao, Chun-Hao Fan, Wei-Hsiu Hsu, Chia-Fang Chang, Pei-An Yu, Liang-Tseng Kuo, et al.
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2022
Context Archers Published later
The indices are computed between the session before and the one after twelve weeks of training, which in the training group raised the score and significantly changed some muscle activity, and those for the score come from the 7 archers of that group alone. Muscles and angles are averages of six arrows at 5 m, the score is the sum of 72: part of the score's advantage comes from the number of arrows. This is not a repeatability test designed as such.
Twelve-Week Lower Trapezius-Centred Muscular Training Regimen in University Archers · Chien-Nan Liao, Chun-Hao Fan, Wei-Hsiu Hsu, Chia-Fang Chang, Pei-An Yu, Liang-Tseng Kuo, et al.
Status history
- 1969 Not studied The first measurement of how repeatable the score is comes from an experiment on 216 beginner girls in their first year of an Illinois high school: the two rounds shot on the last two days of the course correlate at 0.80 and 0.78 in the two groups, and with four rounds the estimated reliability would exceed 0.90. The score of a round, then, is fairly stable even in people who have just started. But the study measures nothing else to compare it with, and the claim is about the most repeatable measure: the comparison has not yet been made.
- 2022 Contested The only study comparing the stability of several measures in the same archers comes out: fourteen university recurve archers, measured before and after a twelve-week programme centred on the lower trapezius. The score over 72 arrows at 70 m varies by 3% (ICC 0.84, typical error 4 points), muscle electrical activity before release by 8 to 55%, and on that count the score comes out far steadier. But strength is more consistent than the score, with ICCs between 0.87 and 0.93, and two drawing-shoulder angles show the same 3% variation: on the word "most" the same study points both ways, and there is training between the two sessions. Contestato.
Related
Related articles
- How to improve your archery score: where to start and what to work onHow to measure your level, what sets better archers apart and the levers on your score, from release to mind and load, and how well the evidence holds.
- Repeatability and consistency: measuring the steadiness of your shotHow repeatable an archer's shot is: what studies say about level, good and bad days, arrows outside the 10, and how to measure consistency on the range.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). The score is the most repeatable measure we have of an archer (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/score-most-repeatable-measure
@misc{campagna2026_punteggiomisurapiuripetibile,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {The score is the most repeatable measure we have of an archer},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/score-most-repeatable-measure},
note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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