Releasing when you decide for yourself groups better than releasing on an external signal
3 studies · 9 archers measured
The summary today
There is only one study of archers, and it points the way the statement does: nine elite recurve archers with more than ten years of practice shoot twenty arrows at 8 m with the clicker and twenty without, releasing when they decide for themselves, and without the clicker their aim at the moment of release is tighter (d = 0.84). Precision, though, is calculated from the orientation of the bow, not from where the arrows land, the draw is also shorter without the clicker, and the journal is a regional one. The rest comes from a Korean laboratory that had eight men with no archery experience shoot with a simulated bow: releasing on their own initiative, the virtual shots are tighter (0.017 against 0.023, d = 1.24), while waiting for the signal, which takes about a third of a second to answer, the ankle stiffens, the body sways more forwards and backwards through peripheral tremor, and the leg muscles stop working together to hold the centre of pressure still. A second paper from the same group reanalyses the same data on finger forces and counts as the same study. The mechanism is clear in the laboratory; in real archers the stiffening of the ankle does not reach significance, and nobody has yet measured the score of the arrows.
Also phrased as: "don't react to the clicker"; "the clicker should not be a signal"; "anticipatory release"; "shooting without a clicker"; "reactive or self-paced release"
In practice
Recurve archers have long argued over whether the release should be a response to the clicker dropping or a movement the archer carries through alone, with the clicker only confirming the draw length.
Evidence
-
2023
For Archers Published later
9 elite recurve archers (25.9 ± 5.6 years, more than ten years of practice, national-team athletes among them), 40 arrows at 8 m with their own bows, half with the clicker and half without, in random order: the precision index, the mean distance of the aiming points from their centre calculated from the bow's orientation at release, is smaller without the clicker (t(8) = 2.51, p = 0.036, d = 0.84). Without the clicker the draw is also shorter (t(8) = 3.22, p = 0.012), while draw length does not change. Impacts on the target are not measured.
Effect of Anticipatory Shooting Strategy on Performance Consistency in Skilled Elite Archer · Kitae Kim, Youngsook Kim, Donggyu Baek, Jaebum Park, Junkyung Song
-
2023
Context Archers Published later
In the same archers the speed of the centre of pressure rises sharply just before release, and in the forward-backward direction it rises more with the clicker (t(8) = 3.17, p = 0.013); without the clicker, the smaller this adjustment, the tighter the aim (r = 0.75, p = 0.019). Unlike the simulated shot, the activity and co-contraction of the leg muscles do not change significantly between the two conditions.
Effect of Anticipatory Shooting Strategy on Performance Consistency in Skilled Elite Archer · Kitae Kim, Youngsook Kim, Donggyu Baek, Jaebum Park, Junkyung Song
-
2023
For General population Published later
8 healthy men with no archery experience, simulated bow with force sensors and a virtual arrow, release either self-paced or on a visual signal: the normalised precision index is 0.017 ± 0.002 with the self-paced release and 0.023 ± 0.003 on the signal (t(7) = 3.51, p = 0.01, d = 1.24). The signal takes on average 318 ± 34 ms to be followed by the release, the typical reaction time of the fingers to a visual stimulus.
Multi-muscle Synergies of Postural Control in Self- and External-Triggered Force Release During Simulated Archery Shooting · Junkyung Song, Kitae Kim, Jaebum Park
-
2023
Context General population Published later
In the same 8 men, waiting for the signal makes the centre of pressure sway more (F(1,7) = 10.80, p = 0.013), only in the forward-backward direction, and the difference lies in the peripheral tremor component (F(1,7) = 6.61, p = 0.037), not in balance drift. The activation of individual postural muscles does not change; what rises is co-contraction around the ankle, between tibialis anterior and soleus on the right (t(7) = 4.32, p = 0.003) and on the left (t(7) = 4.59, p = 0.003), not in the trunk.
Multi-muscle Synergies of Postural Control in Self- and External-Triggered Force Release During Simulated Archery Shooting · Junkyung Song, Kitae Kim, Jaebum Park
-
2023
Context General population Published later
With the self-paced release the postural muscles work together to stabilise the centre of pressure, with the synergy index above threshold in both directions; on the signal they do not (condition effect F(1,7) = 41.59, p < 0.001). On the signal, tibialis anterior and soleus on both sides are driven as a single block in 7 participants out of 8. The link between how still one stands and how tight the shots are appears only with the self-paced release and only forwards and backwards (centre of pressure r = 0.80, p = 0.009).
Multi-muscle Synergies of Postural Control in Self- and External-Triggered Force Release During Simulated Archery Shooting · Junkyung Song, Kitae Kim, Jaebum Park
-
2024
For General population Published later
Second paper on the same simulated-shot data from inexperienced men, linked as the same sample: the repeatability of the virtual impacts is greater when the person shooting chooses the moment of release, and goes with the way forces compensate across the four fingers and between the two hands. In the copy consulted, a two-page preview, the numerical values are not available, but the age, height and weight of the eight participants match those of the 2023 study. It counts once together with the 2023 study.
Hierarchical Organization and Adjustment of Force Coordination in Response to Self-Triggered and External-Triggered Cues in Simulated Archery Performance · Kitae Kim, Junkyung Song, Dawon Park, Jaebum Park
-
2026
Context Model Published later
Conceptual model built on the literature and on coaching experience, with no participants: it argues that visual alignment with the target, used as the cue to shoot, turns the shot into a reaction and destabilises it, and that the final phase should unfold without a separate act that triggers it. It is a proposal to be tested, not data.
The “Release Illusion”: A Conceptual Model of Motor Skill Formation in Archery · Oleksandr Kalynichenko
Status history
- 2023 Reported The question is asked and answered in the same year. In the laboratory, eight men with no archery experience using a simulated bow group their virtual shots more tightly when they release on their own initiative (0.017 against 0.023, d = 1.24); while waiting for the signal the ankle stiffens and the body sways more forwards and backwards. On archers, a test with nine elite recurve archers shooting at 8 m with and without a clicker finds aim at release tighter without the clicker (t(8) = 2.51, p = 0.036). It is a single study of archers, with nine participants, a regional journal and precision calculated from the bow rather than from the impacts: evidence in favour, and limited.
- 2024 Reported The same laboratory publishes a second paper on the simulated shot, reanalysing the eight inexperienced men in terms of finger and two-hand forces: with the self-paced release the virtual impacts are more repeatable, and the repeatability goes with the way the fingers and the hands compensate for each other. It is the same data, not a new sample, and they are not archers: the status stays at reported.
- 2026 Reported A conceptual model of skill formation in archery argues that using visual alignment with the target as the cue to shoot turns the shot into a reaction and makes it unstable. It is a theoretical proposal with no data, and it leaves the status at reported: the only test on archers is still the 2023 one, without arrow scores.
Related
Related articles
- The clicker: the science of a tenth of a secondWhat research measures about the clicker: reaction time, the muscles of the release, its weight on the score and what happens to draw length without it.
- Training with a signal: tones, lights and timers that correct the shotA tone on the draw, a light on the bow arm, a timer on the release: what studies of archers have measured about signals that correct the shot.
- 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
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Releasing when you decide for yourself groups better than releasing on an external signal (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/self-paced-release-external-signal
@misc{campagna2026_rilascioautonomoraggruppa,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Releasing when you decide for yourself groups better than releasing on an external signal},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/self-paced-release-external-signal},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
Follow this claim
RSS is an address you paste into a feed reader: each time this claim changes status, adds a year to its history or is revised, a new item appears there.
Registry updates by email
At most one email a month, sent only when something has changed: claims that change status, new claims, Lab predictions registered or resolved, new studies and new books.
Sign-ups are handled by Systeme.io, the service that runs the newsletter. Every email has a link to unsubscribe with one click.
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