Standing forward on the shooting line, closer to the target, gains points

The summary today

The rules only ask that the body be above the shooting line, and with a torso about forty centimetres wide an archer can gain about twenty centimetres of distance by placing the feet forward. What that is worth in points comes from a single Australian paper from 2019, and it is a model, not a measurement: it keeps the group the same size and moves it closer to the target. Twenty centimetres less is worth between 0.25 and 0.42 points over 72 arrows outdoors, from just under half to three quarters of a ranking place, and between 0.36 and 1.08 points over 60 arrows at 18 metres, where in some categories it is more than a whole place; the gain is larger for weaker archers. The same paper photographed 99 World Cup finalists: 64 per cent stood centrally over the line, 24 per cent behind, only 12 per cent forward. Nobody has tried the two positions on the same archers, so it remains open whether the stability lost in a less natural stance eats up the few tenths gained.

Also phrased as: "feet forward on the shooting line"; "shortening the distance to the target"; "position on the shooting line"; "leaning the trunk towards the target"

Evidence

• 2019
  For Model Published later

  A model of group size as a function of skill index, from 60 (club archer) to 140, with scores projected to the 2019 World Championships: over 72 arrows outdoors, 0.2 metres closer is worth 0.33 and 0.35 points in men's recurve at 16th and 32nd place (67 and 72 per cent of a ranking place), 0.37 and 0.42 in women's recurve (44 and 50 per cent), 0.25 and 0.29 in men's compound, 0.32 and 0.38 in women's compound. The gain grows as skill level falls.

  Optimising an archer’s foot position to obtain a competitive advantage · James L Park

• 2019
  For Model Published later

  Indoors, over 60 arrows at 18 metres and with the scores from the 2017 Indoor World Cup in Nîmes, the same 20 centimetres weigh more: 0.59 and 0.75 points in men's recurve (92 and 118 per cent of a ranking place), 0.80 and 1.08 in women's recurve, 0.36 and 0.45 in men's compound (133 and 168 per cent), 0.53 and 0.52 in women's compound. The model does not allow for any possible loss of stability.

  Optimising an archer’s foot position to obtain a competitive advantage · James L Park

• 2019
  Context Archers Published later

  In the finals of two World Cup stages in Berlin, in 2017 and 2018, 99 recurve and compound archers out of 110 were photographed: 64 per cent stood centrally over the shooting line, 24 per cent behind, 12 per cent forward. The Korean archers were all central, the American ones mostly forward. There is no link to the score.

  Optimising an archer’s foot position to obtain a competitive advantage · James L Park

• 2022
  Context Review Published later

  A systematic review of 41 studies on performance assessment: it summarises the 2019 paper by saying that most archers stand centrally over the line or behind it and that only a few lean forward, which nonetheless gives a significant score advantage. That advantage comes from the model, not from a measurement.

  Performance assessment in archery: a systematic review · Eleonora Vendrame, Valeria Belluscio, Luigi Truppa, Lorenzo Rum, Aldo Lazich, Elena Bergamini, Andrea Mannini

Status history

1. 2019 Transferred An Australian paper asks the question for the first time. With a model of group size as a function of skill level, it estimates that twenty centimetres closer to the target is worth between 0.25 and 0.42 points over 72 arrows outdoors and between 0.36 and 1.08 over 60 arrows at 18 metres, enough in some categories to gain a ranking place. Photographing 99 World Cup finalists it finds that only 12 per cent stand forward. The gain is calculated, not measured on archers shooting: transferred.
2. 2022 Transferred A systematic review of performance assessment picks up the 2019 paper and summarises it as a significant score advantage for those who lean forward, taken up by few archers. It brings no new data, and the advantage it describes is still the one calculated by the model: the status does not change.

Related

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• Thoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRVThoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRV for archers: the exercises, an eight-week protocol and what the studies on archers show.
• 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.

Research lines

• 48 studiesWhat predicts the score, and how talent selection tried to use it
• 102 studiesFrom the total on the scorecard to the arrow's coordinates

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