The triceps of the drawing arm is the most loaded muscle in the shot

The summary today

On archers, the studies that have measured the triceps of the drawing arm give answers that cannot be reconciled. In a thesis on ten archers from the Brazilian national squad it is the most active of twelve muscles: 73.5 per cent of maximal contraction from fifty milliseconds before to fifty after the clicker and 86.6 just after, with the latissimus dorsi at 10.3, though the standard deviation is wider than the average itself. In thirty Japanese archers of three levels, over the second before the clicker, it stays below 10 to 20 per cent in every group, and it is lower in the elite than in the beginners. In fourteen Taiwanese university archers it sits at 26 and 34 per cent in the study's two groups, while the upper trapezius and posterior deltoid work between 77 and 95. The only other figure that puts it first is a force estimate on a single traditional archer, in a venue with questionable editorial standards, and even there the most loaded muscle of the whole shot is the middle deltoid of the bow arm. Two studies out of three go against the claim, but the one that supports it, on national-squad archers with seventy-two arrows each, cannot be set aside, and the difference seems to lie in the method: the time window measured and the way each muscle is scaled to its own maximal contraction.

Also phrased as: "the hardest-working muscle in archery"; "drawing-arm triceps"; "most active muscles in archery"; "ranking of the muscles in the shot"

Evidence

• 2017
  Context Archers Published later

  Two right-handed compound archers, one trained and one who rarely shoots, electromyography on six muscles per arm and forces estimated from the signal and from muscle cross-sections in the literature: the triceps is measured only on the bow arm, where it gives the trained archer's highest estimated force, 337 N against 280 for the biceps of the drawing arm, while in the occasional archer the biceps comes first, 371 N against 323. The triceps also has the largest cross-section of those used, 19.07 square centimetres, and the estimate reflects that. At maximal contraction the occasional archer reaches 93 per cent in the deltoid of the drawing arm and 84 in the triceps of the bow arm. The triceps of the drawing arm is not measured, so the study does not answer the question: context, one archer per group.

  Comparison of upper limb muscles behaviour for skilled and recreational archers using compound bow · Muhammad Shahimi Ariffin, Azmin Sham Rambely

• 2018
  Against Archers Published later

  30 Japanese male archers, 10 per level across elite, pre-elite and beginners, with electromyography of six drawing-arm muscles over the second before the clicker: the triceps stays below 10 to 20 per cent of maximal contraction in every group and is significantly lower in the elite than in the beginners (p below 0.05), while the lower trapezius of the elite reaches 54.0 per cent.

  Analysis of Muscular Activity in Archery: A Comparison of Skill Level · Hiroshi Shinohara, Yukio Urabe

• 2018
  For Archers Published later

  10 archers from the Brazilian national squad, 72 arrows at 70 metres, twelve muscles: from 50 milliseconds before to 50 after the clicker the triceps is at 73.50 per cent of maximal contraction, with a standard deviation of 169.25, ahead of the finger flexor (44.12), finger extensor (40.96), pectoralis major (40.87), upper trapezius (35.21), posterior deltoid (25.89) and biceps (24.72), with the latissimus dorsi at 10.31 and the lumbar multifidus last at 3.65. Between 40 and 60 milliseconds after the clicker the triceps rises to 86.61.

  Temporal pattern in the muscles of the upper limbs and the trunk in the archery · Nadjila Tejo Machado

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  A single traditional archer, a world champion in horseback archery, with a 45-pound composite bow and the Khatrah technique, best five shots out of ten: the estimated forces put the triceps at the top of the drawing arm in every phase, from 387 newtons in the starting position to 370 at nocking, 360 at full draw, 359 at release and 357 at completion, with the pectoralis major second, from 236 to 189. The forces are derived from the electromyographic signal and from muscle cross-sections in the literature, and the peak comes before the bow is drawn; a venue with questionable editorial standards.

  Upper Extremity Muscle Force for Traditional Archery using Khatrah Technique Questionable venue · Muhammad Shahimi Ariffin

• 2020
  Against Archers Published later

  In the same archer the most loaded muscle of the whole shot is not the triceps but the middle deltoid of the bow arm, which rises from 31 newtons in the starting position to 527 in the pre-draw, 759 at full draw and 800 at release, the highest value of the ten muscles measured.

  Upper Extremity Muscle Force for Traditional Archery using Khatrah Technique Questionable venue · Muhammad Shahimi Ariffin

• 2022
  Against Archers Published later

  14 Taiwanese university recurve archers, 5 men and 9 women, measured before a twelve-week programme: over the last second before the release the triceps of the drawing arm sits at 26 per cent of maximal contraction in the exercise group and 34 in the control group, against 95 for the bow-side upper trapezius, 78 for the drawing-side one, 85 for the posterior deltoid and 59 for the middle deltoid.

  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

1. 2017 Not studied The first study to measure the triceps in archers does not yet answer the question. A comparison of two compound archers, one trained and one who shoots only now and then, uses electromyography to put the trained archer's highest estimated force in the triceps, 337 newtons against 280 for the biceps of the drawing arm, but it is the triceps of the bow arm: that of the drawing arm is not measured. The figure stays context, with one archer per group, and the claim has not yet been put to the test in archers.
2. 2018 Contested The first two studies on archers to set the triceps of the drawing arm against the other muscles arrive in the same year, and they say opposite things. In thirty Japanese archers, ten elite, ten pre-elite and ten beginners, with electromyography of six muscles over the second before the clicker, the triceps stays below 10 to 20 per cent of maximal contraction in every group and is lower in the elite than in the beginners, while the lower trapezius of the elite reaches 54. A thesis on ten archers from the Brazilian national squad, seventy-two arrows at seventy metres and twelve muscles recorded, finds it instead at 73.5 per cent from fifty milliseconds before to fifty after the clicker, the highest value of all, ahead of the finger flexor at 44.1 and the pectoralis major at 40.9; just after the clicker it rises to 86.6. Two studies on archers pointing in opposite directions: contested. The time windows are not the same, an instant around the clicker against the second before it, and that alone may explain part of the gap.
3. 2020 Contested A single case adds a figure that points two ways. In one traditional archer, a world champion in horseback archery, the forces estimated from electromyography put the triceps at the top of the drawing arm in every phase, from 387 newtons in the starting position to 357 at completion, but the most loaded muscle of the whole shot is the middle deltoid of the bow arm, which reaches 800 newtons at release. The forces are obtained by multiplying the signal by muscle cross-sections taken from the literature, the triceps peaks before the bow is even drawn, and the venue has questionable editorial standards: it settles nothing, and the status stays contested.
4. 2022 Contested Fourteen Taiwanese university recurve archers, measured before a training programme, side with the Japanese study: over the last second before the release the triceps of the drawing arm is at 26 per cent of maximal contraction in the group about to train and 34 in the controls, while the upper trapezius on both sides and the posterior deltoid sit between 77 and 95. The contrary studies become two, the supporting one remains one, on national-squad archers and at the moment of the clicker, and it cannot be set aside: the status stays contested, and the answer seems to depend on when and how the measurement is taken.

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Research lines

• 46 studiesShooting EMG from 1971 to today
• 54 studiesMovement variability and individual technique since 1971

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