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Paralympic archers in a wheelchair hold the draw and the aim longer than those who shoot standing

3 studies · 7 archers measured

ForContextAgainst20202022202420262024, context, n = 4832021, for, n = 72021, context, n = 72022, context
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

Only one study has measured shot timing in para-archers, and the difference is clear-cut: in 4 elite Korean archers in a wheelchair the draw lasts 2.23 seconds against 0.99 in the 3 who shoot standing, and the aim 4.41 against 3.04, with very large effects. After the draw the two classes look alike again: release, follow-through, trunk tilt and bow movement do not separate them, and the score over six arrows is almost the same, 57 against 56. The authors read the longer times as the price of having no support from the legs, and during the draw the trunk of the wheelchair archers does move forwards and backwards more than three times faster. The limits are the sample, seven archers split into two groups, and the comparison: those who shoot standing in the ARST class still have a disability, so the study says nothing about how a wheelchair archer compares with a non-disabled one. The two reviews published since take up the same data without adding any.

Also phrased as: "wheelchair archery"; "para-archer shot timing"; "wheelchair Paralympic archers"; "wheelchair class ARW2"; "standing and seated para-archers"

In practice

It is said that archers who shoot from a wheelchair need more time to build the shot, because without support from the legs all the stability has to come from the trunk and arms.

Evidence

  • 2021
    For Archers Published later

    4 elite Korean Paralympic recurve archers in a wheelchair (ARW2 class) and 3 who shoot standing (ARST class), 6 arrows at 20 metres with 3D motion analysis: the draw lasts 2.23 ± 0.52 seconds in the wheelchair against 0.99 ± 0.29 standing (p = 0.014, Hedges' g 2.36), and the aim 4.41 ± 0.85 against 3.04 ± 0.32 (p = 0.047, g 1.67). The score does not differ between the two groups, 57 and 56 points over the six arrows.

    A Feasibility Study of Kinematic Characteristics on the Upper Body According to the Shooting of Elite Disabled Archery Athletes · Tae-Whan Kim, Jae-Won Lee, Seoung-Ki Kang, Kyu-Yeon Chae, Sang-Hyup Choi, Yong-Gwan Song

  • 2021
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same study, during the draw the trunk centre of the wheelchair archers moves forwards and backwards at 1.01 ± 0.29 m/s against 0.29 ± 0.24 for the standing archers (p = 0.017, g 2.24), while in the aim, at the release and in the follow-through the difference disappears (p > 0.3). During the draw neither the lateral movement (1.86 against 1.10 m/s, p = 0.07) nor the vertical one (5.52 against 4.21, p = 0.376) separates the two classes. It is the finding the authors use to explain the longer draw: without support from the legs the trunk has more settling to do.

    A Feasibility Study of Kinematic Characteristics on the Upper Body According to the Shooting of Elite Disabled Archery Athletes · Tae-Whan Kim, Jae-Won Lee, Seoung-Ki Kang, Kyu-Yeon Chae, Sang-Hyup Choi, Yong-Gwan Song

  • 2021
    Context Archers Published later

    The final phases of the shot do not change with the class: the release lasts 0.30 seconds in the wheelchair and 0.32 standing (p = 0.67), the follow-through 0.34 and 0.51 (p = 0.18). Adding up the mean durations of the four phases, the shot lasts about 7.3 seconds in the wheelchair and 4.9 standing, and in both classes the aim is the longest phase, many times longer than the release.

    A Feasibility Study of Kinematic Characteristics on the Upper Body According to the Shooting of Elite Disabled Archery Athletes · Tae-Whan Kim, Jae-Won Lee, Seoung-Ki Kang, Kyu-Yeon Chae, Sang-Hyup Choi, Yong-Gwan Song

  • 2021
    Context Archers Published later

    Neither posture nor the bow separates the two classes. Trunk tilt stays almost still from the start of the shot to the end, around 70 degrees forward in the wheelchair and 77 standing (p from 0.12 to 0.20) and between 7 and 10 degrees sideways in both (p from 0.59 to 0.97); the bow centre moves in the same way in both classes in every phase (p from 0.20 to 0.99), much less than the trunk, and during the aim it is stiller than in any other phase (0.17 m/s vertically in both classes).

    A Feasibility Study of Kinematic Characteristics on the Upper Body According to the Shooting of Elite Disabled Archery Athletes · Tae-Whan Kim, Jae-Won Lee, Seoung-Ki Kang, Kyu-Yeon Chae, Sang-Hyup Choi, Yong-Gwan Song

  • 2022
    Context Review Published later

    A systematic review of 41 studies on performance assessment in archery lists the 2021 study as the only kinematic work on para-archers and summarises its results: longer draw and holding times for those in a wheelchair, a longer follow-through for those who shoot standing, and in the wheelchair archers a tendency to raise the left shoulder more. These are the same data, not a new sample.

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

  • 2024
    Context Review Published later

    A 2024 scoping review of adaptive shooting disciplines takes up the same study: in the wheelchair 1.24 seconds more in the draw and 1.37 in the hold, more forward and backward trunk movement during the draw, and no difference in the release, in completing the shot or in the path of the bow centre. No new data here either.

    Adaptive Shooting Disciplines: A Scoping Review of the Literature with Bibliometric Analysis · Luca Puce, Carlo Biz, Halil Ibrahim Ceylan, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, Matteo Formica, Khaled Trabelsi, et al.

Status history

  1. 2021 Reported The only kinematic study of para-archers compares 4 elite Korean archers in a wheelchair with 3 who shoot standing, over six arrows at 20 metres. The timings separate clearly: the draw lasts 2.23 seconds against 0.99, the aim 4.41 against 3.04, and during the draw the trunk of the wheelchair archers moves forwards and backwards more than three times faster. After the draw the differences end: release, follow-through, trunk tilt and movement of the bow centre do not separate the two classes, and the score is almost the same. Seven archers split into groups of four and three: a single study, so reported.
  2. 2022 Reported A systematic review of 41 studies on performance assessment lists that work as the only kinematic study of para-archers and summarises the same results, adding that the wheelchair archers tend to raise the left shoulder more. They are the same seven archers, so they do not count as confirmation: the status stays reported.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Paralympic archers in a wheelchair hold the draw and the aim longer than those who shoot standing (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/wheelchair-para-archers-shot-timing

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_paraarcierifasitiro,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Paralympic archers in a wheelchair hold the draw and the aim longer than those who shoot standing},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/wheelchair-para-archers-shot-timing},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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