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The archer's shoulder: pain, injury and recovery since 1971

The shoulder is where archers get hurt most often, according to samples gathered in Japan, the United States, twice in Germany, in Korea and at the European Youth Championships. This page follows those studies from 1971 to the present, then the more recent trials of exercise, tape, massage and manual therapy, with what each one measured and how much it weighs.

Studies in the registry
28
On archers
24
Years
1971-2026

The question

Almost every archer who has shot for a few years has had a sore shoulder at some point, and the question that follows has two parts: whether it is normal, and what makes it go away. Research answered the first part first. Since 1971 six independent samples have put the shoulder at the top of the list of overuse injury sites, and in the registry the claim has been corroborated since 2021. Studies of the second part came late, nearly all after 2018, and they are small.

This page sets out what has been measured and how much the results weigh, not what to do when the shoulder hurts: for pain that does not settle, the reference remains a doctor or physiotherapist. The technical side, how the shoulder lines up during the draw, has a separate track of its own, and the general injury figures are in the article on injuries in archery.

1971-2018: where archers get hurt

The first count comes from kyudo. In 1971 a group of Japanese orthopaedic surgeons surveyed 122 practitioners and examined some of them: three in four had at least one complaint, and the shoulder came first at 51%, but the lower back followed closely at 48%. In 1999 a case reported in England, an eleven-year-old boy competing at 28 pounds, showed an overuse injury at the base of the coracoid process that the authors describe as previously unreported.

The first sample outside kyudo dates from 2016: among 239 Florida archers, the shoulder accounted for 70.3% of those who had been injured, and almost every injury was from overuse. A year later 156 Indian university archers, examined as well as interviewed, added a different measure: more than half had shoulder pain on the day of the examination and 82.7% had had it at least once, mostly during the draw. In 2018 62 German recurve archers at national and European level provided the first figures on the elite: the shoulder made up 52.9% of overuse injuries, on the string side in 64.7% of cases.

2021-2025: the picture holds

In 2021 the number of independent samples rose to five. 58 Korean competitive archers put the shoulder at 65.5%, with the pain in the string arm in 80.5% of cases; 75 adult German competitive archers reported shoulder complaints in 43% of cases, with the same share among those who train on one side and those who train on both. In the same year a review of 33 Olympic sports named archery as the sport with the highest share of upper limb injuries, 86.2% of overuse cases, although for archery it relied on the German study alone.

Ten years of US emergency department data put the fingers first and the shoulder at just 5.4%, because what arrives there is cuts and acute trauma, which is a different matter from overuse. In 2024 200 archers at the European Youth Championships gave the sixth sample and the first on young athletes: shoulder pain in 49.1%, with the lower back in second place. The only study in which the shoulder does not come first counts 13 Turkish youngsters measured with a questionnaire designed for office work.

What the pain is like

The same samples also describe the kind of pain, and the picture is only half reassuring. Among the Koreans it was mild in more than half the cases, 86.7% were back within a week and 91.5% said it had not affected their results; yet it came back in 56.1% of cases, as it did in 64.7% of the Indian archers, and three Koreans in four had received non-surgical treatment in the previous year.

In the same sample, archers with pain were no weaker: abduction strength in the string arm was almost identical, 14.56 against 14.20, while the ASES function scale read 82.97 against 99.71. On mobility there is a single measurement of painful shoulders, in fifteen Indonesian archers: before treatment, flexion, abduction and internal rotation were between 24 and 29 degrees below the values recorded straight afterwards, in a study with no control group and in a questionable venue. In 2026 twelve Turkish archers who had done nothing but shoot for eight weeks all improved their shoulder mobility, although the statistics reported do not agree with each other.

The scapula and the lower trapezius

In 2021 a hundred Indian recurve archers showed scapular dyskinesis more often in the experienced group: normal movement in 30% of string arms against 58% among beginners. It is an association in a questionable venue, in which years of practice, level and growth go together, and it does not say whether this is a risk or an adaptation to shooting.

The strongest evidence on the page concerns the lower trapezius. In 2020 a Korean group randomised 31 elite recurve archers with shoulder pain: in those who worked on that muscle for eight weeks pain fell from 4.56 to 2.88 out of ten, while in the controls it rose from 3.20 to 3.67, and perceived instability also dropped. It remains the only randomised trial on pain, but it treats archers who were already in pain, which makes it a treatment, and the registry does not use treatments of pain as evidence: that is why the entry on the lower trapezius is rated as not studied, even though the finding points its way. Before it there was only a single case from 2018, a world-class Korean archer with a clicking string shoulder: after eight weeks of scapular stabilisation work the disability questionnaire fell from 75.00 to 6.25, with no comparison and with pain not among the outcomes. In 2022, among fourteen Taiwanese university archers, the seven who chose to train worked on the same muscle for twelve weeks, but pain was not measured.

Tape, massage and manual therapy

On kinesiology tape, three studies find higher scores after taping, and two find the shoulder more accurate at finding a position again: in thirty female Iranian archers the error at 60 degrees of external rotation fell from 5.91 to 0.99 degrees. None has a sham tape for comparison, and in every one the tape goes on after the first test.

On massage, in 2025, three Indonesian papers sharing an author see pain fall in every group, for example from 5.5 to 2.4 in 24 archers after massage and stretching. None has an untreated group, and with pain that partly settles on its own, the drop combines the massage, the passing of time and the expectation of feeling better; these are treatments of pain, and the registry does not draw a claim from them. Manual therapy as recovery after shooting was tested by a Polish group on the same twenty archers: in 2024 the EMG did not return to resting values, and in 2026, with a myotonometer, no difference survived correction for thirty comparisons.

Wheelchair archers

A single pilot study from 2016 has looked at the shoulders of wheelchair archers: ultrasound of sixteen archers, compared with nineteen wheelchair table tennis players, finds tendon changes in both arms, 2.29 per shoulder in the bow arm and 2.35 in the string arm, with the same everyday shoulder pain as the table tennis players. There is no group of standing archers to compare them with, so the load of shooting cannot be separated from more than twenty years of wheelchair pushing, which loads the same shoulders; and a change seen on ultrasound is not necessarily a problem.

What remains open

Research has agreed for half a century on where archers get hurt, with measurements that rest mostly on what athletes remember. On what puts the shoulder right there is one randomised trial, surrounded by a series of before-and-after studies without controls. Two things are missing: a group of archers followed through a whole season, counting injuries alongside the arrows shot, and trials of tape and massage with a sham treatment for comparison.

How we came to know it

  1. 1971OriginTomizawa et al. 1971 An orthopaedical analysis of the kyudo athleteAn orthopaedic survey of 122 kyudo practitioners: three in four have at least one complaint, the shoulder comes first at 51% and the lower back follows at 48%.
  2. 1999ExtensionNaraen et al. 1999 Overuse Epiphyseal Injury of the Coracoid Process as a Result of ArcheryA single case: an eleven-year-old boy competing at 28 pounds, with an overuse injury at the base of the coracoid process that the authors describe as previously unreported.
  3. 2016ReplicationPrine et al. 2016 Prevalence And Characteristics Of Archery-related Injuries In ArchersThe first sample outside kyudo: among 239 Florida archers who had been injured the shoulder accounts for 70.3%, and almost every injury is from overuse.
  4. 2016ExtensionYou et al. 2016 Shoulder Disease Patterns of the Wheelchair Athletes of Table-Tennis and Archery: A Pilot StudyUltrasound of both shoulders in 16 wheelchair archers alongside 19 wheelchair table tennis players: tendon changes are common on both sides, 2.29 and 2.35 per shoulder.
  5. 2017ExtensionGrover et al. 2017 Prevalence of Shoulder Pain in Competitive Archery156 Indian university archers examined at their championship: 54.4% have shoulder pain on the day, 82.7% have had it at least once, and for 64.7% it comes back.
  6. 2018ReplicationNiestroj et al. 2018 Acute and Overuse Injuries in Elite ArchersThe first elite sample: in 62 German recurve archers the shoulder accounts for 52.9% of overuse injuries, on the string side in 64.7% of cases.
  7. 2018ExtensionKim et al. 2018 An 8-week scapular stabilization exercise program in an elite archer with scapular dyskinesis presenting joint noise: A case report with one-year follow-upA single case: a world-class Korean archer with a clicking string shoulder does eight weeks of scapular stabilisation work and the disability questionnaire falls from 75.00 to 6.25; pain is not an outcome.
  8. 2018ExtensionMülazımoğlu et al. 2018 Questionable venue The Effect of 4-Week Training with Shoulder Kinesio-Taping on Shooting Accuracy of Young ArchersThe first kinesiology tape study: in eight young recurve archers the score over 30 arrows rises from 224.6 to 248.4 in four weeks, with no control group.
  9. 2019ExtensionRajabzadeh et al. 2019 The Effects of Shoulder Kinesio Taping on Shooting Accuracy and Joint Position Sense in Female Archery AthletesIn 30 female archers taped on the string shoulder the position error at 60 degrees falls from 5.91 to 0.99 degrees, within one session and with no sham tape.
  10. 2020ExtensionKim et al. 2020 Effects of Lower Trapezius Strengthening Exercise on Shoulder Pain, Function and Archery Performance in Elite ArchersThe first randomised trial on pain: in 31 elite archers eight weeks of lower trapezius work take pain from 4.56 to 2.88, against 3.20 and 3.67 in the controls.
  11. 2021ReplicationKim et al. 2021 Shoulder Pain Caused by Injuries in Korean Elite Archers58 Korean competitive archers: the shoulder at 65.5%, pain mild in more than half the cases and recurring in 56.1%, abduction strength the same with or without pain.
  12. 2021ReplicationSchmitt et al. 2021 Unilateral and bilateral training competitive archers differ in some potentially unhealthy neck-shoulder region movement behaviour characteristics75 adult German competitive archers: 43% report shoulder complaints, with the same share whether they train on one side or both.
  13. 2021ReviewGimigliano et al. 2021 Epidemiology of Musculoskeletal Injuries in Adult Athletes: A Scoping ReviewA review of 33 Olympic sports: archery has the highest share of upper limb injuries, 86.2% of overuse cases, but for archery it rests on a single study.
  14. 2021ExtensionGanjave et al. 2021 Questionable venue Comparative Analysis of Upper Extremity Performance Variables in Elite and Novice Recurve Archers: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study100 Indian recurve archers, in a questionable venue: normal scapular movement in 30% of the experienced archers against 58% of beginners on the string arm.
  15. 2022ExtensionLiao et al. 2022 Twelve-Week Lower Trapezius-Centred Muscular Training Regimen in University Archers14 university archers, seven of whom chose to train: twelve weeks of lower trapezius work take the upper to lower trapezius ratio from 2.2 to 1.1; pain is not measured.
  16. 2023ExtensionKonda et al. 2023 Archery-Related Musculoskeletal Injuries: An Epidemiological Study Revealing Injury Sites, Risk Factors, and Implications for PreventionTen years of US emergency departments: in men the fingers account for 66.2% and the shoulder for 5.4%, because acute injuries arrive there, not overuse.
  17. 2024ReplicationVasilis et al. 2024 Injuries and Persistent Pain in Elite Adolescent Archery Athletes: A Cross-Sectional Epidemiological StudyThe first youth sample: 200 archers from 34 nations at the European Youth Championships, shoulder pain in 49.1% and the lower back in second place.
  18. 2024ExtensionStudnicki et al. 2024 Effects of shoulder manipulation on electromyography measures in archery athletes during recovery from fatigue: a comparison between sexes20 trained archers, 100 arrows and a session of shoulder manipulation: the EMG does not return to resting values and the infraspinatus stays more active.
  19. 2025ExtensionNugroho et al. 2025 Questionable venue The Effectiveness of Manurak Massage on Shoulder Injuries Among Archery Athletes of the Sleman Porda Team 202524 archers with shoulder pain: after massage and stretching pain falls from 5.5 to 2.4 out of ten, in a single group with no control and in a questionable venue.
  20. 2025ExtensionKohar et al. 2025 Questionable venue Effectiveness of Combination of Massage and Stretching Therapy on Reducing Pain and Increasing Range of Motion in Shoulder Injuries in National Standard Bow Archery AthletesThe first range of motion measurement on painful shoulders, in 15 archers: one session of massage and stretching takes pain from 6.4 to 3.2, with no control group.
  21. 2025ExtensionPrasetyo et al. 2025 Overuse injury treatment: which is more appropriate between Swedish massage and deep tissue massage, especially for archery athletes20 young archers with overuse pain, two massage methods compared: Swedish massage takes pain from 7.8 to 2.3, deep tissue massage from 7.6 to 4.8.
  22. 2025ContradictionSarı et al. 2025 Physical characteristics of the pulling and stabilization arm in archers, examination of posture and injury risk13 Turkish youngsters measured with an office ergonomics questionnaire: back and lower back pain are reported most, the only study in which the shoulder is not first.
  23. 2025ReplicationDinihari et al. 2025 Effectiveness of Combination Flexi-Bar Shoulder Exercise to the Kinesiotaping Application on Increasing Upper Extremity Proprioceptive Ability and Shooting Accuracy in Archery Athletes at Gandawa Archery Club22 teenage barebow archers with four weeks of tape: three arrows at 18 metres score 26.4 out of 30, but they were chosen because they scored 25 or less at the first test.
  24. 2026ReplicationStudnicki et al. 2026 Changes in the mechanical properties of myotonometric muscles following manual therapy during archery: a single-group, single-session repeated measurement studyThe same 20 archers measured with a myotonometer on six muscles: after manual therapy no difference survives correction for 30 comparisons.
  25. 2026ExtensionKul et al. 2026 The Effect of Postural Mobility Exercises on the Athletic Performance Success, Proprioceptive Sense and Various Strength Parameters of Traditional ArchersIn the control group of a randomised trial, 12 traditional archers who only shot for eight weeks all improve their shoulder mobility.

Studies in this line

Related claims

Claims in the registry with at least one of these studies among their evidence.

77 claims · 90% with evidence on archers

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Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). The archer's shoulder: pain, injury and recovery. In Research. matteocampagna.com. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/research/archers-shoulder

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_enresearcharchersshoulder,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {The archer's shoulder: pain, injury and recovery},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Research, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/research/archers-shoulder},
  note = {accessed 2026-10-16}
}