Matteo Campagna
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Method

Posturography: the centre of pressure

Since 1990 archery studies have put archers on a plate and followed the centre of pressure under their feet. This page explains what it measures, which moment of the shot is worth looking at, why the word "balance" covers tests that cannot be compared, and where published figures need care.

Studies in the registry
36
On archers
29
Years
1990-2026
First study in the registry
1990
Median sample size
12

What the plate records

The centre of pressure is the point under the feet where the body's push on the ground is concentrated at any given instant. A force plate calculates it from the forces it reads, and posturography follows its path: how far it strays from the mean position, how much ground it covers, what area it sweeps and how fast it moves. Of the sixteen studies gathered by a 2025 systematic review of body stability and shot quality, eleven use this measure. In 1990 Keast and Elliott measured four elite Australian archers over 240 arrows, and the centre-of-pressure area ranged from 75 ± 10 mm² on good arrows to 3,326 ± 662 mm² on bad ones. That is where the claim that the less the body sways while aiming, the better the shot begins, and it now stands at "reported".

The instruments are not interchangeable. Alongside rigid plates sampling up to 1,000 or 2,000 times a second there are pressure mats, grids of small sensors the archer stands on. Where the plate goes matters too: for the 37 Taiwanese pre-elite archers of 2025 it sat under the left foot only, so the centre of pressure belongs to one foot, while in the 2019 study a single plate under both feet could not show how the load was shared. The forces themselves are covered on the page about force sensors.

Standing still or shooting

The first choice is what the archer is asked to do. Many studies measure archers standing, without a bow: ten Bulgarian archers swayed less than fifteen untrained peers, with eyes open and closed, on a hard floor and on foam, with a smaller amplitude in every condition but one, on the hard floor with eyes open in the forwards-backwards direction. Measures like these carry the claim that archers stand stiller than non-archers, which is "reported" but says little about the shot.

During the shot the scale changes. In 16 children starting a course the area was 1.56 cm² standing and 12.26 in the shooting stance, about eight times larger; in Keast's elite archers, by contrast, sway while shooting sometimes fell below sway while standing, and the claim that the shooting stance is less stable is "contested". A measurement taken before shooting does not describe the shot: in 22 Turkish youngsters, balance recorded for 40 seconds before the end was not linked to the score.

Three tests with one name

In the physical training claims "balance" means different things, and their results do not add up. One-leg tests count time or errors: the stork test measures how many seconds you stay balanced, the flamingo test how often you lose your footing in a minute. The Y-Balance Test measures in centimetres how far the other leg can reach. A plate gives a path, or a weight distribution: in twenty Korean archers "static balance" was the distribution of load, forwards and backwards and between left and right, and each pair of percentages always added up to 100.00.

With one-leg tests, seven samples out of nine find no link between one-leg balance and score, a claim that is "contested", and the strongest result, 0.906 in 31 youngsters, disappears once strength and endurance enter the model. A 2024 Turkish study gave both tests to the same 18 archers: losses of footing on the flamingo test went with reach on the Y-Balance (r from -0.55 to -0.74), yet only reach was linked to score, and in the claim on dynamic balance, "reported", part of that link turns out to be height. The same problem returns in training programmes: in the twelve young Malaysian archers randomised to trunk exercises or shooting alone, sway during the shot fell from 193.52 to 24.21 in four weeks, with no unit given, while the other core studies measured shoulder strength, planks and lumbo-pelvic stability tests. That is one more reason the claims on core training and on balance training and accuracy are "contested".

The time window and the axes

When you look matters. In the 39 elite archers of Spratford and colleagues, measured at 1,000 Hz, the centre of pressure moved 20.10 ± 6.36 mm in the second before release and 48.03 ± 18.55 mm in the half-second after, and the predictor of score was peak velocity, which comes after the arrow has left but is already signalled by velocity at release (r = 0.80). Other windows run from the 5 seconds after anchoring in the insole study to the 2 seconds of the Russian study on foot position and down to the three tenths of the simulated Turkish competitions.

The axes cause confusion as well. For an archer standing side-on to the target, "lateral" relative to the target means between toes and heels, while relative to the body it means towards the target, and studies use the same words for both: put on a common reference, the two oldest, including the Turkish study of 2010, find more movement across the target and the more recent ones along the line of the target, so the claim on the direction of sway is "contested". Amplitude alone is not enough: among the French archers, while aiming, the elite swayed less than intermediates but faster.

From one session to the next

Data on repeatability are scarce. Keast found that sway changed significantly between sessions up to 100 days apart. The Japanese group in 1992 did the most orderly thing, on a single archer: nine measurements over three days to set his usual variability, and only then the comparison with occlusal splints, and the claim on the bite plate rests on that one case alone, "contested" because the same archer improves with the thickest splint and not with the others. Correlations call for caution: in the 15 Turkish national-team archers, the link between centre-of-pressure path and score was -0.675 in one of the four conditions and -0.057 in the control. And arrows from the same archer are not independent observations, although the models of Spratford and of the Taiwanese group treat them as if they were.

The finals platform

The raised finals platform is a case of its own. An Australian poster prepared ahead of Rio 2016 had elite archers shoot 12 arrows at 70 metres from the ground and from a platform built like the Olympic one, standing on a pressure mat: on the platform the left foot swayed more sideways (p = 0.027) and forwards and backwards (p = 0.001), the overall centre of pressure only forwards and backwards (p = 0.017). The poster does not say how many archers took part, gives no means and does not record the score: the claim is "reported".

What to check

  • force plate or pressure mat, under one foot, under both or one per foot, and at what sampling rate;
  • standing without a bow, in the shooting stance or during the shot, and which test is being called "balance";
  • the window: how long it lasts and where it falls relative to the release;
  • which index, among amplitude, area, path and velocity, with its unit and the axis referred to the target;
  • how many arrows per archer, from four to a hundred in the studies of the 2025 review, and whether the analysis keeps arrows from the same archer together.

How design and sample are weighed is explained in How we read a study; what standing still means for an archer, in the article on posture and stability.

How we came to know it: Archers' postural stability since 1990

  1. 1990OriginKeast et al. 1990 Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in ArcheryFour Australian archers of national and international standard, 240 arrows at 30 metres on a force plate: the area covered by the centre of pressure tends to grow as the arrow gets worse, from 75 to 3,326 mm², but arrows of every quality fall across the whole range, and the movement that counts most is the one across the target face.
  2. 1992ExtensionIshigami et al. 1992 A Study on the Relation between Stomatognathic System and the Systemic Condition. Concerning the Influence of Bite Raising for Vertical Position by a Splint on the Control of Posture in Archery.A Japanese university archer measured nine times over three days to set his usual variability, then with bite splints of 2, 5 and 10 mm: only with the 10 mm splint do the area and path of the centre of gravity fall below that margin. Here sway is measured against the archer's own variability, in a single case.
  3. 1994ContradictionSquadrone et al. 1994 Multifactorial analysis of shooting archeryTwelve Italian recurve archers, five of high standard and seven intermediate, 20 arrows at 12 metres with a force plate, electromyography and three-dimensional analysis: the centre of pressure on its own does not separate the two levels, while the sideways sway of the bow does. The proceedings give no force plate values.
  4. 2009ExtensionLee et al. 2009 The effect of 8 weeks archery training on postural stability in childrenSixteen children measured before an eight-week archery course: the centre of pressure area goes from 1.56 cm² standing to 12.26 in the shooting stance, about eight times as much. It shows how much the stance alone changes the scale of the measure in beginners.
  5. 2011ContradictionRose et al. 2011 Biomechanical Predictors of Recurve Archery PerformanceFifteen recurve archers, from sub-elite to elite: the length of the centre of pressure path during a 10-second aim in the laboratory is not linked to the mean score over 150 arrows at 18 metres, while shoulder stability and vertical bow tremor are. It is a conference abstract.
  6. 2015ExtensionStambolieva et al. 2015 Postural Stability during Static Upright Stance in ArchersTen Bulgarian Olympic recurve archers against fifteen untrained peers, standing without a bow for 30 seconds in four conditions: the archers sway less in all but one, on a firm floor with eyes open, front to back. It moves the question from the shot to quiet standing.
  7. 2017ExtensionSpratford et al. 2017 Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archeryThirty-nine international recurve archers, measured before a World Cup event, 10 arrows at 70 metres on a plate sampling at 1,000 Hz: the centre of pressure moves 20.10 mm in the second before release and 48.03 in the half second after, and maximum sway speed, which comes after the arrow has left, is among the predictors of the score.
  8. 2018ContradictionSerrien et al. 2018 The Uncontrolled Manifold Concept Reveals That the Structure of Postural Control in Recurve Archery Shooting Is Related to AccuracySix archers from a national team, 90 arrows each at 18 metres with motion analysis: in arrows scoring 9 and 10 the joints compensate for one another to hold the arrow's direction steady, without movement being reduced to a minimum. Keeping still and controlling the shot become two different measures.
  9. 2019ReplicationSimsek et al. 2019 A comparison of the ground reaction forces of archers with different levels of expertise during the arrow shootingTwenty-seven recurve archers in three levels, from 915.2 to 1,244.5 FITA points on average, at 18 metres on a force plate: the range of the centre of pressure is smaller in the elite than in the beginners, with the intermediate group in between. The values appear only in graphs.
  10. 2020ReplicationSarro et al. 2020 Relationship between bow stability and postural control in recurve archeryEight Brazilian archers, six arrows in the laboratory on two force plates, comparing each archer's best and worst arrow: in the worst the centre of pressure path is 61.66 cm long against 26.64, and in the best the body and the bow move together. It is a comparison within the same archer.
  11. 2020ExtensionWada et al. 2020 Postural stability against full-field dynamic visual disturbance in archery playersTwenty-four archers, 35 ball-sport athletes and 34 non-athletes in front of surroundings that suddenly move: in the first two trials the archers regain their balance sooner than the non-athletes, and by the third the groups can no longer be told apart. The authors read this as less reliance on vision.
  12. 2020ExtensionKuch et al. 2020 Effect of bow drawing technique on skilled archer postural stability: a case studyOne skilled recurve archer, three ways of reaching full draw and three arrows with each, on two force plates: before release the centre of pressure moves less than in the quiet standing described in the literature, but faster. Amplitude and speed start to part company.
  13. 2021ContradictionErgen et al. 2021 Effects of beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviourFifteen Turkish national team archers in simulated competition at 18 metres, under four conditions in a study on beta-blockers: the link between the centre of pressure path and the score is -0.057 in the control condition and -0.675 in another. In the same sample the correlation appears or disappears.
  14. 2022ReviewVendrame et al. 2022 Performance assessment in archery: a systematic reviewA systematic review of 41 studies on performance assessment: body sway turns out to be an indicator in 9 of the 10 studies that consider it. The exception is the 2018 work on joints compensating for one another, and only one of the studies it reports compares the phases of the shot, finding that sway at release weighs most.
  15. 2022ExtensionWu et al. 2022 Arch-Support Insoles Benefit the Archery Performance and Stability of Compound ArchersFifteen university compound archers, 15 arrows at 30 metres with a flat insole and 15 with an arch-support insole: with the second the centre of pressure moves less and the mean score per arrow goes from 9.58 to 9.74. The flat insole was always tried first.
  16. 2023ExtensionKuch et al. 2023 Postural adjustments preceding string release in trained archersThirteen recurve archers, six elite and seven sub-elite, 18 arrows at 70 metres with one foot on each of two force plates: at release the centre of pressure moves away from the target by 15 to 20 mm, and in 67% of shots the movement begins before the string leaves, more often in the elite (77% against 59%). The focus moves from aiming to the release.
  17. 2023ReplicationKim et al. 2023 Effect of Anticipatory Shooting Strategy on Performance Consistency in Skilled Elite ArcherNine elite Korean women recurve archers, 20 shots at 8 metres with the clicker and 20 without: centre of pressure speed rises sharply in roughly the last 50 milliseconds before release, and without the clicker those with the smallest front-to-back adjustment also have the most consistent aim (r = 0.75).
  18. 2023ExtensionPukhov 2023 The effect of the feet position on the archery parametersEleven young Russian archers, compound and recurve, six arrows in each of five foot positions on two platforms: with the T stance the balance quality index falls by 38.56% in compound and 64.83% in recurve, without any noticeable drop in score. Regional journal.
  19. 2023ReviewZemková et al. 2023 Sport-specific training induced adaptations in postural control and their relationship with athletic performanceAn exploratory review of 126 articles, ten on archery: it reports at second hand a 1986 Austrian study in which the range of the centre of pressure in the last second before release correlates with the score at -0.30, but at -0.51 in juniors and -0.24 in seniors.
  20. 2024ReplicationNa et al. 2024 Anticipatory postural adjustments during an archery performanceNine archers of national and international standard and nine students who had never shot, full shooting movement with a bow carrying no arrow and a laser pointer: in the experts the centre of pressure already moves before release against the coming push, in the novices with it.
  21. 2025ReplicationFan et al. 2025 Associations of Scoring Accuracy with Postural Stability and Strength Measures in Archers on a Standard Archery SiteThirty-seven Taiwanese archers aged 15 to 24, recurve at 70 metres and compound at 50, with the plate under the left foot only: in recurve the centre of pressure displacement in the tenth of a second after release predicts the score. It is the measure of one foot, not both.
  22. 2025ExtensionGohil et al. 2025 Exploring the relationship between postural sway and foot posture among archers: A comparative analysisThirty Indian archers aged 20 to 30, foot shape rated with a six-item index and sway with a platform test, not during the shot: foot shape is not linked to sway (p = 0.241 on the left and 0.165 on the right). Regional journal.
  23. 2025ReplicationJacquot et al. 2025 A multi-parameter investigation of elite archery: distinguishing individual and shared performance strategies during the aiming and follow-through phasesEight elite French recurve archers, 549 arrows at 70 metres: within the same level, on arrows scoring 8 or less the centre of pressure moves faster during aiming than on arrows scoring 9 and 10.
  24. 2025ReviewSantos et al. 2025 Relationship Between Shooting Performance and Biomechanical Parameters Associated with Body Stability in Archery: A Systematic ReviewA systematic review of sixteen studies, all cross-sectional, on body stability and shot quality: eleven use the centre of pressure, three link greater displacement to worse arrows, one of the comparisons between levels finds no difference, and nobody has studied the centre of gravity.
  25. 2026ContradictionJacquot 2026 Analyse multidimensionnelle de la performance en tir à l'arcA doctoral thesis with eight elite and seven regional French archers, at 70 metres: while aiming the elite sway less than the intermediates but faster, and after release they move more. Less amplitude and less speed stop going together.

Studies that use it

How it is measured: Measuring sway on the finals platform

To find out whether the raised finals platform makes an archer sway more, only one piece of work has put a pressure mat under the feet of elite archers, first on the ground and then on a platform built like the one used at Rio 2016. It is the same centre of pressure measurement described on this page, taken out of the laboratory. What matters most here is how it was done, because how much those p values can tell depends on the way they were measured.

Studies in the registry
1
On archers
1
Years
2016
First study in the registry
2016

In the 2016 Australian poster the instrument was a Tekscan Sports Balance Analyzer, a thin mat of pressure sensors laid on the grass of the range and then on top of the platform. Each archer shot 12 arrows at 70 metres per condition, and custom software split centre of pressure sway into two directions, sideways and forwards and back, for the left foot, the right foot and both together. That makes six measures, but the poster gives only three p values: 0.027 and 0.001 for the left foot, 0.017 for the overall centre forwards and back. For the other three, the right foot in both directions and the overall centre sideways, it says only that there was no difference.

What is missing before they can be read:

  • how many archers: the poster does not say, and without that number a p value says nothing about the size of the effect;
  • means, spread and units: a bar chart shows higher values on the platform for all six measures, but with no scale;
  • the test: the archers are the same in both conditions, yet the comparison uses independent-samples t tests, which ignore that;
  • the order of the conditions and the height of the platform, neither reported: if the ground always came first, fatigue and the conditions on the day could account for part of the difference;
  • the archers' handedness: the poster speaks of left and right foot, not front and back foot;
  • the score, never recorded: the measure shows how the stance changes, not whether the arrows do.

The text does not fully add up either: the results show the left foot less stable in both directions, while the conclusions mention forwards and back only. With one foot changing and the other not, the entry on the finals platform is "contested".

Studies that use it

Related claims

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

130 claims · 93% with evidence on archers

Articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Posturography: the centre of pressure. In Research. matteocampagna.com. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/research/methods/posturography-centre-of-pressure

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_enresearchmethodsposturographycentreofpr,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Posturography: the centre of pressure},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Research, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/research/methods/posturography-centre-of-pressure},
  note = {accessed 2026-10-16}
}