Grip and dexterity in recurve archers: Ganjave 2021

In Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, 50 "elite" and 50 "novice" recurve archers aged 15 to 25 were compared on three upper limb measures: grip strength in both hands, fine dexterity and shoulder blade movement.

The elite archers gripped harder with both hands: 27.02 kg against 23.92 with the string hand (p = 0.039) and 26.16 against 22.04 with the bow hand (p = 0.008). On the Purdue pegboard assembly task they scored 34.44 against 31.78 (p = 0.011). They were also more likely to have a shoulder blade that moves irregularly when the arms are raised: on the string side 52% of the elite archers showed a subtle abnormality and 18% an obvious one, against 34% and 8% of the novices; on the bow side 42% and 18% against 38% and 8%. Shoulder blades rated normal were 30% and 40% among the elite archers and 58% and 54% among the novices.

The authors put the better grip and dexterity down to years of training, and the less regular shoulder blade movement to fatigue and repetition of the shot.

The study is cross-sectional, with purposive sampling from local clubs and associations. Archers competing at district, state or national level counted as elite, and those with at least one year of practice as novices; on average the elite archers had been shooting for 4.3 years and the novices for 1.89. Grip strength was measured with a Baseline hydraulic dynamometer, seated with the elbow at 90 degrees, three trials per hand. Dexterity was measured with the Purdue pegboard: in the assembly task the person builds pins, washers and collars with alternating hands for one minute, and the mean of three trials is used. The shoulder blade was assessed with the scapular dyskinesis test: five arm raises forwards and five sideways holding 1.4 or 2.3 kg dumbbells depending on body weight, observed from behind and rated by eye as normal, subtly abnormal or obviously abnormal. Groups were compared with t-tests or Mann-Whitney tests.

The two groups differed in more than experience: the elite archers were on average almost 11 cm taller (162.28 against 151.57) and almost 8 kg heavier (54.32 against 46.46), and grip strength rises with body size; the analysis does not allow for this. The participants' sex is not reported, and that too has a large effect on grip. The "elite" category includes district-level archers, so these are not top-level athletes.

The shoulder blade test relies on visual judgement, with moderate reliability (0.48 to 0.61 according to the authors), and the paper does not say who did the rating or whether they knew which group each archer was in. For grip, the method first says the maximum value was recorded and then that the mean was used; for dexterity the text gives p = 0.000 and the table 0.011. None of the measures is linked to score, and it is not known whether an irregularly moving shoulder blade in the more experienced archers is a problem, an adaptation or of no consequence: the authors themselves leave the question open in their introduction. The journal is flagged in the registry for questionable editorial standards.

It is no surprise that archers with more years and a higher level have a stronger grip and more dexterous hands, and the study bears this out with grip differences of 3 to 4 kg, partly explained by larger bodies. The more interesting finding is that irregular shoulder blade movement was more common among the more experienced archers; but with no reported pain, no measure of shooting and a test judged by eye, it cannot be said whether it signals overload or is simply a feature of the shot.

For an archer, then, nothing changes in training. A painful shoulder needs to be assessed by a doctor or physiotherapist, and dyskinesis seen by eye during a test is not, on its own, a diagnosis.