Scores do not fall in the second half of a competition, even though fatigue builds up
8 studies · 161 archers measured
The summary today
The studies that read the score inside a round point the same way: the second half is worth as much as the first, even as fatigue builds. In a Brazilian crossover on a simulated 60-arrow indoor round the first thirty arrows and the second thirty give close averages, 218.8 and 216.0 points, with no test on that comparison, while self-reported fatigue climbs from 2 to 3.8 and then to 5.8 out of ten; in a Turkish university group the score does not change from the first to the last of ten ends; in a Malaysian university archer electromyography shows fatigue building and the second half of seventy-two arrows closes on 318 points against 307, although within each set the lowest ends come towards the finish. The only real competition, the 2023 Arab Championships, sees half of the 42 archers score less in the second 70 m half, with drops of 1 to 18 points, and the other half not, in a reading of the results table without any statistical test; and in 42 children aged 9 to 12, with a fifteen-minute break halfway, the second part is no lower than the first. A Turkish women's compound championship gives the same picture, but in a journal with questionable editorial standards and with figures that do not add up, and it stays as context. The interesting part is that gap between what the archer feels and what goes on the scorecard. Where it breaks is the setting: the samples are small, nearly all the rounds are simulated and nearly every comparison of the two halves, the only real competition included, is read without a test, and nobody has followed a full day with qualification and matches; the only data on many hours of competition come from clay target shooting, where seven elite shooters do not fade over four rounds of fifty targets.
Also phrased as: "the last ends are the worst"; "scores fall at the end of a round"; "fatigue and scoring in competition"; "holding the score in the second half"; "scores drop in the second half"; "second distance of the ranking round"; "drop in the second half of the round"; "fatigue at the end of qualification"; "the last 36 arrows are the worst"; "second-half drop"; "score at the second distance"; "holding on to the last end"; "first and second half of a round"; "performance drop during competition"; "holding on to the end of a competition"; "fatigue over a competition day"; "performance after hours of shooting"
In practice
It is taken for granted on the range that the last ends are the worst, and endurance is trained precisely to hold the score until the end of the round.
Evidence
-
2009
Context Other sport Published later
Seven elite double trap shooters, four rounds of 50 targets of about 16 minutes each, the third and fourth between four and five hours after the caffeine dose: no difference in score between rounds (p = 0.635 with 7 shooters, p = 0.436 with 5). It is another sport, with no bow to draw on each shot, and it measures performance over many hours, not the two halves of a round.
Caffeine and performance in clay target shooting · Bianca Share, Nick Sanders, Justin Kemp
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2017
Context Archers Published later
44 women compound archers at the Turkish senior national championship, two series of 36 arrows at 50 m: on average 284.36 in the first half and 289.30 in the second. By group, the five left-handers stay level (334.80 and 335.80), while for the right-handers the study gives 227.90 and 283.33, figures that do not match their total of 561.72 or the overall mean. It points the claim's way, but with inconsistent figures and in a journal with questionable editorial standards: it stays as context.
The Examination of the Relationship between Left-Handedness and Success in Elite Female Archers Questionable venue · Recep Gursoy, Suleyman Sahin, Mehmet Dalli, Kursat Hazar, Eser Aggon
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2020
Context Archers Published later
Ten Cypriot first-division archers in two simulated seventy-two-arrow rounds at seventy metres, at 36 to 37 degrees and with no food or drink from 8:20 to 10:50: self-reported fatigue rises over the round in both conditions, F(1,9) = 21.8, p = 0.001, and the total score does not differ between hydrated and dehydrated, 550 ± 63 against 562 ± 59. The score is reported only as a total, not half by half, so the gap between what is felt and what is scored cannot be read here.
Effects of Dehydration on Archery Performance, Subjective Feelings and Heart Rate during a Competition Simulation · Alexandros Savvides, Christoforos D. Giannaki, Angelos Vlahoyiannis, Pinelopi S. Stavrinou, George Aphamis
-
2021
For Archers Published later
42 recurve archers aged 9 to 12 (31 boys, 11 girls), 30 arrows at 18 m indoors with a 15-minute break after the first 15: boys 110.29 ± 30.58 then 111.42 ± 27.84; girls 117.27 ± 17.67 then 124.73 ± 14.14. The authors report no within-subject test on this comparison.
The relationship between shooting performance and respiratory muscle strength in archers aged 9-12 · Ozgur Bostanci, Menderes Kabadayi, Muhammet Hakan Mayda, Ali Kerim Yilmaz, Coskun Yilmaz
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2022
For Archers Published later
One Malaysian university recurve archer, seventy-two arrows at thirty metres outdoors in two sets of six ends, in competition format: electromyography of the extensor digitorum on the bow arm and of the supraspinatus shows fatigue building towards the end, yet the second set closes on 318 points against 307 for the first, and analysis of variance finds no link between the fatigue of the two muscles and the score of each end (F from 0.65 to 1.93 against a critical F of 2.84). It is a single archer.
Investigation of muscle fatigue of the archer’s during endurance shooting · Zul Amer Hamdan, Zulkifli Ahmad@Manap, Nasrul Hadi Johari
-
2022
Context Archers Published later
Within each set, though, the lowest ends come in the last three: 47 out of 60 on the fifth end of the first set, 49 on the fourth of the second, and the second set opens on 55 and closes on 51. The authors read this as a possible sign of fatigue, with no test at all, and the difference is a few points in a single archer. Same study as the supporting item, so it counts once.
Investigation of muscle fatigue of the archer’s during endurance shooting · Zul Amer Hamdan, Zulkifli Ahmad@Manap, Nasrul Hadi Johari
-
2024
For Archers Published later
Results table from the 13th Arab Championships (Riyadh, 2023), 42 male archers from 14 nations, two 70 m halves: 21 of 42 (50%) score less in the second half than in the first, with drops of 1 to 18 points at both the top and the bottom of the rankings, while of the other 21, 18 improve (by up to 33 points) and 3 match their first score. It is a descriptive reading, with no statistical test, which the authors use to introduce an electromyography study of a single archer.
Relationship between electromyography (EMG) as an indicator of muscle fatigue and archers’ accuracy · Essam Ibrahim, Mohamed Abdelgawad
-
2024
Context Archers Published later
At the same event three of the four Egyptian national team archers improve in the second half (307 to 321, 314 to 320, 306 to 319) and only one drops, by 2 points, from 321 to 319. The authors infer that high-level archers resist fatigue better, but the basis is four athletes.
Relationship between electromyography (EMG) as an indicator of muscle fatigue and archers’ accuracy · Essam Ibrahim, Mohamed Abdelgawad
-
2026
For Archers Published later
10 Brazilian archers with competition experience, a simulated 60-arrow indoor round at 18 m in a randomised crossover: 216.3 ± 29.9 points on the first thirty arrows and 219 ± 22.3 on the second thirty in the social-media condition, 221.2 ± 27.2 and 212.7 ± 39.7 in the control condition, 218.8 and 216.0 across all twenty rounds. The comparison of the two halves is not tested: the study's p values (0.570 and 0.910) compare the two conditions within the same half. Over the same stretch, self-reported fatigue more than doubles.
Efeitos do uso das redes sociais no desempenho do tiro com arco · Willyan Pagliuso Mafra, Otávio Joaquim Barrato de Azevedo, Loiane Cristina de Souza, Guilherme Torres Vilarino, Suzana Matheus Pereira
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2026
For Archers Published later
12 Turkish university recurve archers, 6.5 years of practice on average, 30 indoor arrows in two sessions 72 hours apart, one without and one with 200 mg of caffeine: the effect of the end on the score is not significant (F = 2.44 with the Greenhouse-Geisser correction) and nor is the interaction between condition and end (F = 0.53).
An ergogenic approach to enhancing performance in archery: the acute effects of caffeine · Üstün Türker, Zeynep Hazal Ateş, Mümine Görgülü, Fatih Kıyıcı, Serdar Bayrakdaroğlu
-
2026
Context Archers Published later
The same ten archers: fatigue on a visual analogue scale rises from 2.3 at the start to 3.8 at halfway and 5.8 at the end, with no statistical test reported. This measures the fatigue rather than the score, and it comes from the same sample as the supporting item, so it counts only once.
Efeitos do uso das redes sociais no desempenho do tiro com arco · Willyan Pagliuso Mafra, Otávio Joaquim Barrato de Azevedo, Loiane Cristina de Souza, Guilherme Torres Vilarino, Suzana Matheus Pereira
Status history
- 1990 Not studied No study in the registry's bibliography has yet read a round's score half by half, or end by end, alongside the fatigue the archers report.
- 2009 Not studied The first data near the question come from another sport: seven elite double trap shooters do not fade over four rounds of fifty targets, the last two four to five hours after a caffeine dose. It measures performance over many hours, not the halves of a round, and clay shooting has no bow to draw on each shot: it stays as context, and in archers the question is still open.
- 2017 Not studied The first comparison of the two halves of a round in archers comes from a Turkish women's compound national championship: the 44 archers go on average from 284.4 points in the first half to 289.3 in the second. The study, however, appeared in a journal with questionable editorial standards and its figures do not add up, so it stays as context and does not decide the status: the question still has no answer that can be counted.
- 2020 Not studied The first figure close to the question measures fatigue but not the score half by half: in ten Cypriot archers shooting seventy-two arrows at seventy metres in 36 to 37 degrees, self-reported fatigue rises over the round, and the score is reported only as a total. Without the second half set beside the first, the question stays open.
- 2021 Reported The first data that can be counted arrive, in children: forty-two archers aged 9 to 12 shoot thirty arrows at 18 metres with a fifteen-minute break halfway, and the second part is no lower than the first, 110.3 then 111.4 for the boys, 117.3 then 124.7 for the girls. The authors do not test that comparison and the break alone could explain the absence of a drop: a single, limited study in favour, so reported.
- 2022 Reported A half-by-half reading of the score beside a measure of fatigue, in a single case: a Malaysian university archer shoots seventy-two arrows at thirty metres, electromyography of the bow arm and shoulder shows fatigue building, and the second half closes on 318 points against 307. Within each set the lowest ends come towards the finish, by a few points and without any test. It points the same way as the study of children, and the status stays reported.
- 2024 Reported The first real competition arrives: at the 2023 Arab Championships half of the 42 archers score less in the second 70 m half than in the first, with drops of 1 to 18 points among both the leaders and the tail of the rankings, and the other half do not, including three Egyptians out of four who improve. The drop is not systematic, but the table is read without a test, in a regional journal and from a single competition, and it does not separate fatigue from the change in light and wind: the evidence stays limited and the status does not rise.
- 2026 Reported Two studies of competitive archers arrive and point the same way. In a Brazilian crossover on a simulated 60-arrow indoor round the two halves give close averages, 218.8 and 216.0 points, while self-reported fatigue climbs from 2 to 3.8 and then to 5.8 out of ten; the study does not test that comparison, though, because its p values compare the social-media condition with the control condition. In a Turkish university group the score does not change from the first to the last of ten ends. The evidence points the claim's way, but the samples are small, the rounds simulated and short, and nearly every comparison of the halves, the only real competition included, is read without a test: it stays limited.
Related
Related articles
- Fatigue in archery: when tiredness sets in, and whether it shows in the scoreWhat happens to the shoulder, the bow and the score after many arrows: what studies of fatigue in archery have measured, and where the research stops.
- Concentration in archery: how it is measured, how much it matters and whether it can be trainedWhat studies on archers say about concentration: how it is measured, whether it tracks score, whether it fades late in a round and whether it can be trained.
- Do archers shoot worse in competition than in training? The body and the target, measuredIn competition the heart beats faster, yet measured accuracy does not drop: what studies comparing competition and training show, and where they stop.
Research lines
Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.
See the programmeCite
Campagna, M. (2026). Scores do not fall in the second half of a competition, even though fatigue builds up (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/fatigue-second-half-score
@misc{campagna2026_stanchezzafinegarapunteggio,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Scores do not fall in the second half of a competition, even though fatigue builds up},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/competition/fatigue-second-half-score},
note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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