Deep breathing reduces an archer's competition anxiety
5 studies · 23 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single study on archers that isolates the breathing, small and with a comparison group: twenty para-archers training with the Indonesian National Paralympic Committee in Bandung and Cimahi, half doing two months of 4-7-8 breathing in twenty-four fifteen-minute sessions and half not. In the trained group the sport anxiety score falls from 29.0 to 21.2 in the standard bow division and from 27.8 to 19.2 in compound, a little under a third lower, while in the controls it stays put or rises slightly. Before that there was only a 2011 Korean programme on three women archers in contention for the national squad, in which abdominal breathing came together with progressive relaxation and heart rate biofeedback: somatic anxiety falls from 2.67 to 1.92 on a one to four scale, but with no statistics and no way of separating the breathing from the rest, so it stays as context. The mechanism is plausible, because in healthy adults eight weeks of diaphragmatic breathing lower cortisol, and slow breathing shifts the autonomic balance towards the parasympathetic side. The weakness lies in the measurement: in the controlled study the groups have five people per division, the journal is regional, and the anxiety is that of a questionnaire filled in before and after the programme, not on competition day.
Also phrased as: "breathing for competition nerves"; "deep breath before the shot"; "diaphragmatic breathing and anxiety"; "4-7-8 breathing"; "calming down with the breath"
In practice
Before a competition or an important end, archers are advised to stop and take a few slow, deep breaths into the belly, because a calm breath calms the mind too and takes tension out of the arms.
Evidence
-
2011
Context Archers Published later
Three Korean high-school archers in contention for the national squad, twenty-four weeks of arousal control with abdominal breathing, practised in the shooting stance too, progressive relaxation and heart rate biofeedback: on the CSAI-2, a one to four scale, somatic anxiety goes from 2.67 to 1.92 and cognitive anxiety from 2.68 to 2.26, but after the three weeks of breathing and relaxation somatic anxiety was only at 2.52, and the largest drop comes after the competition phase. No statistical test, no control, and the breathing cannot be separated from the rest of the programme.
Effect of Arousal Control Training Conjugated Heart Rate Biofeedback for National Substitute Archery Players · Seong-Taek Hong
-
2017
Context General population Published later
39 healthy office workers, 20 sessions of slow diaphragmatic breathing with biofeedback over 8 weeks: negative feelings fall in the breathing group (difference 2.55, p=0.02) and not in the controls, but the group by time interaction stays borderline (p=0.07); positive feelings do not change (p=0.68).
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults · Xiao Ma, Zi-Qi Yue, Zhu-Qing Gong, Hong Zhang, Nai-Yue Duan, Yu-Tong Shi, Gao-Xia Wei, You-Fa Li
-
2017
Context General population Published later
In the same study salivary cortisol drops only in the breathing group (interaction p<0.001, eta squared 0.20), with a breathing rate during the exercise of about 4 breaths a minute against 17 at rest.
The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults · Xiao Ma, Zi-Qi Yue, Zhu-Qing Gong, Hong Zhang, Nai-Yue Duan, Yu-Tong Shi, Gao-Xia Wei, You-Fa Li
-
2017
Context Review Published later
A review on healthy adults: slow breathing, at around 8 breaths a minute against 12 to 18, increases vagal activity and shifts the autonomic balance towards the parasympathetic side without appreciably reducing sympathetic activity.
The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human · Marc A. Russo, Danielle M. Santarelli, Dean O'Rourke
-
2018
Context Review Published later
A systematic review of 15 studies on healthy adults: with slow breathing, more comfort, relaxation and alertness, and less arousal, anxiety, anger and confusion, with the firmest associations at around 6 breaths a minute.
How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing · Andrea Zaccaro, Andrea Piarulli, Marco Laurino, Erika Garbella, Danilo Menicucci, Bruno Neri, Angelo Gemignani
-
2018
Context Review Published later
In the same review, abdominal breathing at 3 to 4 breaths a minute increases oxygenation of the front of the prefrontal cortex and lowers tension-anxiety, anger and confusion scores compared with spontaneous breathing.
How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing · Andrea Zaccaro, Andrea Piarulli, Marco Laurino, Erika Garbella, Danilo Menicucci, Bruno Neri, Angelo Gemignani
-
2025
For Archers Published later
10 para-archers trained with 4-7-8 breathing, 24 sessions of 15 minutes over two months: on the SAS-2, anxiety falls from 29.0 to 21.2 in the standard bow division (t=4.474, p=0.011, n=5) and from 27.8 to 19.2 in compound (t=5.852, p=0.004, n=5), that is by 27 and 31 per cent.
Deep Breathing Relaxation and Anxiety of Disabled Archery Athletes in Each Different Division · Nada Nadia Salsabila, Boyke Mulyana, Geraldi Novian
-
2025
Context Archers Published later
In the 10 control para-archers, with no breathing exercises, anxiety does not change: from 27.4 to 27.8 in the standard bow division (p=0.859) and from 26.6 to 29.0 in compound (p=0.235), five athletes per group. At the start the four groups sat between 26.6 and 29.0 points.
Deep Breathing Relaxation and Anxiety of Disabled Archery Athletes in Each Different Division · Nada Nadia Salsabila, Boyke Mulyana, Geraldi Novian
-
2025
Context Archers Published later
The effect of the breathing is similar across the two divisions (t=0.660, p=0.528), and in the standard bow the trained archers' scores also become more uniform, with the standard deviation falling from 8.09 to 5.63, while in compound it stays at 3.77.
Deep Breathing Relaxation and Anxiety of Disabled Archery Athletes in Each Different Division · Nada Nadia Salsabila, Boyke Mulyana, Geraldi Novian
Status history
- 2011 Not studied The first data on archers come from a twenty-four-week Korean programme on three women archers in contention for the national squad, in which abdominal breathing, practised in the shooting stance as well, came together with progressive relaxation and heart rate biofeedback. Somatic anxiety falls from 2.67 to 1.92 on a one to four scale, but after the first three weeks, those given to breathing and relaxation, it had only come down to 2.52, and the largest drop comes after the phase with the routine and the biofeedback used in competition. With no test, no control and no way of separating the breathing from the rest, it stays as context: on breathing alone the question is still open.
- 2017 Not studied Two pieces of work on healthy adults arrive on the mechanism. Thirty-nine office workers do eight weeks of slow diaphragmatic breathing with biofeedback: negative feelings fall only in those doing the breathing, although the comparison with the controls stays borderline, positive feelings do not move and salivary cortisol drops only in the trained group. A review explains that slow breathing shifts the autonomic balance towards the parasympathetic side without switching off the sympathetic one. These are context, on people who do not shoot: there is still no study on archers that isolates the breathing, and the question remains open.
- 2018 Not studied A systematic review of fifteen studies on healthy adults reports more relaxation and less anxiety, arousal, anger and confusion with slow breathing, with the firmest associations at around six breaths a minute; at three or four breaths a minute mood improves too, along with oxygenation of the prefrontal cortex. The contextual base widens, the evidence on archers does not: the question remains open.
- 2025 Reported The first comparison with a control group arrives. Twenty para-archers training with the Indonesian National Paralympic Committee in Bandung and Cimahi, ten trained and ten not, with two months of 4-7-8 breathing in twenty-four fifteen-minute sessions: in the trained group the sport anxiety score falls from 29.0 to 21.2 in the standard bow division and from 27.8 to 19.2 in compound, that is by 27 and 31 per cent, while in the controls it stays where it was and rises slightly in compound. The effect is similar in the two divisions, and in the standard bow the scores also become more uniform. The design is the right one, but the groups have five people per division, the journal is regional and anxiety is measured with a questionnaire away from competition: it is the first study on archers to isolate the breathing, and it is single and small: reported.
Related
Related articles
- Thoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRVThoracic mobility, diaphragmatic breathing and HRV for archers: the exercises, an eight-week protocol and what the studies on archers show.
- How to breathe before you draw: what the studies have measuredHow much and how fast to breathe before the shot: measurements on the range, where the six-breaths figure comes from, and what changes for anxiety and score.
- Mental skills training in archery: what the measurements on archers showWhat has been measured on archers' mental training: score, confidence, anxiety, programme length, mock competitions and each of the tools in turn.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Deep breathing reduces an archer's competition anxiety (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/deep-breathing-competition-anxiety
@misc{campagna2026_respirazioneansiagara,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Deep breathing reduces an archer's competition anxiety},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/deep-breathing-competition-anxiety},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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