Using a foam roller before shooting shortens an archer's reaction times
1 study · 12 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single Turkish study of twelve male archers aged 18 to 20 with two years of practice, measured on three separate days: the first with no myofascial work, the second after thirty seconds of foam rolling, the third after sixty. Compared with the first day, the reaction to sound drops from 397 to 277 milliseconds after thirty seconds and to 289 after sixty, and the reaction to light from 347 to 271 and 285. The largest gain is on sound, the very test that started worst, which is the typical pattern of regression towards the mean. The heaviest limit is the design: the three conditions always come in the same order, so the day without the roller is also the first day of testing, and practice at the tests is mixed up with the effect of the roller. The shooting test says as much, since in the same study the score rises from 79 to 134 points in two days, then falls back to 117 on the third: a jump of that size is hard to put down to half a minute of rolling. That reaction times get shorter under these conditions is reported; that the foam roller is the reason, and that it helps on the target, is not.
Also phrased as: "foam rolling in an archer's warm-up"; "myofascial roller before shooting"; "self-myofascial release and reactivity"; "roller warm-up and reaction time"
In practice
The roller turns up more and more often in warm-ups: a few passes over the shoulders and lats, people say, loosens the tissues and leaves the archer sharper and more responsive on the first shot.
Evidence
-
2023
For Archers Published later
12 male archers aged 18-20 with two years of practice, three days 48 hours apart in a fixed order (control, 30 s of foam rolling, 60 s): reaction to sound from 396.67 ± 77.24 to 277.42 ± 28.18 ms after 30 s (F=22.432, p<0.001), reaction to light from 347.17 ± 29.48 to 271.08 ± 28.72 ms (F=24.875, p<0.001). The gain is larger on sound, which started from a worse value (Tables 2 and 3, p. 253).
The Effect of Different Myofacial Release Exercise Times Using Foam Roller in Archers on Reaction Balance and Arrow Shooting Performance · Münir Ünlü, Zarife Pancar, Burak Karaca
-
2023
Context Archers Published later
Sixty seconds of rolling do no better than thirty: reaction to light 285.33 ± 41.80 ms and to sound 289.42 ± 34.25 ms, both better than the control day but no different from 30 seconds (Tables 2 and 3, p. 253). The control day is also the first day of testing, so practice at the tests cannot be separated from the effect of the roller.
The Effect of Different Myofacial Release Exercise Times Using Foam Roller in Archers on Reaction Balance and Arrow Shooting Performance · Münir Ünlü, Zarife Pancar, Burak Karaca
-
2023
Context Archers Published later
In the same study the score on the shooting test rises from 79.17 ± 13.35 on the control day to 134.50 ± 10.33 after 30 seconds of rolling and 117.00 ± 7.80 after 60 (F=76.722, p<0.001; Table 6, p. 254). A jump of that size in two days, with the conditions always in the same order, points to an order effect more than to the foam roller, and the study does not link reaction times to the score.
The Effect of Different Myofacial Release Exercise Times Using Foam Roller in Archers on Reaction Balance and Arrow Shooting Performance · Münir Ünlü, Zarife Pancar, Burak Karaca
Status history
- 2023 Reported The first and only study: twelve male archers aged 18 to 20 measured on three days, without the roller, after thirty seconds and after sixty. The reaction to sound drops from 397 to 277 milliseconds and the reaction to light from 347 to 271, and the largest gain is on the very test that started worst. The conditions always come in the same order, with the day without the roller first, so the effect of the foam roller cannot be separated from practice at the tests. Twelve subjects, a fixed order and a regional journal: the supporting evidence exists and it is limited, reported.
Related
Related articles
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Using a foam roller before shooting shortens an archer's reaction times (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/foam-roller-reaction-times
@misc{campagna2026_foamrollertempireazione,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Using a foam roller before shooting shortens an archer's reaction times},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/foam-roller-reaction-times},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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