On the best arrows, parasympathetic activity during the aim is higher

The summary today

The idea has a single piece of direct support, a 2008 conference abstract: in sixteen pre-elite Taiwanese archers, comparing each archer's three best arrows with the three worst from a 24-arrow simulated competition, the high frequency band of heart rate variability was higher on the best ones, the low band lower and the ratio between them shifted towards the parasympathetic side. The abstract, however, gives no values and no test. The full study that came later says the opposite: in seventeen adolescent archers followed through an indoor competition at 18 metres, with about a thousand arrows analysed over the 20 seconds before each release, the arrow score rises with the low band and with the ratio between the bands, the part usually read as sympathetic, and in the experienced archers the rise in high frequency activity from the first to the second arrow of the end goes with a drop in score. The effects are small: the model, which also includes the time taken to shoot, accounts for about 12 per cent of the variation in score. The measure itself complicates the reading, because the high band depends on how one breathes, the ratio between the bands does not really measure the balance between the two systems, and while aiming the archer controls their breathing. A 2019 paper on thirty novices points the same way as the 2011 study, with a higher ratio between the bands in those who shoot more accurately, but it compares archers with each other over the whole session rather than arrows. Today the studies on archers point in opposite directions, and neither is solid enough to settle the question.

Also phrased as: "parasympathetic activity and score"; "heart rate variability while aiming"; "hrv and good arrows"; "a good arrow comes from a relaxed body"; "vagal tone and accuracy"

Evidence

• 1992
  Context Archers Published later

  A Japanese Olympic archer recorded at selection events and at the 1987 US Open, with 20 s analyses taken seated between ends: when reported tension is high the interval between beats shortens and the breathing-related component falls, and on the day victory is already certain both rise. No statistics, no measurement during the aim and no link to individual arrows.

  Development of an Apparatus for Monitoring Degree of Mental Tension · Mieko Ohsuga, Futomi Shimono, Chie Akashi

• 2008
  For Archers Published later

  16 pre-elite Taiwanese archers (7 men, 9 women), simulated competition of two 12-arrow rounds, heart rhythm recorded during the aim: comparing each archer's 3 best arrows with the 3 worst, the high frequency band is higher on the best ones, the low frequency band lower and the ratio between them lower. It is a conference abstract: no numerical values, no p values, nothing on how breathing was handled.

  A study of the relationship between heart rate variability and archery performance · C.-T. Lo, S.-H. Huang, T.-M. Hung

• 2011
  Against Archers Published later

  17 adolescent male archers (7 novices, 10 experienced) in an indoor competition at 18 m in Greece, 60 arrows each, variability computed over the 20 s before each release: the regression on arrow score retains shot time (beta 0.311, p < 0.001), the low band (beta 0.070, p = 0.02) and the ratio of low to high (beta 0.064, p = 0.03), all with a positive sign. More of the component read as sympathetic, a slightly higher score; the whole model accounts for 11.8 per cent of the variation.

  Autonomic nervous system modulation during an archery competition in novice and experienced adolescent archers · Andres E. Carrillo, Vasilios X. Christodoulou, Yiannis Koutedakis, Andreas D. Flouris

• 2011
  Against Archers Published later

  In the 10 experienced archers of the same study, high frequency activity rises from the first to the second arrow of the end, from 15.7 ± 16.8 to 21.3 ± 22.3 normalised units, and over the same step the score falls significantly (p < 0.05). The standard deviations are as large as the means, and the drop after the first arrow may have other explanations.

  Autonomic nervous system modulation during an archery competition in novice and experienced adolescent archers · Andres E. Carrillo, Vasilios X. Christodoulou, Yiannis Koutedakis, Andreas D. Flouris

• 2014
  Context Archers Published later

  One experienced archer, three 3 s aims: on average high frequency activity is 46.88 per cent of power, low frequency 36.51, the ratio between them 0.80, with a heart rate of 112 beats a minute. Arrow by arrow, high frequency activity is 47.83, 40.19 and 50.51, and the scores 8, 7 and 8: the arrow with the least high frequency activity is the only 7. Three arrows, three seconds of signal per aim and a regional journal: an illustration, not a test.

  Biomechanics Measurements in Archery · Zulkifli Ahmad, Zahari Taha, Hasnun Arif Hassan, Mohd Azrul Hisham, Nasrul Hadi Johari, Kumaran Kadirgama

• 2019
  Context Archers Published later

  30 Turkish novices, 10 arrows at 18 m at an 80 cm target, heart rate variability measured for 4 minutes seated at rest and then over the whole shooting session, accuracy given by the median distance of the arrows from the centre. The ratio of the low to the high band rises from rest to shooting (z = 3.24, p = 0.001), and those with the higher ratio while shooting are more accurate (r = -0.49, p = 0.006): the same direction as the 2011 study, opposite to the claim. It compares archers with each other over the whole session, though, not arrows with each other or the seconds of the aim, so it is context; a regional journal.

  Heart Rate Variability, Flow and Emotional Intelligence as Predictors of Novice Archers’ Shooting Accuracy · Nihal Dal, Erman Doğan

Status history

1. 1992 Not studied The first work in the bibliography to measure heart rate variability in an Olympic archer, recorded seated between ends, relates it to the tension he himself reports: when tension is high the heart speeds up and the breathing-related component falls. Nobody, however, has yet measured it during the aim or compared it with the quality of the arrows.
2. 2008 Reported A conference abstract on sixteen pre-elite archers in a simulated competition asks the question for the first time: comparing each archer's three best arrows with the three worst, the high frequency band is higher on the best ones, the low frequency band lower and their ratio shifted towards the parasympathetic side. There are no values and no statistics: enough to give rise to the idea, not to carry it, and the status is reported.
3. 2011 Contested Seventeen adolescent archers followed through an indoor competition give the opposite result twice: the low band and the ratio between the bands, the part read as sympathetic, go with higher scores, and in the experienced archers the rise in high frequency activity between the first and second arrow of the end coincides with a lower score. The effects are small, about 12 per cent of the variation explained together with shot time, but the studies on archers now point in opposite directions.
4. 2014 Contested A single case measured during the aim adds little and resolves nothing: an experienced archer's heart rate variability is dominated by high frequency activity, with the ratio of low to high at 0.80, and over just three arrows the one with the least high frequency activity is also the only 7. Three arrows from one archer do not move the status, which stays contested.
5. 2019 Contested In thirty Turkish novices shooting ten arrows at 18 metres, those with the higher ratio of the low to the high band over the session are also the more accurate (r = -0.49 with distance from the centre), so the part usually read as sympathetic once again goes with the better shooting, as in 2011. The study, however, compares archers with each other over the whole session, not arrows or the seconds of the aim, and cannot decide the question: the status stays contested.

Related

Related articles

• The heart at the moment of the shot: slowing, a lower heart rate and diastoleReleasing between beats, a heart that slows during the aim, a lower heart rate worth points: what studies have measured of the archer's heart at the shot.
• 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 improve your archery score: where to start and what to work onHow to measure your level, what sets better archers apart and the levers on your score, from release to mind and load, and how well the evidence holds.

Research lines

• 48 studiesThe heartbeat and the shot: heart rate and HRV since 1981
• 19 studiesArousal, relaxation and individual zones

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA larger working memory does not make an archer more accurate3 studies · 79 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA longer quiet eye improves shooting accuracy3 studies · 58 archers measuredStatus since 2017
• ReportedA mental profile tells archers apart from athletes in other sports only in part5 studies · 550 archers measuredStatus since 2018
• ReportedA mental training programme improves the elite archer's mood1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023
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