Mental training improves an archer's concentration

The summary today

Three studies on archers point the same way and none points against, but all of them are small and none measures concentration on the target. The first is a 2008 account of the Taiwanese Olympic team: six archers, a programme built mainly on breathing and imagery, and on the final questionnaire concentration is the skill that improves most, with no statistics and no comparison group. In 2020 two trials with a control group arrive. In an Indonesian university club ten archers doing their usual mental training go from 11.1 to 15.6 on a grid concentration test in four weeks, but the comparison is with computer-based training that gains twice as much, not with archers doing nothing. In another club six archers doing progressive muscle relaxation rise from 16 to 21.67 on the same kind of test, while the six in the control group go from 16 to 16.33. The picture says that after a few weeks of mental work archers do better on a pencil-and-paper test; how much of that gain comes from the mental work and how much from time and arrows shot, and whether it shows on the target, nobody can say yet.

Also phrased as: "concentration training for archers"; "archery concentration exercises"; "candle flame exercise"; "concentration grid exercise"; "mental preparation and focus in archery"

Evidence

• 2008
  For Archers Published later

  6 archers from the Taiwanese team for Athens 2004, on a shortened programme of breathing, imagery, competition simulation, sleep deprivation and group activities: on the APSI questionnaire repeated about a month before the Games 4 of the 5 subscales improve, concentration most of all, motivation not at all. Group means in a figure, no statistics, no comparison group.

  Provision of sport psychology services to Taiwan archery team for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games · Tsung‐Min Hung, Tse‐Chuan Lin, Chia‐Ling Lee, Ling‐Chun Chen

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  10 archers from an Indonesian university club, aged 19-21, doing their usual mental training (candle, second hand, meditation, imagery, then shooting at 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 metres) for 12 sessions over 4 weeks: on the Concentration Grid Test they go from 11.1 to 15.6, paired t = -9.429, p < 0.001. There is no group without mental work.

  Neurotracker Training to Improve The Archery Athlete Concentration · Komarudin, Sagitarius, Hadi Sartono, Patriana Nurmansyah Awwaludin, Gilang Ginanjar Hidayatullah

• 2020
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same study the other group, ten archers randomly assigned to computer-based perceptual-cognitive training (NeuroTracker), goes from 11.2 to 19.7: a gain of 8.5 against 4.5, difference between gains t = 6.414, p < 0.001. It compares two ways of training the mind, not training it against leaving it alone.

  Neurotracker Training to Improve The Archery Athlete Concentration · Komarudin, Sagitarius, Hadi Sartono, Patriana Nurmansyah Awwaludin, Gilang Ginanjar Hidayatullah

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  12 archers from a university club in Medan, six per group: with progressive muscle relaxation, about ten minutes a session, the grid concentration score rises from 16 to 21.67 (Wilcoxon p = 0.027), while in the control group it goes from 16 to 16.33 (p = 0.157). Before the intervention the groups did not differ (p = 0.414), afterwards they did (p = 0.027). The table gives the mean gain as 5.5, but the individual values add up to 5.67.

  The Effects of Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Concentration in Archery Atheletes at the UNIMED Club · Indah Verawati, Suprayetno, Budi Valianto

• 2025
  Context Archers Published later

  Calmness training programme for the Malang squad: on direct observation and in interviews the athletes look calmer and more focused when shooting, with less hurried movements, and say they feel readier for competition. Qualitative data only, no measurement, in a journal with questionable editorial standards.

  Analysis of Calmness Training for Archery Sports for PORPROV Athletes in Malang Regency Questionable venue · Ratno Susanto, Dwi Cahyati Anggraeni, Bangkit Seandi Taroreh, Achmad Afandi

Status history

1. 2008 Reported The first data on archers come from the preparation of the Taiwanese Olympic team for Athens 2004. Six archers, three men and three women, follow a shortened programme built mainly on breathing exercises and imagery, with competition simulations: on the psychological skills questionnaire repeated a month before the Games four of the five subscales improve, and concentration is the one that rises most, while motivation stays put. These are group means in a figure, with no statistics and no comparison group: reported.
2. 2020 Reported The first two trials with a control group arrive, both in Indonesian university clubs and both using a grid concentration test. In the first, twenty archers are randomly assigned: the ten doing the club's usual mental training, candle, second hand, meditation and imagery followed by shooting from 10 to 30 metres, rise from 11.1 to 15.6 over twelve sessions, but the other ten, working at a computer, rise from 11.2 to 19.7, and no group is left without mental work. In the second, six archers doing progressive muscle relaxation go from 16 to 21.67 (p = 0.027) while the six controls barely move, from 16 to 16.33. There are now three supporting studies and none against, but the samples are six and ten people, one is in a regional journal, and the outcome is always a pencil-and-paper test, never the target: the status stays reported.
3. 2025 Reported A calmness training programme for the Malang regency squad adds only observations and interviews: the coaches see calmer athletes, more focused when shooting and less hurried in their movements, and the athletes say they feel readier for competition. There is no measurement and the journal has questionable editorial standards, so the picture does not move.

Related

Related articles

• 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.
• 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

• 52 studiesMental training: what has been tested on archers since 1979
• 55 studiesAttention and cognition in archers: research since 1986

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
• ReportedA mental training programme reduces burnout in elite archers1 study · 16 archers measuredStatus since 2023

See all claims on mind and attention