A mindfulness programme improves some of an archer's mental skills, but not all

The summary today

What evidence there is points the way the claim does, but it rests on two small groups and on questionnaires filled in by the people who did the programme. In the study published in 2020, eleven archers from the Turkish national recurve squad did eight weeks of mindfulness, one ninety-minute session a week during the training camp for Rio 2016: of the twelve skills on the questionnaire, four improved, namely relaxation, activation, competition planning and refocusing (the last from 13.1 to 15.9 points, p = 0.024), while self-confidence, goal setting, fear control, focusing, imagery, commitment, stress reactions and mental practice stayed where they were. In 2024, in Hong Kong, twelve archers who followed a twelve-week mindfulness programme reported much more self-confidence, from 19.5 to 27 points, and much less anxiety, both cognitive and somatic. Self-confidence, then, does not move in the first group and rises sharply in the second, and neither study gave the same questionnaires to a control group. What can be said is that something changes, and that what changes depends on the programme and the group. Behind the averages some archers get worse: in the Turkish group, on three of the four skills that rose, two archers out of eleven went down. Before these two studies there was only a one-year follow-up of an American programme on archers, golfers and runners together, with the same pattern, fewer task-irrelevant thoughts during competition and sport confidence unchanged, but with four archers not separated from the other sports.

Also phrased as: "mindfulness for archers"; "mindfulness in archery"; "meditation and mental preparation"; "mindfulness and mental skills"

Evidence

• 2011
  For Other sport Published later

  A mindful sport programme followed up a year later in twenty-two athletes, archers, golfers and runners analysed together: task-irrelevant thoughts during competition fall from 15.73 to 13.59 (pre to follow-up contrast p = 0.012) and task-related worries from 22.95 to 20.37 (p = 0.052), while total thought disruption and thoughts of escape do not change, and among archers and golfers sport confidence and flow stay where they were at all three points (values not reported). The archers number four and the results are not separated by sport, so this is indirect evidence.

  One Year Follow-Up of Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) With Archers, Golfers, and Runners · Rachel W. Thompson, Keith A. Kaufman, Lilian A. De Petrillo, Carol R. Glass, Diane B. Arnkoff

• 2011
  Context Other sport Published later

  In the same follow-up trait mindfulness rises from 130.32 to 138.58 (F = 6.00, p < 0.01) and acting with awareness from 30.41 to 32.82 (pre to follow-up contrast p = 0.009), while observing and accepting without judgement do not move: this is what the programme sets out to change, not a mental skill, and as in the other two studies it stays as context. Looking back, the whole sample reports less frequent general anxiety than before the programme (from 3.00 to 2.44, p = 0.024). None of the four archers was still practising mindfulness after a year, and across the whole sample practice was sporadic, 1.15 times a week on average.

  One Year Follow-Up of Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) With Archers, Golfers, and Runners · Rachel W. Thompson, Keith A. Kaufman, Lilian A. De Petrillo, Carol R. Glass, Diane B. Arnkoff

• 2020
  For Archers Published later

  Eleven archers from the Turkish national recurve squad, aged 16 to 25, do eight weeks of mindfulness with one ninety-minute session a week and are measured before and after, with no control group. On the OMSAT-3 mental skills questionnaire relaxation rises from 20.64 to 22.36 (p = 0.005), activation from 20.73 to 23.18 (p = 0.021), competition planning from 14.91 to 16.82 (p = 0.044) and refocusing from 13.09 to 15.91 (p = 0.024). These are measures reported by the archers themselves.

  Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Skill Development Program on Elite Archers’ Mental Skills and Mindfulness Levels · Zeynep Ayça Terzioğlu, S. Gülfem Çakir

• 2020
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same group eight of the twelve skills do not move: goal setting (p = 0.526), self-confidence from 24.73 to 24.64 (p = 0.718), commitment (p = 0.670), stress reactions (p = 0.622), fear control (p = 0.523), focusing (p = 0.191), imagery (p = 0.072) and mental practice (p = 0.355). It matches the second half of the claim, the 'not all', but with eleven people a null result can also mean that a small effect is there and cannot be seen, so it stays as context and counts neither for nor against.

  Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Skill Development Program on Elite Archers’ Mental Skills and Mindfulness Levels · Zeynep Ayça Terzioğlu, S. Gülfem Çakir

• 2020
  Context Archers Published later

  Behind the averages not everyone improves: on activation, competition planning and refocusing two archers out of eleven go down rather than up, and the same happens on the mindfulness scales for describing and non-reactivity; on relaxation nobody goes down.

  Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Skill Development Program on Elite Archers’ Mental Skills and Mindfulness Levels · Zeynep Ayça Terzioğlu, S. Gülfem Çakir

• 2024
  For Archers Published later

  Twelve competitive archers in Hong Kong follow a twelve-week flow-oriented mindfulness programme, against twelve archers matched for sex, ranking and competition who do nothing. In the programme group self-confidence rises from 19.50 to 27.00 (p < 0.001, d = 2.24), cognitive anxiety falls from 19.83 to 13.25 and somatic anxiety from 16.92 to 12.25 (both p < 0.001). Only the programme group filled in the questionnaires, though: the comparison with the controls exists for competition scores, not for the mental skills.

  Examining the Feasibility of a Mindfulness Flow Program for the Hong Kong Archers · Ka K. Lo, Mimi M. Y. Tse, Joanne W. Y. Chung, Queenie P. S. Law, Fenghua Sun

• 2024
  Context Archers Published later

  In the same programme only one of the five facets of mindfulness grows, non-judging of inner experience (from 23.67 to 29.92, p = 0.007, d = 0.96), while observing, describing, acting with awareness and non-reactivity stay put. It is the reverse of the Turkish group, where non-judging was the only facet that did not move (from 21.09 to 20.27).

  Examining the Feasibility of a Mindfulness Flow Program for the Hong Kong Archers · Ka K. Lo, Mimi M. Y. Tse, Joanne W. Y. Chung, Queenie P. S. Law, Fenghua Sun

Status history

1. 2011 Transferred The first data come from a mixed sample. Twenty-two athletes, archers, golfers and runners, followed up a year after a mindful sport programme, report fewer task-irrelevant thoughts during competition, while other measures, such as sport confidence and flow among archers and golfers, do not move. It is the pattern the claim describes, some skills and not others, but the archers number four and the results are not separated by sport: transferred.
2. 2020 Reported The first study on archers alone follows eleven archers from the Turkish national recurve squad through eight weeks of mindfulness during the preparation camp for Rio 2016, and measures them before and after with no control group. Of the twelve skills on the questionnaire, four improve: relaxation, activation, competition planning and refocusing. Self-confidence, goal setting, fear control, focusing and imagery stay where they were, along with commitment, stress reactions and mental practice, and on three of the four skills that rise two archers out of eleven go down. The picture is exactly the one the claim describes, some skills and not others, but it is a single uncontrolled study of eleven people in a regional journal: reported.
3. 2024 Reported A second group arrives, twelve competitive archers in Hong Kong on a twelve-week programme, and the list of skills that move changes. Here self-confidence, which had stayed put in the Turkish group, rises from 19.5 to 27 points, cognitive anxiety falls from 19.8 to 13.3 and somatic anxiety from 16.9 to 12.3. The programme also improves competition scores compared with twelve matched archers, but only those who did it filled in the questionnaires. There are now two supporting studies, neither with a comparison group for the mental skills and each with a different programme: the status stays reported, because a before-and-after with no control does not lead to corroborated, and which skills improve changes from one group to the next.

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Research lines

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

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