Before competing, an archer's anxiety varies with the distance shot

1 study · 189 archers measured

There is a single study, of 189 young archers at Indonesian competitions between December 2024 and February 2025, with the competitive anxiety questionnaire completed before shooting. Anxiety varies between the distance categories (F = 44.6, p < 0.001): it is highest at 50 metres, then at 70, then at 40, with 1.8 points between 50 and 70 metres, 2.8 between 50 and 40 and 1.0 between 70 and 40 (p = 0.002). The order does not follow the metres, though, and distance is not the only thing that changes: those shooting at 40 metres are aged 12 to 19, those at 50 or 70 aged 17 to 26, and each distance matches a different competition category, which the paper describes only by age. The study shows that different groups of archers come to competition with different levels of anxiety; it does not show that distance is what changes them. The journal has questionable editorial standards, so the registry reports the study but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Also phrased as: "anxiety and competition distance"; "nerves at 70 metres"; "fear of the long distance"; "pre-competition nerves"; "anxiety at different distances"

In practice

The long distance is said to bring more pressure: at 70 metres the target looks small, every mistake weighs more and archers step to the line more tense than at a short-distance event.

Evidence

2026
Context Archers Published later

Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 189 archers at competitions in Central Java and Yogyakarta: 103 at 40 metres (aged 12 to 19), 49 at 50 metres and 37 at 70 metres (aged 17 to 26), with the CSAI-2R completed before competing. Anxiety differs between distances (ANOVA F = 44.583, p < 0.001); in the pairwise comparisons 50 metres exceeds 70 by 1.789 points and 40 by 2.832 (p < 0.001), and 70 exceeds 40 by 1.043 (p = 0.002, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.70).

Analysis of Differences in Nervous Levels and Their Implications for Archery Accuracy (Comparison at 40-Meter, 50-Meter, 70-Meter Distances) Questionable venue · Febriansyah Dwi Cahyo, Yudik Prasetyo, Bernadeta Suhartini, Trisnar Adi Prabowo
2026
Context Archers Published later

In the same study, within each distance, more anxiety goes with a lower official score: at 40 metres t = -2.03 (p = 0.026), at 50 metres t = -2.46 (p = 0.016), at 70 metres t = -2.42 (p = 0.019), from simple regressions. This concerns the link between anxiety and score, not the difference between distances.

Analysis of Differences in Nervous Levels and Their Implications for Archery Accuracy (Comparison at 40-Meter, 50-Meter, 70-Meter Distances) Questionable venue · Febriansyah Dwi Cahyo, Yudik Prasetyo, Bernadeta Suhartini, Trisnar Adi Prabowo

Status history

1990 Not studied In the registry's bibliography nobody had yet compared pre-competition anxiety between archers shooting at different distances.
2026 Not studied The first and only study arrives: 189 young Indonesian archers in competition, with the anxiety questionnaire completed before shooting. Anxiety varies between the distance categories (F = 44.6, p < 0.001), highest at 50 metres, then at 70, then at 40, with 1.8 points between 50 and 70, 2.8 between 50 and 40 and 1.0 between 70 and 40 (p = 0.002). Distance and category coincide, so the age of those shooting changes along with it. The study appears in a journal with questionable editorial standards: the registry reports it but does not use it to decide the status, which remains not studied.

Research lines

56 studiesAnxiety and confidence in archery competition since 1986

Cite

APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Before competing, an archer's anxiety varies with the distance shot (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/pre-competition-anxiety-distance

BibTeX

@misc{campagna2026_ansiapregaradistanza,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Before competing, an archer's anxiety varies with the distance shot},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/mind/pre-competition-anxiety-distance},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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