Matteo Campagna
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More body fat goes with lower scores

5 studies · 350 archers measured

ForContextAgainst19902000201020201986, for, n = 1881986, against, n = 1881986, context, n = 1882019, context, n = 932025, context, n = 402025, against, n = 172020, context, n = 12
Each circle is a study: its position gives the year, its row whether it is for, against or context, its size how many participants it measured. Light circles are studies on other populations or without archers.

It depends on how body fat is measured, which already says how weak the link is. In the only large study, of 188 recurve archers of mixed level tested in the United States in 1986, a rounder build estimated from the somatotype goes with lower scores (r = -0.31 in 127 archers), while the body fat percentage taken from skinfolds in the same archers is unrelated to score (r = -0.06). The studies that came later are small and do not settle it: in twelve young Malaysian archers the better-shooting group carries a little less fat, a median of 18.6 against 24.3 per cent, but the difference is not significant; in seventeen Turkish beginners body mass index has nothing to do with score (r = 0.21). Today one cannot say that fat costs points, nor rule it out: nobody has repeated the measurement with a single validated method, keeping men and women apart.

Also phrased as: "body fat lowers archery scores"; "being overweight makes you shoot worse"; "body composition and archery score"; "weight and accuracy in archery"

In practice

Archers are told that a lean body holds the shot better and that extra kilos are paid for on the target, especially over a long competition.

Evidence

  • 1986
    For Archers Published later

    188 recurve archers of mixed level in the United States, a cross-sectional study with hierarchical regression (79 with complete data): endomorphy estimated from the somatotype correlates with score at -0.31 (n = 127, p < 0.005), so archers with a rounder build tend to score less.

    A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang

  • 1986
    Against Archers Published later

    Same study, same archers: body fat percentage measured with skinfolds is unrelated to score (r = -0.06, n = 126, not significant). The two measures of fat give different answers, and the paper does not explain why.

    A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang

  • 1986
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same sample mesomorphy (r = 0.07) and ectomorphy (r = 0.09) are unrelated to score (n = 127): of the whole build, only the rounded component matters, and only when measured from the somatotype.

    A Psychobiological Study of Archery Performance · Daniel M. Landers, Stephen H. Boutcher, Min Q. Wang

  • 2019
    Context Archers Published later

    93 Indian archers aged 16 to 25 (51 men and 42 women) recruited from academies in Mumbai: taken together, those with a thicker triceps skinfold stay balanced on one leg for less time (r = -0.221 on the left and -0.401 on the right); in the women alone the link is not significant. Score is not measured and the test is done on the floor, not on the shooting line. The journal has questionable editorial standards and the text has several inconsistencies, so here it counts only as context.

    Correlations of Static Balance and Star Excursion Balance Test With Selected Anthropometric Variables in Inter-University Archery Players Questionable venue · Ashwini Patil, Shyamal Koley

  • 2020
    Context Archers Published later

    12 young Malaysian recurve archers (9 boys and 3 girls, average age 16), 36 arrows at 70 m, split into two groups of six by score: median body fat 18.6 per cent in the better group against 24.3 (p = 0.262) and a correlation with score of rho = -0.26 (p = 0.416). The expected direction, no demonstrated difference; fat read directly from an electronic scale.

    Anthropometric And Physical Fitness Components Comparison between High- And Low-Performance Archers · Jiun Sien Lau, Rosniwati Ghafar, Hairul Anuar Hashim, Erie Zuraidee Zulkifli

  • 2025
    Against Archers Published later

    17 Turkish secondary school pupils with no archery experience, after a basic course: body mass index does not correlate with score (r = 0.21, not significant). At that age body mass index does not separate fat from muscle; a regional journal.

    Okçuluk Öğretimi ile Propriyosepsiyon Bazı Antropometrik Ölçümler ve Motor Beceri İlişkisi · Emrah Aslan, Zeynep Beyza Taşdemir

  • 2025
    Context Archers Published later

    20 young archers and 20 sedentary peers in Malaysia: the archers weigh 63.1 ± 15.7 kg against 48.7 ± 12.6 (p = 0.003) and carry 26.7 ± 9.2 per cent body fat against 20.5 ± 9.9 (p = 0.046), with no difference in height (p = 0.062). Score is not measured: it only says that fat is no exception among people who shoot. A regional journal.

    Comparison of Handgrip and Upper Body Strength between Sedentary Individuals and Archers · Jiun Sien Lau, Muhammad Mustaqim Jariah, Rosniwati Ghafar, Erie Zuraidee Zulkifli, Nur Syamsina Ahmad

Status history

  1. 1980 Not studied No study of archers had yet related body composition to score: the idea that fat costs points circulated without any data.
  2. 1986 Contested The first study, on 188 recurve archers of mixed level in the United States, measures fat in two ways and gets two different answers. Endomorphy, the rounded build estimated from the somatotype, correlates with score at -0.31 (127 archers, p < 0.005); body fat percentage taken from skinfolds in the same archers stops at -0.06 and is not significant. Mesomorphy and ectomorphy show no link at all. The same paper points both ways, so it counts once in favour and once against: contested.
  3. 2019 Contested A finding arrives that is not about score but about one of the routes by which fat might matter. In 93 Indian archers, those with a thicker triceps skinfold stay balanced on one leg for less time (r = -0.22 on the left and -0.40 on the right), although in the women alone the link disappears. It is a floor test, in a journal with questionable editorial standards, and nobody measured how much that balance counts on the target: the 1986 study remains split down the middle and the status stays contested.
  4. 2020 Contested In twelve young Malaysian recurve archers split into two groups by score, the better-shooting group has a median body fat of 18.6 per cent against 24.3 in the other, but the difference is not significant (p = 0.262) and the correlation with score stays at -0.26 (p = 0.416). The direction is the expected one, but the sample is too small to say more and mixes nine boys and three girls: the status stays contested.
  5. 2025 Contested In seventeen Turkish secondary school beginners, after a basic course, body mass index is unrelated to shooting score (r = 0.21, not significant): at that age it is a weak measure of fat, because it does not separate muscle from fat, but it goes against the idea. In the same year twenty young Malaysian archers turn out heavier and fatter than twenty sedentary peers, 26.7 against 20.5 per cent: there is no score here, but among people who shoot, fat does not look like an exception. With one study split down the middle and one against, contested.

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Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). More body fat goes with lower scores (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/body-fat-and-score

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_grassocorporeopunteggio,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {More body fat goes with lower scores},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/body-fat-and-score},
  note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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