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Fine hand dexterity is linked to the score

3 studies · 183 archers measured

ForContextAgainst20202022202420262021, context, n = 1002025, against, n = 452025, context, n = 38
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.

Three studies, but only one bears on the question, and it goes against the claim. In forty-five adult traditional archers the nine-hole peg test is not linked to the score in either sex, although the score is measured over five arrows. In thirty-eight young Turkish archers aged 9 to 15, total dexterity on the Purdue Pegboard correlates with the score (r = 0.39) and explains about 15 per cent of it, but grip strength explains more (r = 0.49), both grow together with age, and the study sits in a journal with questionable editorial standards. In a hundred Indian recurve archers aged 15 to 25, the higher-level archers outperform the beginners on the assembly task, 34.4 against 31.8, but there the score does not enter the analysis, and that journal too has questionable standards. What little there is goes against the claim; the link glimpsed in youngsters may be age connecting dexterity and score.

Also phrased as: "manual dexterity and score"; "finger sensitivity in archery"; "fine motor skills in archers"; "the Purdue Pegboard test in archers"

In practice

People say the shot is decided in the fingers, in the feel with which the string is held and the hand opens at the release, which is why some coaches add hand dexterity exercises to young archers' programmes.

Evidence

Status history

  1. 2021 Not studied The first piece of data close to the question is a comparison between levels: in a hundred Indian recurve archers, the higher-level ones outperform the beginners on the Purdue Pegboard assembly task, 34.4 against 31.8. The shooting score, though, does not enter the analysis, and the journal has questionable editorial standards: on the question itself, whether dexterity goes with score, there is still no data that counts.
  2. 2025 Contradicted Two studies in the same year point in opposite directions, but they do not carry the same weight. In forty-five adult traditional archers the nine-hole peg test is not linked to the score in either sex. In thirty-eight young archers aged 9 to 15, dexterity on the Purdue Pegboard explains 15 per cent of the score, but grip strength explains more, dexterity and score grow together with age, and the journal has questionable editorial standards, so it cannot decide the status. The evidence that counts is a single study, and it goes against the claim: contradicted.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Fine hand dexterity is linked to the score (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/fine-dexterity-and-score

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_destrezzafinepunteggio,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Fine hand dexterity is linked to the score},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/fine-dexterity-and-score},
  note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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