Score drops as the session goes on
2 studies · 12 archers measured
The summary today
In the bibliography the drop over a session has been measured once, and not in archers. Sixteen adults who had never shot before lose an average of eight per cent of their score over eighty arrows, and the fall comes earlier with the more tiring grip. The only figure on trained archers is not about a session but about an imposed load: after sixty twenty-second holds at full draw, twelve Italian archers of intermediate and high level shot ten arrows at twelve metres without losing a point, while the bow oscillated an average of twenty per cent more. Fatigue showed in the movement, not in the score, but ten arrows after an artificial load are not a session. Nobody has yet followed the score arrow by arrow through a training session of real length, which is the situation the claim is about.
Also phrased as: "score drops at the end of the session"; "the last arrows are the worst"; "fatigue costs points in training"; "how many arrows before the score falls"
In practice
It is taken for granted that the last ends are the worst, and training is organised accordingly, with the quality work at the start and the volume at the end.
Evidence
-
1994
Context Archers Published later
12 archers of the Italian federation, 7 of intermediate level (FITA scores between 1180 and 1300) and 5 above 1300: six sets of ten twenty-second holds at full draw, with twenty seconds of rest between sets, and ten arrows at twelve metres before and after. The score does not change significantly in any archer, while the lateral sway of the bow grows by 6 to 39 per cent, 20 per cent on average, and that sway tracks each archer's FITA score (r = -0.65, p < 0.05). It is a before and after with no control group, and ten arrows at twelve metres are a coarse measure of score.
Fatigue effects on shooting archery performance · Roberto Squadrone, Renato Rodano, C. Gallozzi
-
2007
For General population Published later
16 adults aged 21 to 25 with no shooting experience, allocated at random to four postures and two grips, 80 arrows each with the score read in three blocks (arrows 1 to 10, 40 to 49 and 70 to 80): from one block to the next the score falls by eight per cent on average, in every condition, and with the reverse grip the drop comes sooner and sharper. The people shooting had never shot before, and for many it was the first session of their lives.
The Biomechanical and Physiological link between Archery Techniques and Performance · Richard T. Stone
Status history
- 1994 Not studied The first measurement in the bibliography is not about a session but about a load: sixty twenty-second holds at full draw, then ten arrows at twelve metres. The score does not move in any of the twelve archers, while the bow's oscillation grows by an average of twenty per cent. It says what an imposed isometric load does, not what happens as a session goes on: on a drop over the course of a session there is still nothing to read.
- 2007 Transferred The first measurement over a long sequence of arrows arrives: in sixteen adults with no experience at all the score falls by an average of eight per cent over eighty arrows, earlier and more sharply with the more tiring grip. It is the only work that really follows the score along a sequence, but those shooting had never shot before: no such measurement exists yet in trained archers, and the claim rests on people who are learning.
Related
Related articles
- Fatigue in archery: when tiredness sets in, and whether it shows in the scoreWhat happens to the shoulder, the bow and the score after many arrows: what studies of fatigue in archery have measured, and where the research stops.
- Does the score drop in the second half of a competition? Fatigue and the scorecard comparedIn the studies that split a round into two halves, reported fatigue rises and the score does not. What they measured, how firm it is and where they stop.
- What draw weight to choose: how to find it and when to change itWhat draw weight to choose and when to change it: marked versus actual poundage, how much strength to use, three criteria, young archers and each division.
Research lines
Where there are no studies on archers, every decision starts from a written hypothesis and is checked against the data over time.
See the full assessmentCite
Campagna, M. (2026). Score drops as the session goes on (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/score-drops-during-the-session
@misc{campagna2026_punteggiocalasessione,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Score drops as the session goes on},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/score-drops-during-the-session},
note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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