Single-leg static balance is linked to score

The summary today

Nine samples of archers have put a single-leg balance test next to the score, and seven found nothing. The most spectacular result, a correlation of 0.906 in thirty-one youngsters, explains itself: in that same sample balance, strength and endurance correlate with each other between 0.83 and 0.91, which makes them nearly the same measure, and as soon as they enter the model together balance stops counting (beta 0.129, p = 0.312). The other supporting result is weak, 0.262 in sixty children aged 12 to 13. On the other side seven samples, from twelve young Malaysian recurve archers to forty-five adult traditional archers and thirty professional compound archers, show no link at all, with coefficients that, where they are reported, sit between -0.26 and 0.37 without ever reaching significance. In those same compound archers, though, the ones who improved their balance most over twelve weeks also gained the most points: the link that does not show between one archer and another appears in the changes within the same archer, in a group with no control. One clue about where to look remains: in the Turkish study, static and dynamic balance go together, but only the dynamic kind is linked to the score. The suspicion, which a review from the same period puts in writing, is that standing still on one leg measures something shooting does not ask for.

Also phrased as: "stork test and archery score"; "flamingo test for archers"; "single-leg balance and accuracy"; "balancing and shooting well"

Evidence

• 2018
  Against Archers Published later

  Young Malaysian archers on development programmes, grouped by k-means on score, fitness tests and coping skills: the high-potential group outperforms the low-potential group on every variable except static balance, which according to the authors does not distinguish the two groups. The finding appears only in the box plots of figure 5.2, with no means and no statistical tests, and the number of archers is not stated: the classifier's sensitivity and specificity imply 31 and 19 archers, 50 in all, as many as in the same group's 2019 study in PLOS ONE, which in all likelihood uses the same sample. A weak contrary finding.

  Psycho-Fitness Parameters in the Identification of High-Potential Archers · Rabiu Muazu Musa, Zahari Taha, Anwar P. P. Abdul Majeed, Mohamad Razali Abdullah

• 2019
  Against Archers Published later

  50 young Malaysian archers aged 13 to 20 in state and university development programmes, six fitness tests in a multiple regression against the score over six arrows at 50 m: the stork test is not associated with the score (beta -0.031, p = 0.843), and nor is the standing long jump (beta 0.313, p = 0.127). In the same model sit-ups in one minute do come out associated.

  A machine learning approach of predicting high potential archers by means of physical fitness indicators · Rabiu Muazu Musa, Anwar P. P. Abdul Majeed, Zahari Taha, Siow Wee Chang, Ahmad Fakhri Ab. Nasir, Mohamad Razali Abdullah

• 2020
  Against Archers Published later

  12 young Malaysian recurve archers aged 16 on average, 9 boys and 3 girls, split into the best six and the worst six over 36 arrows at 70 m: the stork test does not separate the two groups (left 30.0 against 22.2 seconds, p = 0.749; right 36.1 against 22.2, p = 0.150) and is not linked to the score (rho = 0.193, p = 0.549 on the left; rho = 0.368, p = 0.240 on the right). A very small sample, measured once.

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

• 2022
  For Archers Published later

  31 male and female archers aged 13 to 18 from a Malaysian state training centre, from beginners to experienced, stork test averaging 33.2 ± 10.5 seconds: the raw correlation with the score is 0.906 (p < 0.01), but in multiple regression balance adds nothing (beta 0.129, p = 0.312). The reason sits in the same table: draw strength and balance correlate at 0.908, strength and endurance at 0.831, balance and endurance at 0.838, so in this sample the three qualities are nearly the same measure and the raw correlations cannot be read on their own.

  The relationship between arm muscle strength, muscle endurance, balance and draw force length on archery performance · Maisarah Mohd Saleh, Adam Linoby, Fatin Aqilah Abdul Razak, Nurul Ain Abu Kasim, Nur Atikah Mohamed Kassim

• 2022
  Context Review Published later

  A review of 21 studies on precision and acrobatic sports: standard upright balance tests may fail to separate athletes of different levels, because the differences show up in sport-specific tasks. The example given comes from gymnastics, where the less experienced do better on two feet and the more advanced on the sport-specific single-leg task.

  The Role of Neuromuscular Control of Postural and Core Stability in Functional Movement and Athlete Performance · Erika Zemková, Ludmila Zapletalová

• 2022
  Context Archers Published later

  13 archers from Surakarta, a single measurement: a balance test that the article does not describe correlates with the score at r = 0.884 (p < 0.01). Without knowing what was measured, and in a questionable journal, the figure stays as context and does not decide the status.

  Relationship of Arm Muscle Strength, Arm Muscle Endurance, Abdominal Strength and Balance with Arrow Achievement Questionable venue · Gagah Nurya Putra, M. Furqon Hidayatullah, Sapta Kunta Purnama

• 2023
  For Archers Published later

  60 young Indonesian archers aged 12 to 13 from Sleman, stork balance stand test and score at 15 m: the correlation is 0.262 with p = 0.043, a link only just past the threshold and under seven per cent of the variation. It is the second and last piece of supporting evidence on this page.

  The relationship balance of hand grip strength and body balance to archry ability Questionable venue · Heru Prasetyo, Siswantoyo, Yudik Prasetyo, Susanto

• 2023
  Context Archers Published later

  A case series on 6 archers from the Brazilian Olympic squad, tested on a six-sensor platform at a single time point after the intervention: the five untreated athletes score fall indices of 10, 12, 8, 10 and 8, while the sixth, the only one treated, scores 0. There is no pre-intervention measurement and no shooting score was collected, so the figures only show how much the index varies from one archer to another even at Olympic level.

  Impact of the Atlasprofilax Method on Body Balance on High Performance Archery Olympic Athletes: A Case Series · Lluis Manent, Ricardo Antonio Henrique da Fonseca, Orlando Angulo

• 2024
  Against Archers Published later

  18 Turkish club recurve archers, 9 women and 9 men, with at least 2 years' training: the flamingo test is not linked to the score (r = -0.197 on the right, r = -0.020 on the left, both non-significant), while in that same sample flamingo errors go with the distance reached on the Y-Balance test (r from -0.55 to -0.74, p ≤ 0.018) and it is dynamic balance that is linked to the score. The two sides of the body give almost the same measure (r = 0.938 on the static test, 0.943 on the dynamic one). The sample's reference values are 18.33 ± 13.07 losses of balance per minute on the right and 16.78 ± 11.07 on the left, with a mean reach of 69.57 ± 11.12 cm, about 81% of limb length.

  Shooting performance in archery: a perspective of dynamic–static balance · İnci Kesilmiş, Fatma Söğüt, Ülkü Çömelekoğlu

• 2024
  Against Archers Published later

  18 Indonesian recurve archers aged 13 to 14: standing balance is not linked to the score, with rho = -0.084 (p = 0.74) on the right and rho = 0.174 (p = 0.49) on the left. A small sample, a single measurement.

  Physical capacity and performance correlation in sub-elite Indonesian archery athletes · Afif Rusdiawan, Donny Ardy Kusuma, Muhammad Labib Siena Ar Rasyid, José Vicente García Jiménez, Mochammad Purnomo, Himawan Wismanadi, et al.

• 2025
  Against Archers Published later

  45 Turkish traditional archers aged 20 to 35, 25 men and 20 women: on the flamingo test, single-leg balance is not linked to the score in either sex (women r = -0.255, p = 0.278; men r = 0.033, p = 0.874). In the same sample the losses of balance in sixty seconds are equivalent between the sexes (12.05 ± 5.08 against 13.32 ± 4.40, t = -0.898, p = 0.374), while the women are more flexible on the sit and reach (29.88 ± 8.56 against 24.94 ± 6.71 cm, p = 0.036).

  The Effects of Physical Fitness and Physiological Variables on Archery Performance in Traditional Turkish Archers · Muhammed Raşit Eyibil, Oğuz Gürkan

• 2025
  Against Archers Published later

  20 Indonesian under-13 archers from a Surabaya club, standard bow, five fitness tests in a regression against accuracy: the stork stand does not predict the score (p = 0.785), and nor does any of the other tests, with an adjusted R squared for the whole model of 0.005. The balance data are not normally distributed and the model is estimated with parametric methods all the same.

  Physical fitness and shooting accuracy: an evaluative study on early adolescent archery athletes · Rahmaniar Wahyuningtias, Indra Himawan Susanto, Ananda Perwira Bakti, Soni Sulistyarto

• 2026
  Against Archers Published later

  30 national-level professional compound archers: in the exploratory analysis of baseline values, balance, proprioception and grip strength do not separate the more accurate archers, and after FDR correction no correlation stays significant. The authors report no figures, so this side of the study counts as weakly contrary.

  Associations between changes in postural control, shoulder proprioception, and shooting accuracy in professional compound archers · Sema Acaröz, Tuba Yerlikaya, Hüseyin Bilal Özkader, Yelda Kıngır Soykurt

• 2026
  For Archers Published later

  The same 30 compound archers, after twelve weeks of BOSU balance work added to their shooting, a single group: those who improve most on the stork test are also those who gain most points over 15 arrows at 18 m (rho = 0.594, FDR p = 0.008 on the right; rho = 0.489, FDR p = 0.022 on the left). It is a link between changes within the same archer, not between different archers, and there is no control group.

  Associations between changes in postural control, shoulder proprioception, and shooting accuracy in professional compound archers · Sema Acaröz, Tuba Yerlikaya, Hüseyin Bilal Özkader, Yelda Kıngır Soykurt

Status history

1. 2018 Contradicted The question is first asked by a Malaysian group that splits young archers into high and low potential on the basis of score, fitness tests and coping skills: the better group is ahead on everything except static balance, which does not separate the two groups. It shows only in a graph, with no figures and no statistical tests, and the number of archers is not stated. A single study of archers, and pointing against: the claim stands contradicted.
2. 2019 Contradicted The same group publishes the figures, in all likelihood on the same fifty young Malaysian archers: in a model with the other fitness tests, one-leg balance is not linked to the score (beta -0.031, p = 0.843), and neither is the standing long jump. It is the same contrary evidence as in 2018, now measured: the claim stays contradicted.
3. 2020 Contradicted A second study of archers points the same way as the first. In twelve young Malaysian recurve archers, split into the six strongest and the six weakest over thirty-six arrows at 70 metres, single-leg balance neither separates the two groups nor links to the score, with coefficients of 0.19 and 0.37, well short of significance. Two contrary studies and none in favour, but both are one-off associations, one on twelve archers and the other on a single end of six arrows: they are not enough to say that several well-conducted studies show no effect, so the claim stays contradicted rather than refuted.
4. 2022 Contested Here the picture breaks in two. In thirty-one archers aged 13 to 18 the correlation between balance and score is very high (r = 0.906), but it vanishes as soon as strength and endurance enter the model (beta 0.129, p = 0.312), and the study itself explains why: balance, strength and endurance rise together with correlations between 0.83 and 0.91, close enough to be nearly interchangeable. A review from the same year warns that tests taken standing still may not separate athletes of different levels, because the differences show up in sport-specific tasks. Studies of archers pointing in opposite directions: contested. In the same year thirteen Indonesian archers give a correlation of 0.884 between balance and score, but the test is not described and the journal is questionable, so it stays as context.
5. 2023 Contested In sixty archers aged 12 to 13 the link is there but weak (r = 0.262, p = 0.043), which is under seven per cent of the variation. Meanwhile a case series on six archers from the Brazilian Olympic squad shows how much the platform fall index varies from athlete to athlete, without relating it to the score. The picture stays split and the status does not change.
6. 2024 Contested Two independent studies in the same year, eighteen Turkish club recurve archers and eighteen young Indonesians, find no relationship between standing balance and score. The contrary side becomes the more numerous one, but these are still associations against associations, so the status holds. What changes is the reading: if the link exists, it is not visible standing still, and in the Turkish study it is dynamic balance, not static, that is linked to the score.
7. 2025 Contested Forty-five adult traditional archers, measured on the flamingo test, show no link between single-leg balance and score in either sex, and in that same sample the losses of balance are the same for men and women. In the same year twenty Indonesian under-13s confirm it: in the regression, single-leg balance does not predict the score (p = 0.785), and nor does any of the other fitness tests. The contrary side strengthens and the status stays contested.
8. 2026 Contested A study of thirty professional compound archers gives two answers. At baseline, balance, proprioception and grip strength do not separate the more accurate archers, and the authors report no figures. After twelve weeks of BOSU work, though, those who improved most on the stork test are also those who gained most points, with correlations of 0.59 and 0.49 that survive correction for multiple comparisons. Between different archers the link still does not show; within the same archer it appears, but in a single group with no control: the status stays contested.

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Research lines

• 63 studiesThe archer's physical profile: strength, endurance and size
• 26 studiesBalance, core and proprioception: the interventions, year by year

Other claims in this domain

• ReportedA battery of physical tests identifies the most promising young archers7 studies · 373 archers measuredStatus since 2018
• ReportedA few weeks of archery improves children's balance1 study · 32 archers measuredStatus since 2009
• ReportedA mobility and stretching programme improves an archer's flexibility1 study · 30 archers measuredStatus since 2025
• ReportedA spell of reduced training makes the score drop1 study · 9 archers measuredStatus since 2021
• ReportedA strength programme away from the range increases an archer's measured strength15 studies · 316 archers measuredStatus since 2018

See all claims on physical training