Matteo Campagna
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Strength work lengthens the time an archer can hold the bow at full draw

7 studies · 128 archers measured

ForContextAgainst201820202022202420262023, for, n = 302018, context, n = 222023, for, n = 202024, context, n = 202019, for, n = 122022, for, n = 122025, for, 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.

Holding time at full draw before and after the programme, in five studies of Indonesian archers

Each bar is a group mean before or after the programme. The whiskers are the standard deviation in Yachsie 2019, in Yachsie and colleagues 2022 and in Purnama and colleagues 2025; in Yachsie and colleagues 2023 they are the study's ±, which it does not define; Subekti and colleagues give the values of the individual archers but not the standard deviation, so their bars have no whiskers. In all five studies the hold is longer after the programme, but none of the studies has a group that only shoots: the three Yachsie studies measure a single group, Subekti and Purnama two groups that both do extra work, so nobody knows how much of the gain comes from the programme and how much from shooting itself or from getting used to the test. The 2022 study also says that those archers had not trained during the pandemic. The test is not the same everywhere: Yachsie 2022 and 2023 and Subekti use the digital version, which Subekti measures in seconds, while Yachsie 2019 and Purnama write Holding Bow Test, which Purnama measures in seconds. Yachsie does not write the unit next to the values in any of the three studies: the seconds are our reading, taken from the studies that use the same test. Starting values range from about 12 seconds in the high-school archers of Yachsie 2022 to over 30 in those of Purnama, so the heights are read within each study and not from one to the other. Left out are the Ukrainian study of 2018, which tests balance exercises and not strength work, and the 2024 study by Yachsie and colleagues, which gives the validity of the test but does not measure the hold after training. Data from: Yachsie 2019, Yachsie et al. 2022, Yachsie et al. 2023, Subekti et al. 2023 and Purnama et al. 2025.
The numbers in the figure
StudyGroupValue (seconds)Intervaln
Yachsie 2019, 12 archers from Banyumas, dumbbells and elastic band, a single group, for the claimBefore21.87± 6.61 (mean ± standard deviation)12
Yachsie 2019, 12 archers from Banyumas, dumbbells and elastic band, a single group, for the claimAfter27.87± 6.33 (mean ± standard deviation)12
Yachsie et al. 2022, 12 high-school archers, bodyweight circuit, a single group, for the claimBefore12.33± 0.88 (mean ± standard deviation)12
Yachsie et al. 2022, 12 high-school archers, bodyweight circuit, a single group, for the claimAfter14.08± 1.16 (mean ± standard deviation)12
Yachsie et al. 2023, 30 archers aged 10 to 13, game-based circuit, a single group, for the claimBefore14.53± 1.55 (± as reported by the study)30
Yachsie et al. 2023, 30 archers aged 10 to 13, game-based circuit, a single group, for the claimAfter15.77± 1.74 (± as reported by the study)30
Subekti et al. 2023, 20 boys aged 12 to 15, free weights or machines, two active groups, for the claimFree weights, before15.310
Subekti et al. 2023, 20 boys aged 12 to 15, free weights or machines, two active groups, for the claimFree weights, after17.710
Subekti et al. 2023, 20 boys aged 12 to 15, free weights or machines, two active groups, for the claimMachines, before15.110
Subekti et al. 2023, 20 boys aged 12 to 15, free weights or machines, two active groups, for the claimMachines, after16.410
Purnama et al. 2025, 12 archers aged 13 to 17, bands or plank, two active groups, for the claimBands, before31.83± 4.71 (mean ± standard deviation)6
Purnama et al. 2025, 12 archers aged 13 to 17, bands or plank, two active groups, for the claimBands, after41.17± 4.45 (mean ± standard deviation)6
Purnama et al. 2025, 12 archers aged 13 to 17, bands or plank, two active groups, for the claimPlank, before32.17± 4.62 (mean ± standard deviation)6
Purnama et al. 2025, 12 archers aged 13 to 17, bands or plank, two active groups, for the claimPlank, after45.67± 4.32 (mean ± standard deviation)6

Five studies of archers, all small and all Indonesian, find a longer holding time at full draw after six to eight weeks of extra work. In 12 club archers dumbbells and elastic bands take it from 21.9 to 27.9 seconds; in 20 boys aged 12 to 15 free weights lengthen it from 15.3 to 17.7 seconds and machines from 15.1 to 16.4; in 12 archers aged 13 to 17 bands take it from 31.8 to 41.2 seconds and the plank from 32.2 to 45.7; a game-based circuit and a bodyweight circuit give smaller gains, just over a second for the first and under two units for the second, on a digital test that does not state its unit. The direction is unanimous, but none of these studies has a group shooting the same arrows without the extra work, so nobody knows how much of the gain comes from the programme and how much from shooting itself or from getting used to the test. The test also gives different values from one study to the next: some groups start at about 15 seconds and others at over 30, probably because draw weight and the point at which the stopwatch is stopped differ, and the validity figures come from the same research groups that use it. The only study with a control group that measures holding time tests balance exercises, not strength work, and lengthens it on one side only. Nobody links the seconds gained to points on the target.

Also phrased as: "holding the bow longer at full draw"; "endurance at full draw"; "holding bow test"; "training the hold"; "strength and aiming time"

In practice

Archers are advised to train strength, with bands, weights or repeated holds, so they can stay at full draw for longer without collapsing.

Evidence

  • 2018
    Context Archers Published later

    22 Ukrainian beginner archers aged 18 to 20, 11 per group, two months in which part of the usual shooting is replaced by shooting from a balance board and with an extra spirit level on the sight: at the end the right-hand hold at full draw is 74.7 ± 13.1 seconds against 61.5 ± 11.4 in the controls (t = 2.54, p < 0.05), while on the left hand there is no difference (45.5 against 40.7 seconds, p > 0.05). These are balance and precision exercises, not strength work; a regional journal.

    Influence of application of special means of development of equilibrium and precision-target movements on the level and structure of psychophysiological indicators, physical and technical readiness of archers · V.V. Artiuh, Zh.L. Kozina, V.O. Koval, D.V. Safronov, S.V. Fomin, Yu.O. Novikov

  • 2019
    For Archers Published later

    12 club archers from Banyumas, Indonesia, a dumbbell and elastic band programme: holding bow test from 21.87 to 27.87 seconds (+6.0, +27%; t = 8.81, p < 0.001), with starting values from 11.7 to 32.6 seconds. Over the same period the score at 30 m rises from 288.3 to 299.3 out of 360 (+3.8%), much less than the hold. A single group, with no control; a regional journal.

    Pengaruh latihan dumbell-thera band terhadap daya tahan otot lengan dan akurasi memanah pada atlet panahan · Betrix Teofa Perkasa Wibafied Billy Yachsie

  • 2022
    For Archers Published later

    12 elite male high-school archers, sixteen sessions of a bodyweight push-up circuit done at home during the pandemic: holding bow digital test from 12.33 ± 0.88 to 14.08 ± 1.16 (t = 41.9, p < 0.001). A single group, with no control; a regional journal.

    Circuit bodyweight training: does it affect increasing arm muscle endurance and archery accuracy in pandemic conditions? · Betrix Teofa Perkasa Wibafied Billy Yachsie, Suharjana, Ridho Gata Wijaya, Ahmad Nasrulloh

  • 2023
    For Archers Published later

    30 Indonesian archers aged 10 to 13, 18 sessions of a six-station game-based circuit: holding bow test from 14.53 ± 1.55 to 15.77 ± 1.74 (+8.5%; t = 7.22, p < 0.001), with balance and concentration rising by similar amounts and the score going up 6 points, from 243.6 to 249.6 (+2.5%). A single group, with no control.

    Circuit Game Development: Implications on Balance, Concentration, Muscle Endurance, and Arrow Accuracy · Betrix Teofa Perkasa Wibafied Billy Yachsie, Suharjana, Ali Satia Graha, Amri Hartanto

  • 2023
    For Archers Published later

    20 male archers aged 12 to 15 in Bantul, Indonesia, two matched groups of 10, six weeks and 18 circuit sessions for the shoulders and arms: holding bow test from 15.3 to 17.7 seconds with free weights (+15.7%, t = 7.86, p < 0.001) and from 15.1 to 16.4 with machines (+8.6%, t = 4.33, p = 0.002), with individual starting values from 13 to 17 seconds. Two active groups and no group that only shoots; a regional journal.

    Free weight vs gym machine: which is better for muscle endurance athletes of archery? · Okka Bagus Subekti, Endang Rini Sukamti, Amri Hartanto

  • 2024
    Context Archers Published later

    20 elite Indonesian archers aged 16 to 18: for the test with the bow at full draw and a digital dynamometer the authors report a validity of 0.895 and a reliability of 0.944 for endurance in seconds. These figures come from the same research groups that use the test; the study does not measure the change in holding time after training. A regional journal.

    Application of push-ups and pull-ups to develop strength endurance of arm muscles in archery athletes · Betrix Teofa Perkasa Wibafied Billy Yachsie, Ahmad Nasrulloh, Yudik Prasetyo, Siis Suhasto, Alexander Skaliy

  • 2025
    For Archers Published later

    12 club archers aged 13 to 17 in Blora, Indonesia, two groups of 6, sixteen sessions over eight weeks: holding bow test from 31.8 ± 4.7 to 41.2 ± 4.5 seconds with bands and from 32.2 ± 4.6 to 45.7 ± 4.3 with the plank (p < 0.05 within each group). The authors declare the plank superior, but their own data give t of about 1.78 for the comparison between the two post-tests, p about 0.11; a comparison of the gains, which the paper does not make, rebuilt from the published data does give the plank an advantage (p about 0.006). No group without extra work; a regional journal.

    Differences in the effects of resistance band and plank exercises on arm muscle endurance in archers at the blora archery club · Rachelino Wira Purnama, Arif Pangestu, Frederico Rifqi, Lavaya Yuri Andjani, Danendra Luhung Saskara, Dhany Diva Pradana

Status history

  1. 2018 Not studied The first study of archers to measure holding time before and after an intervention does not test strength work: in 22 Ukrainian beginners, assigned to two groups, two months of shooting from a balance board and with an extra spirit level on the sight lengthen the hold on one side, 74.7 against 61.5 seconds in the controls, and not on the other. On strength work in the strict sense there is still no study.
  2. 2019 Reported The first study of strength work arrives: 12 Indonesian club archers, a dumbbell and elastic band programme, and the hold goes from 21.9 to 27.9 seconds (t = 8.81, p < 0.001), with starting values ranging from 12 to 33 seconds. A single group, with no control: reported.
  3. 2022 Reported A bodyweight push-up circuit, sixteen sessions done at home during the pandemic, takes the digital holding test of 12 elite high-school archers from 12.33 to 14.08. It is the second study in agreement, from the same research group and again with no control: the status stays reported.
  4. 2023 Reported Two studies add detail. A game-based circuit in 30 archers aged 10 to 13 takes the hold from 14.5 to 15.8 seconds; six weeks of shoulder and arm work in 20 boys aged 12 to 15 lengthen it from 15.3 to 17.7 seconds with free weights and from 15.1 to 16.4 with machines. Four studies pointing the same way, but all without a group that only shoots, and a before and after with no control never reaches corroborated. The test starts at about 15 seconds in these boys and at over 20 in the club archers, a sign that the stopwatch is not measuring the same thing everywhere.
  5. 2025 Reported In 12 archers aged 13 to 17, sixteen sessions over eight weeks, bands take the hold from 31.8 to 41.2 seconds and the plank from 32.2 to 45.7. The direction is confirmed with two different tools, but there is still no group without extra work. The authors declare the plank better on the basis of a comparison between the two post-tests which, with six archers per group, gives a t of about 1.78 on their own data, that is p around 0.11; a comparison of the gains, which the paper does not make, rebuilt from the published data does give the plank an advantage.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Studies describe groups of archers, and your own numbers show how far the finding applies to your shooting.

See the programme
Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). Strength work lengthens the time an archer can hold the bow at full draw (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/strength-work-holding-time-full-draw

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_allenamentotempotenuta,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {Strength work lengthens the time an archer can hold the bow at full draw},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/physical-training/strength-work-holding-time-full-draw},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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