Matteo Campagna
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While aiming, the body sways more sideways across the target than back and forth towards it

7 studies · 101 archers measured

ForContextAgainst199019952000200520102015202020252017, against, n = 392025, against, n = 372023, against, n = 92023, context, n = 91990, context, n = 82023, for, n = 81990, for, n = 42010, for, n = 4
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.

Centre of pressure movement across the target and along the line to the target, in the three studies of archers that give figures for the movement

Each bar is the mean movement of the centre of pressure and the whiskers are the standard deviation. The axes are the ones the three studies define relative to the target: for Erkek and Tinazci DX is parallel to the target face and DY perpendicular to it; for Spratford and Campbell, and for Fan and colleagues who take up their definition, COPx runs across the face of the target and COPy in line with the target. All three call the across axis lateral, or medial/lateral, and the along-the-line axis anterior/posterior, which is the reverse of the names one would use relative to the body of an archer standing side-on to the target. The windows differ too: Erkek and Tinazci measure from the start of the draw to the click, on 34, 35 and 39 arrows scoring 8, 9 and 10 from four archers; Spratford and Campbell the second before the release; Fan and colleagues the half second before the release, with the force plate under the left foot only, and the note to their table calls the two values maximum displacements. Fan and colleagues also report a total displacement of 51.9 and 61.6 millimetres, which does not square with values of 1 to 3 millimetres on the two axes: the chart keeps the table's values. Nobody has compared the two windows on the same archers. For Erkek and Tinazci the standard deviation is the figure in brackets in the table: the table does not say so, but the methods state that the results are reported as mean and standard deviation. Left out are Keast and Elliott 1990, who do not show the figures for the comparison, Kim and colleagues 2023, who measure speed rather than movement, Song and colleagues 2023, who study men with no archery experience using a simulated bow, and Stuart and Atha 1990, who measure head position from one shot to the next rather than sway while aiming. Data from: Erkek and Tinazci 2010, Spratford and Campbell 2017 and Fan et al. 2025.
The numbers in the figure
StudyGroupValue (millimetres)Intervaln
Erkek and Tinazci 2010, 4 elite women recurve archers, from the draw to the click: for the claimArrows scoring 8, across31.7± 1 (mean ± standard deviation)
Erkek and Tinazci 2010, 4 elite women recurve archers, from the draw to the click: for the claimArrows scoring 8, along the line26.2± 1.5 (mean ± standard deviation)
Erkek and Tinazci 2010, 4 elite women recurve archers, from the draw to the click: for the claimArrows scoring 9, across12.5± 4.5 (mean ± standard deviation)
Erkek and Tinazci 2010, 4 elite women recurve archers, from the draw to the click: for the claimArrows scoring 9, along the line5.1± 1.3 (mean ± standard deviation)
Erkek and Tinazci 2010, 4 elite women recurve archers, from the draw to the click: for the claimArrows scoring 10, across16.7± 1 (mean ± standard deviation)
Erkek and Tinazci 2010, 4 elite women recurve archers, from the draw to the click: for the claimArrows scoring 10, along the line4.5± 0.4 (mean ± standard deviation)
Spratford and Campbell 2017, 39 elite recurve archers, in the second before the release: against the claimAcross10.72± 3.63 (mean ± standard deviation)
Spratford and Campbell 2017, 39 elite recurve archers, in the second before the release: against the claimAlong the line13.51± 5.45 (mean ± standard deviation)
Fan and colleagues 2025, 37 pre-elite archers, in the half second before the release: against the claimRecurve at 70 metres, across1.1± 0.9 (mean ± standard deviation)19
Fan and colleagues 2025, 37 pre-elite archers, in the half second before the release: against the claimRecurve at 70 metres, along the line3.3± 2.4 (mean ± standard deviation)19
Fan and colleagues 2025, 37 pre-elite archers, in the half second before the release: against the claimCompound at 50 metres, across1.5± 0.6 (mean ± standard deviation)18
Fan and colleagues 2025, 37 pre-elite archers, in the half second before the release: against the claimCompound at 50 metres, along the line3± 1.3 (mean ± standard deviation)18

The studies on archers point in opposite directions, and the first thing to know is that they use the same words for different axes: for an archer standing side-on to the target, "lateral" relative to the target means from toes to heels, while "lateral" relative to the body means along the line of the feet, towards the target. Put on the same reference, the two oldest studies, four elite archers each, find more movement across the target: in 1990 it is a sentence with no table, in 2010 the figures are 12.5 against 5.1 millimetres on the 9s and 16.7 against 4.5 on the 10s, over the whole draw and aim. The three more recent and larger ones find the opposite: in 39 elite archers, in the second before the release, 13.5 millimetres towards the target against 10.7 across it; in 9 Korean women archers speed in the last 250 milliseconds is higher towards the target; in 37 pre-elite archers, in the half second before the release, 3.0 to 3.3 millimetres against 1.1 to 1.5. The difference may lie in the time window: over the whole aim the across component prevails, near the release the line to the target. But nobody has compared the two windows in the same study.

Also phrased as: "sideways sway while aiming"; "back-and-forth sway"; "direction of sway at full draw"; "lateral centre of pressure"

In practice

It is said that an archer's body sways mostly sideways, because the base is narrow in that direction, and that this is why the feet go shoulder-width apart with the weight kept on the balls of the feet.

Evidence

  • 1990
    For Archers Published later

    4 elite archers on a force platform, 240 arrows in sessions up to 100 days apart: centre of pressure movements across the target (the Ax axis, across the target face) contribute more to sway area than those towards the target (the Ay axis). The data for this comparison are not shown.

    Fine Body Movements and the Cardiac Cycle in Archery · David Keast, Bruce Elliott

  • 1990
    Context Archers Published later

    8 archers analysed, two ends of three arrows at 15 metres: from one shot to the next head position at the release varies mainly along the line of aim, with standard deviations of 33 and 52 millimetres, 10 and 7 vertically and just 2 across (variances differ, P < 0.01). It is head consistency, not body sway while aiming.

    Postural consistency in skilled archers · Jonathan Stuart, John Atha

  • 2010
    For Archers Published later

    4 elite archers, 108 arrows, from the draw to the click: movement across the target (parallel to the target face) of 31.7, 12.5 and 16.7 millimetres on the 8s, 9s and 10s, against 26.2, 5.1 and 4.5 along the line to the target. The same data were published again in 2011.

    Shooting Dynamics in Archery · M. Emre Erkek, Cevdet Tinazci

  • 2017
    Against Archers Published later

    39 elite recurve archers on a force platform, with the axes defined relative to the target: in the second before the release the centre of pressure moves 13.51 ± 5.45 millimetres along the line to the target and 10.72 ± 3.63 across it; in the half second after the release 36.31 ± 15.54 against 24.57 ± 12.27. The two directions are not compared with a test.

    Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery · Wayne Spratford, Rhiannon Campbell

  • 2023
    Against Archers Published later

    9 elite Korean women recurve archers, 20 shots at 8 metres with the clicker and 20 without: in the last 250 milliseconds before the release centre of pressure speed is higher in the body's medio-lateral direction, that is along the line to the target, where the bow's recoil acts, than in the antero-posterior one (F(1,8) = 10.17, p = 0.013, ηp² = 0.56), with no difference between the two conditions.

    Effect of Anticipatory Shooting Strategy on Performance Consistency in Skilled Elite Archer · Kitae Kim, Youngsook Kim, Donggyu Baek, Jaebum Park, Junkyung Song

  • 2023
    Context Archers Published later

    In the same study the rate at which speed builds up before the release is also greater along the line to the target (F(1,8) = 9.31, p = 0.016, ηp² = 0.54); between clicker and no clicker the difference appears only in the other direction, the body's antero-posterior one (t(8) = 3.17, p = 0.013).

    Effect of Anticipatory Shooting Strategy on Performance Consistency in Skilled Elite Archer · Kitae Kim, Youngsook Kim, Donggyu Baek, Jaebum Park, Junkyung Song

  • 2023
    For General population Published later

    8 healthy men with no archery experience, using a simulated bow with the virtual target on their left, feet parallel and shoulder-width apart: centre of pressure amplitude is much larger in the body's antero-posterior direction, that is across the target, than in the medio-lateral one (F(1,7) = 91.08, p < 0.001, ηp² = 0.93), with both ways of releasing.

    Multi-muscle Synergies of Postural Control in Self- and External-Triggered Force Release During Simulated Archery Shooting · Junkyung Song, Kitae Kim, Jaebum Park

  • 2025
    Against Archers Published later

    37 pre-elite archers aged 15 to 24, 19 recurve at 70 metres and 18 compound at 50, with the axes defined relative to the target and the force plate under the left foot only: in the half second before the release displacement across the target is 1.1 millimetres in recurve and 1.5 in compound, along the line to the target between 3.0 and 3.3.

    Associations of Scoring Accuracy with Postural Stability and Strength Measures in Archers on a Standard Archery Site · Chun-Hao Fan, Chien-Nan Liao, Wei-Hsiu Hsu

Status history

  1. 1990 Reported The first piece of data is a sentence, with no table, in an Australian study of four elite archers and 240 arrows on a force platform: centre of pressure movements across the target contribute more to sway than those towards the target. The same year a British study of eight archers finds that from one shot to the next the head moves almost only along the line of aim, 33 and 52 millimetres against 2, but that is head position, not body sway. A single piece of supporting data, on four people and with no figures: reported.
  2. 2010 Reported A Turkish study of four elite archers and 108 arrows finally puts figures on it, over the whole phase from the draw to the click: movement across the target is 31.7 millimetres against 26.2 on the 8s, 12.5 against 5.1 on the 9s and 16.7 against 4.5 on the 10s. Two studies pointing the same way, but on eight people in all: the status stays reported.
  3. 2017 Contested The largest sample arrives, 39 elite recurve archers, and it points the other way: in the second before the release the centre of pressure moves 13.5 millimetres along the line to the target and 10.7 across it, and in the half second after 36.3 against 24.6. It looks at a different window, though, the last second rather than the whole aim. With studies on archers on both sides, the status becomes contested.
  4. 2023 Contested The same Korean group publishes two studies. In nine elite women archers, in the last 250 milliseconds before the release, centre of pressure speed is higher along the line to the target, the direction in which the bow's recoil acts, with a large effect (ηp² = 0.56). In eight men with no experience, using a simulated bow with the feet parallel, sway across the target is instead much larger (ηp² = 0.93), but they are not archers. The count among studies on archers is now two against two: contested.
  5. 2025 Contested In 37 pre-elite archers, 19 recurve at 70 metres and 18 compound at 50, in the half second before the release the centre of pressure moves 3.0 to 3.3 millimetres along the line to the target and 1.1 to 1.5 across it. It is the third recent study to see the line to the target prevail near the release, against the two small old ones that saw the across component prevail over the whole aim. The status stays contested, and the most likely explanation is the time window, which nobody has yet put to the test.

Related

Related articles

Research lines

Cite
APA

Campagna, M. (2026). While aiming, the body sways more sideways across the target than back and forth towards it (Version 1). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/direction-of-sway-while-aiming

BibTeX
@misc{campagna2026_oscillazionedirezionemira,
  author = {Campagna, Matteo},
  title = {While aiming, the body sways more sideways across the target than back and forth towards it},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
  url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/direction-of-sway-while-aiming},
  note = {Version 1; accessed 2026-10-16}
}

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