Practising on the non-dominant side as well makes the dominant side improve more

The summary today

The only experiment is on complete beginners. Forty right-handers randomly split into four groups shoot sixty arrows over three days at 10 metres: measured on the dominant side, scores rise by about 15 per cent in the three groups that alternate sides and by just under 8 in the group shooting only on the dominant side, with the largest gain, almost 20 per cent, when the arrows are split half and half. At a new distance, 15 metres, those who alternated gain 4 per cent and those who shot from one side only lose 9. The work, though, is reported in two pages of the German federation's magazine, with no statistical tests or raw scores, and with tests of three arrows per side, where a single arrow moves the percentages a great deal. On the other side there is a comparison of 75 competitive archers, 25 who also train on the non-dominant side, for 4.6 years on average, and 50 who shoot from one side only: in the shooting test the two groups cannot be told apart, 14.5 points for the former and 15.7 for the latter, but the test was nine arrows at 15 metres and lacks the precision to pick up small differences. A weak experiment in favour and a weak comparison that finds no difference: contested.

Also phrased as: "bilateral practice in archery"; "shooting left-handed to improve"; "shooting with the other hand"; "bilateral transfer"; "shooting from the opposite side"

Evidence

• 2010
  For Archers Published later

  40 right-handed beginners randomly split into four groups (50 and 50, 75 and 25, 25 and 75 per cent of arrows on the dominant side, and a control on the dominant side only), 60 practice arrows over 3 days at 10 m, tests of three arrows per side: on the dominant side scores rise by about 15 per cent in the bilateral groups and by just under 8 in the control group, from the pre-test to the two post-tests. No statistical test, no raw scores, group sizes not given; a two-page report in the German federation's magazine.

  Bilaterales Üben im Bogenschießen · Andreas Bund, Timm Wöltjen

• 2010
  For Archers Published later

  In the same experiment the dose matters: the group with half the arrows on the dominant side gains almost 20 per cent, the one with three quarters 15, the one with a quarter about 9, still more than the control. The authors suggest keeping at least half the arrows on the dominant side, as their reading of the three groups rather than a tested rule.

  Bilaterales Üben im Bogenschießen · Andreas Bund, Timm Wöltjen

• 2010
  For Archers Published later

  Also in the same experiment, in the transfer test at 15 m those who had practised on both sides gained 4 per cent over the pre-test and those who had used only the dominant side lost 9; two weeks later the bilateral groups retained the improvement better, but the values for that test are not reported separately.

  Bilaterales Üben im Bogenschießen · Andreas Bund, Timm Wöltjen

• 2021
  Against Archers Published later

  75 adult competitive archers, average age 47 and ten years of practice, 25 who for at least a year (4.6 on average) have also trained on the non-dominant side and 50 who shoot from one side only, matched two to one: in the shooting test, nine arrows at 15 m on a ground-level target with a conversion factor between different bows, the bilateral group scores 14.5 ± 4.4 points and the unilateral group 15.7 ± 3.7, with no significant difference. The test is short and the points scale is not clearly stated.

  Unilateral and bilateral training competitive archers differ in some potentially unhealthy neck-shoulder region movement behaviour characteristics · Mareike Schmitt, Lutz Vogt, Jan Wilke, Daniel Niederer

Status history

1. 2010 Reported The first data come from an experiment on forty right-handed beginners, drawn by lot into four groups who shoot sixty arrows over three days at 10 metres with different proportions between the two sides. The three groups that alternate gain about 15 per cent on the dominant side, against just under 8 for the group shooting only right-handed, with the peak, almost 20, when the arrows are split half and half; two weeks later the bilateral groups retain the improvement better, and at a new distance they gain 4 per cent while the unilateral group loses 9. The design is there, but the work is reported in two pages of a federation magazine, with no statistical tests and with three-arrow tests: reported.
2. 2021 Contested A comparison arrives of 75 competitive archers, matched two to one for age, sex, training hours and years of practice: the 25 who also train on the non-dominant side, for 4.6 years on average, score 14.5 points in the shooting test, the 50 who shoot from one side only score 15.7, and the difference is not significant. It is a cross-sectional study and the test, nine arrows at 15 metres with a conversion factor between different bows, is too short to see small differences, but it is a second study of archers and it does not find the advantage. With one weak result on each side the status becomes contested.

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Research lines

• 35 studiesTeaching and learning archery: sixty years of instructional trials
• 25 studiesShooting and asymmetry: fifty years of measurements

Other claims in this domain

• CorroboratedBetween one and a half and two tenths of a second pass between the clicker sounding and the arrow leaving7 studies · 94 archers measuredStatus since 1990
• ReportedA camera diagonally behind the archer measures the vertical sway of the aim well, but not the horizontal1 study · 3 archers measuredStatus since 2010
• ReportedA continuous final pull through the clicker leads to better shots9 studies · 56 archers measuredStatus since 1993
• ReportedA sound or light cue about the angle of the bow arm tightens beginners' groups2 studies · 1 archers measuredStatus since 2012
• ReportedA thumb grip on the string is less tiring than a finger grip3 studies · 9 archers measuredStatus since 1990

See all claims on technique and biomechanics