Expert archers keep the string elbow more open than beginners do
1 study · 30 archers measured
The summary today
There is a single comparison, a two-page letter from 1997 on thirty Japanese barebow archers filmed from the side with one camera. The angle measured is the one between the two shoulders and the drawing elbow, read off the side-on image, and the authors take it as a sign of elbow height: the wider it is, the higher the elbow sits towards the shoulder line. It is about 155 degrees in the fifteen archers with at least three years of practice and 140 in the fifteen with less than one. The direction is the one archers are taught, but the data are fragile for three reasons: the figures are means of three shots read off the image plane, with no statistical test at all; a side-on image flattens an angle that opens in three dimensions; and nobody linked that opening to the score. Nobody has repeated the comparison with a three-dimensional measurement since.
Also phrased as: "elbow in line with the arrow"; "string elbow round behind"; "elbow alignment at anchor"; "beginners' elbow out of line"
In practice
Archers are taught that at anchor the string elbow should come round behind, until it lines up with the arrow and the bow shoulder, and that a low elbow or one left out of line is the typical sign of somebody who has only just started.
Evidence
-
1997
For Archers Published later
15 Japanese barebow archers with at least three years of practice against 15 with less than one: the angle between left shoulder, right shoulder and right elbow is about 155 degrees in the experts and about 140 in the beginners, a difference of 15 degrees. These are group means, with no statistical test.
The Movement Measurement and Analysis of an Arm in Archery Shooting · Hisaya Tanaka, Hideto Ide, Yuji Nagashima
-
1997
Context Archers Published later
How it was measured: a CCD camera at 90 degrees to the shooting direction, angle read on the image plane, mean of three shots after five practice shots, participants aged 20 to 25. The authors write that opening that angle raises the elbow and steadies the string hand. In the text the same value also appears as "755", a misprint for 155.
The Movement Measurement and Analysis of an Arm in Archery Shooting · Hisaya Tanaka, Hideto Ide, Yuji Nagashima
Status history
- 1997 Reported The first and only comparison is a Japanese letter on thirty barebow archers, fifteen with at least three years of practice and fifteen with less than one, filmed from the side. The angle between the two shoulders and the drawing elbow is about 155 degrees in the experts and 140 in the beginners, fifteen degrees apart. They are means of three shots on a single plane, with no statistical test and no score: reported.
Related
Related articles
- The anchor point in archery: biomechanics and common errorsThe anchor point in archery: the hand-to-face contact points, how much the string really touches the face, the drawing elbow and shoulder, common errors and how to find the right anchor.
- The string elbow: where it sits and what changes when it risesWhere the string elbow sits in strong archers, whether aligning it with the line of force earns more points, and what changes when it rises.
- Experts and beginners: what really changes in the shotWhat an expert archer does that a beginner does not: consistency, muscles, balance, timing and years of practice, and how far the studies support each.
Research lines
Cite
Campagna, M. (2026). Expert archers keep the string elbow more open than beginners do (Version 2). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/string-elbow-experts-beginners
@misc{campagna2026_gomitocordaapertoesperti,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Expert archers keep the string elbow more open than beginners do},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/string-elbow-experts-beginners},
note = {Version 2; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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