Reviewing your shooting videos with your coach speeds up progress
6 studies · 124 archers measured
The summary today
Two studies of archers find a gain in score, and in neither of them does the video arrive on its own. In 31 Thai archers at national and international level the score over 10 arrows at 70 m went from 78.96 to 85.61 after a spell of work with video and individual corrections from experts, but with no control group; in 60 under-18 archers split in half, those who filmed themselves and heard the coach's commentary gained 4.23 points at 40 m against the 0.27 of the group training as usual. Both sit in venues with questionable editorial standards, and a questionable venue never settles a status: the registry reports them, but the status remains not studied. What they say, in any case, is that an archer who watches their own shots alongside the person coaching them improves, not that the video is what does it. The rest of the bibliography covers the surroundings: systems that show the differences between one shot and the next are judged useful by coach and archers, who had not noticed them on their own, yet not everyone links the trace to what they felt, and the less experienced cannot picture the movement even while looking at it.
Also phrased as: "filming yourself helps you improve"; "video feedback speeds up technical learning"; "watching yourself reveals the errors you cannot feel"; "video analysis of the shot and score"; "watching your own shots helps"
In practice
Archers are told that filming themselves and then watching it back is the quickest way to notice the errors they cannot feel at the time.
Evidence
-
1997
Context Archers Published later
30 Japanese barebow archers, 15 experts with at least three years of practice and 15 beginners, angles measured on side-on video: the shoulder to shoulder to elbow angle of the drawing arm is about 155° in the experts against 140° in the beginners. Showing the beginners a skeleton model of an expert's posture, the difference narrows gradually over an hour of practice, but the result is qualitative, with no figures and no test, and the model they watch is another archer's.
The Movement Measurement and Analysis of an Arm in Archery Shooting · Hisaya Tanaka, Hideto Ide, Yuji Nagashima
-
2005
Context Kyudo archers Published later
5 complete kyudo beginners, 15 trials each, two conditions assigned without randomisation: the 3 who also logged their own sense of the movement, alongside the form score over the eight stages of the shot, gain on average 25 points more (0 to 100 scale) from the first trial to the last than the 2 who only received the score. Groups of three and of two, no statistical test, and what is reviewed is a log of sensations rather than footage of their own shots.
A study of image training assist system for motor skill learning · Junichi Hatayama, Kazuhiko Seki, Katsunori Ishi, Hideki Murakoshi, Toru Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Hashimoto
-
2020
Context Archers Published later
5 recurve archers ranging from intermediate up to national championship level in Japan, 104 to 177 shots each at 50 m with a gyroscope on the bow, clustered into 11 to 16 movement variants per phase: one university coach and the 5 archers judge the differences between one shot and the next useful, having not noticed them on their own, and one archer reports that score, feeling and shape of the shot often do not coincide. The experts linked the trace to what they felt, others could not picture the movement even while looking at it. No measure of the effect on scores.
Archery shots visualization by clustering and comparing from angular velocities of bows · Midori Kawaguchi, Hironori Mitake, Shoichi Hasegawa
-
2021
Context Archers Published later
Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 31 Thai recurve archers at national and international level (on average 6.2 international competitions each), before and after with no control group: the score over 10 arrows at 70 m goes from 78.96±6.04 to 85.61±5.26 (t=5.542, p<0.001). The training combined video recording with individual corrections from experts, so the contribution of the video cannot be isolated; the form used to record the score has low internal consistency (alpha 0.56 before and 0.66 after).
Efficient Archery Posture Training Analysis of Archery Performances for the Talent Development and Excellence Achievements Questionable venue · Chaturong Hemara, Pravet Ketkan, Juthamas Singchainara, Toansakul Tony Santiboon
-
2023
Context Archers Published later
24 Chinese university students with no experience at all, two classes not allocated at random, 8 weeks and 16 hours of teaching: the class with online materials on top of the sessions in the room finishes with 46.00±8.98 points over 10 arrows at 10 m against 36.50±11.12 (t=2.302, p=0.031), a teacher's technical mark of 13.25±2.38 against 11.25±2.26 out of 15 (t=2.111, p=0.046) and the first week with 4 arrows out of 6 inside 25 cm coming earlier (8.75±2.26 against 11.00±2.37; t=-2.377, p=0.027). The online materials, though, are not the archer's own videos.
On the Curricular Innovation Practice of the Recurve Bow Based on Blended Teaching · Zhe Zhang, Xiaoyuan Huang, Bing Zhang
-
2024
Context Archers Published later
Venue with questionable editorial standards: this result does not count towards the status. 60 under-18 archers preparing for a competition, 30 per group, 14 sessions: the group filming themselves with the coach's commentary goes from 18.30±2.63 to 22.53±2.85 points at 40 m (mean difference 4.23, p<0.001), the control group from 19.10±3.00 to 19.37±2.92 (difference -0.27, p=0.133), with 3.17 points between the two at the final test (t=4.252, p<0.001). Here too the video comes with the coach's commentary.
The Success of Archery Training in the New Normal Era Questionable venue · Arisman, Yusmawati, Firmansyah Dlis, Dede Dwiansyah Putra, Ardo Okilanda, Alonzo L Mortejo
Status history
- 1997 Not studied The closest thing to the question is a comparison of 15 experts and 15 beginners using video analysis, in which the beginners are shown a skeleton model of an expert's posture: over an hour of practice the difference in the drawing arm angle narrows. The result is qualitative only, with no figures and no test, and what the beginners watch is somebody else's posture rather than their own shots, so the question has not yet been asked.
- 2005 Not studied The first attempt at having a learner review their own practice comes from kyudo: 5 beginners, 15 trials each, and those who also logged their own sense of the movement alongside the form score gained on average 25 points more from the first trial to the last. The groups were of three and of two, with no statistical test, and what they review is a log of sensations rather than footage, so the status does not move.
- 2020 Not studied What arrives is the judgement of one coach and 5 archers on a system that shows the differences between one shot and the next from the same archer: they found them useful and say they do not notice them on their own. The same study adds the limit that matters for teaching, because the more experienced linked the trace to what they felt while others could not picture the movement even while looking at it. So the information is there, and the effect on scores was never measured.
- 2021 Not studied The first direct support is a before and after with no control group in 31 Thai archers at national and international level, with the score over 10 arrows at 70 m rising from 78.96 to 85.61. The video, though, came together with individual corrections from experts, so it is not known which of the two did the work, and the journal has questionable editorial standards. A questionable venue never settles a status: the registry reports the study, and the status remains not studied.
- 2023 Not studied An eight-week Chinese university course, 24 recurve beginners in two classes, shows that the blended course with online materials goes further than teaching in the room alone: 46.00 points over 10 arrows at 10 m against 36.50, a higher technical mark and arrows grouping a few weeks earlier. It stays context, because the online materials are not the archer's own videos and the classes were not allocated at random, so the status does not change.
- 2024 Not studied The first comparison with a control group arrives: 60 under-18 archers split in two, 14 sessions, and those who trained while filming themselves with the coach's commentary gain 4.23 points at 40 m against the 0.27 of the usual group. The design is sounder, but this journal too has questionable editorial standards, and by rule a questionable venue never settles a status: the registry reports the study, and the status remains not studied.
Related
Related articles
- Training with a signal: tones, lights and timers that correct the shotA tone on the draw, a light on the bow arm, a timer on the release: what studies of archers have measured about signals that correct the shot.
- Motor learning in archery: how a movement becomes automaticThe three stages of motor learning and what studies on archers show: the brain, movement variability, corrections, goals, video and distance.
- Video analysis and self-coaching in archery: the practical guideHow to film your own shot and what to look for, what the camera measures badly, when sensors help, and what research says about video, feel and the training journal.
Research lines
Where there are no studies on archers, every decision starts from a written hypothesis and is checked against the data over time.
See the full assessmentCite
Campagna, M. (2026). Reviewing your shooting videos with your coach speeds up progress (Version 3). In Evidence Registry. Retrieved 16 October 2026, from https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/video-feedback-and-learning
@misc{campagna2026_videofeedbackapprendimento,
author = {Campagna, Matteo},
title = {Reviewing your shooting videos with your coach speeds up progress},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Evidence Registry, matteocampagna.com},
url = {https://matteocampagna.com/en/registry/technique/video-feedback-and-learning},
note = {Version 3; accessed 2026-10-16}
}
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