Postural stability, clicker reaction time and bow draw force predict performance in elite recurve archery

Energy intake, hydration status, and sleep of world-class male archers during competition

BACKGROUND

Nutritional intake and sleep, play an important role for recovery and performance in elite sport but little work has been undertaken in archery. The present study aimed to assess energy intake (EI), hydration status, and sleep parameters in world-class male archers over the course of a four-day competition.

METHODS

Results, Conclusions Six male, elite-standard archers participated in the study and measurements of hydration status, EI, competition load, and sleep were recorded throughout each day of competition.

RESULTS

Daily energy, carbohydrate, and protein intake ranged between 2,563 and 3,986 kcal, 4 and 7.1 g/kg BM, 2.2 and 3.6 g/kg BM per day, respectively. Thus, archers practiced elements of periodized nutrition such that energy and carbohydrate intake was greater on the high-volume competition days (i.e. days 1 and 3; more numbers of arrows, longer duration, and walking distance) in comparison to low-volume days (days 2 and 4) over the tournament (all p > 0.01). Additionally, urine specific gravity was higher after waking, compared to pre- and post-competition, and before bed (all p < 0.05). This indicates that archers were euhydrated pre- and post-competition and before bedtime, while they were slightly hypohydrated after waking up. Sleep data show that disturbances were kept to a minimum.

CONCLUSIONS

Collectively, archers appear capable of periodizing their nutritional intake according to daily physical loading during a tournament whilst, staying euhydrated and maintaining sleep quality. In part, such data can help to explain why these archers experience a sustained level of success.

Hierarchical Organization and Adjustment of Force Coordination in Response to Self-Triggered and External-Triggered Cues in Simulated Archery Performance

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hierarchical organization of digit force production and its effect on stability and performance during the simulated archery task. The simulated archery shooting task required the production of a prescribed level of force in virtual space with the left hand and an equivalent force with all 4 fingers of right hand. A single trial had 2 phases, including static force production as aiming in archery and quick force release to shoot the virtual arrow. The timing of the force release was determined by the participant's choice or response to the external cue. The coordination indices, that is, the synergy index, of force stabilization were quantified in 2 hierarchies by decomposing the variance components. The accuracy and precision of the hit position of the virtual arrow were calculated as performance-related indices. The results confirmed that the precision, that is, reproducibility, of the performance was greater when the force release time was determined by the self-selected time, suggesting the beneficial effect of the anticipatory mechanism. There was a distinct synergistic organization of digit forces for the stabilization of net forces in both bimanual and multifinger levels, which was especially correlated with the precision of performance.

Where do archers hurt? Epidemiology of injuries during archery practice

BACKGROUND

The risk of injury in archery is supposedly low. However, relations between pain, shooting phases and types of bow have not been studied.

OBJECTIVE

Understanding the biomechanical mechanisms of archery-related injuries.

METHODS

Online survey for archers from all types of bow. Variables were analyzed using contingency tables and chi-squared tests.

RESULTS

396 surveys were completed. 36.9% of the archers had practiced archery for more than 10 years, 23.3% between 5 and 10 years. Olympic recurve bow was the most commonly used (38.2%), followed by traditional (23.3%) and compound (22.0%). 57.3% of the archers suffered some kind of injury during archery practice. Drawing shoulder (28.2%) and neck/back injuries (19.9%) were the most prevalent, preventing 50.3% of those who suffered them from continuing archery practice. There was a moderate association between drawing arm injuries and symptomatology in the drawing phase, especially in the shoulder region (0.55), elbow (0.20), and hand (0.13), and to a lesser extent in the neck/back (0.28).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show that injury chronicity is frequent on archery. Correlations between types of bow, phases of the shoot and areas of pain could be a starting point for future studies on the repercussions of different types of injuries in archery practice.

Dynamical Analyses Show That Professional Archers Exhibit Tighter, Finer and More Fluid Dynamical Control Than Neophytes

Quantifying the dynamical features of discrete tasks is essential to understanding athletic performance for many sports that are not repetitive or cyclical. We compared three dynamical features of the (i) bow hand, (ii) drawing hand, and (iii) center of mass during a single bow-draw movement between professional and neophyte archers: dispersion (convex hull volume of their phase portraits), persistence (tendency to continue a trend as per Hurst exponents), and regularity (sample entropy). Although differences in the two groups are expected due to their differences in skill, our results demonstrate we can quantify these differences. The center of mass of professional athletes exhibits tighter movements compared to neophyte archers (6.3 < 11.2 convex hull volume), which are nevertheless less persistent (0.82 < 0.86 Hurst exponent) and less regular (0.035 > 0.025 sample entropy). In particular, the movements of the bow hand and center of mass differed more between groups in Hurst exponent analysis, and the drawing hand and center of mass were more different in sample entropy analysis. This suggests tighter neuromuscular control over the more fluid dynamics of the movement that exhibits more active corrections that are more individualized. Our work, therefore, provides proof of principle of how well-established dynamical analysis techniques can be used to quantify the nature and features of neuromuscular expertise for discrete movements in elite athletes.

Does Taping Have an Immediate Effect on Shooting the Target?

In overhead shooting athletes may have increased activity of the upper trapezius and inhibition of other shoulder muscles active during upper extremity elevation. In this study, we aimed to increase target retention and shoulder proprioception sense accuracy by taping in a way that would activate the lower trapezius muscle in elite adolescent archers. Our participants were 43 elite young athletes, aged 11-14 years, from the Archers Foundation Sports Club. We gathered athletes' sociodemographic information (age, height, weight, gender, the time they were engaged in archery, and other sports they were involved in), and we assessed their posture via the New York Posture Scale (NYPS) before taping. We evaluated them for the presence of scapular asymmetry using the Lateral Scapular Slide Test (LSST) and assessed their proprioception with the active displacement test and their target-reaching performances with the Archery Shooting Score (ASS). Since testing and scoring with the ASS is different for 11-12 and 13-14 age groups, we divided this sample into two different age groups for all analyses. There were significant changes in ASS and proprioception in both age groups, with medium to large effect sizes. There were between intragroup pre- and post-taping changes in classification according to the presence of scapular asymmetry, and there were significant changes in the archery shooting score and proprioception in both groups, with medium to large effect sizes (p < 0.05). Thus, taping applied to the lower part of the trapezius had a large to medium effect on proprioception and shooting accuracy improvement in these young archers.

Postural adjustments preceding string release in trained archers

Optimal postural stability is required to perform in archery. Since the dynamic consequences of the string release may disturb postural equilibrium, they should be integrated into an archer motor programme to optimize postural stability. This study aimed to characterize the postural strategy archers use to limit the potentially detrimental impact of the bow release on their postural stability and identify characteristics that may explain a better performance. Six elite and seven sub-elite archers performed a series of 18 shots at 70 metres, standing on two force plates. Postural stability indicators were computed during the aiming and the shooting phase using the trajectory of the centre of pressure. Two postural strategies were defined, as whether they were triggered before (early) or after (late) the string release time. Both groups used anticipated postural adjustments, but elite archers triggered them before the string release more often and sooner. Scores differed between the two groups, but no differences were found between early and late shots. Trained archers seem to have finely integrated the dynamic consequences of their bow motion, triggering anticipated postural adjustments prior to the string release. However, it remains unclear whether this anticipation can positively influence the performance outcome.

Does success breed success? An investigation of momentum in elite recurve archery

We investigate the existence of momentum or the "hot hand" phenomenon in recurve archery, in which archers have three shots per set. We collected the performance of archers along with the control variable (player difference) and game data (set score difference, shooting order and game type). We set out to compare the outcome (bullseye, 10 points, probability) and performance (scores of the third shot) in a range of cases with the previous two shots. The most obvious finding to emerge from this study is the powerful evidence for positive momentum in recurve archery. The key finding that hitting the bullseye creates momentum and momentum leads to better performance has been confirmed as the "success breeds success" mechanism. Furthermore, the performance of the third shot is influenced by competitive ability and match importance (Olympic Games or not).

Multi-muscle Synergies of Postural Control in Self- and External-Triggered Force Release During Simulated Archery Shooting

We investigated postural stability during simulated archery shooting. The experiment consisted of two force release conditions: self-triggered (time-set in a feedforward fashion) and external cue-triggered (time-set by reacting to external cue) conditions while standing on the force platform. The electromyography of leg muscles and the center of pressure (COP) were recorded. The notions of muscle-modes (M-modes) and multi-muscle synergies were employed to quantify the postural stability, which described covariation patterns of the M-modes to stabilize the COP. The result showed relatively strong postural stability in a self-triggered condition associated with consistent shooting performance. The current findings suggested that initiating force release in a feedforward fashion would be a beneficial strategy to ensure the consistency in shooting performance.

Is acrobatic pyramid performance determined by the individual balance of the gymnasts?

The influence of individual gymnasts' balance on final pyramid performance is unknown. The principal objective of this study was to evaluate associations between the balance capacity of base and top gymnasts (BG, BT) on the pyramid performance using different balance tasks. Forty acrobatic gymnasts were divided in two groups (20 BG, 20 TG) and performed three different static tests on a force platform: unipedal (open and closed eyes), and headstand. Centre of pressure (COP) measurements were obtained including length travelled in the anteroposterior and mediolateral axis, surface area and the mean speed. Pairs of gymnasts performed a pyramid which involved the BG standing upright while holding a TP in handstand with arms flexed at the elbow. Pyramid scores were obtained from judges to assess the performance. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the number of balance COP variables. Linear regression analysis was applied with pyramid performance and scores of PCA separated by role. TG's PCA 2 was a significant predictor of pyramid performance. Higher pyramid performance was associated with better headstand balance capacity in TG. The results suggest that measuring COP displacement during headstands could help coaches and gymnasts to assess the handstand pyramid performance.

Sport-specific training induced adaptations in postural control and their relationship with athletic performance

Effects of various exercise programs on postural balance control in athletes and their underlying physiological mechanisms have been extensively investigated. However, little is known regarding how challenging sport-specific conditions contribute to the improvement of body balance and to what extent these changes may be explained by sensorimotor and/or neuromuscular function adaptations. Analysis of the literature could provide useful information on the interpretation of changes in postural sway variables in response to long-term sport-specific training and their association with performance measures. Therefore, the aim of this scoping review was (1) to analyze the literature investigating postural control adaptations induced by sport-specific training and their relationship with measures of athletic performance, and (2) to identify gaps in the existing research and to propose suggestions for future studies. A literature search conducted with Scopus, Web of Science, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library was completed by Elsevier, SpringerLink and Google Scholar with no date restrictions. Overall, 126 articles were eligible for inclusion. However, the association between variables of postural balance control and measures of sport-specific performance was investigated in only 14 of the articles. A relationship between static and/or dynamic balance and criterion measures of athletic performance was revealed in shooting, archery, golf, baseball, ice-hockey, tennis, and snowboarding. This may be ascribed to improved ability of athletes to perform postural adjustments in highly balanced task demands. However, the extent to which sport-specific exercises contribute to their superior postural stability is unknown. Although there is a good deal of evidence supporting neurophysiological adaptations in postural balance control induced by body conditioning exercises, little effort has been made to explain balance adaptations induced by sport-specific exercises and their effects on athletic performance. While an enhancement in athletic performance is often attributed to an improvement of neuromuscular functions induced by sport-specific balance exercises, it can be equally well ascribed to their improvement by general body conditioning exercises. Therefore, the relevant experiments have yet to be conducted to investigate the relative contributions of each of these exercises to improving athletic performance.

Arch-Support Insoles Benefit the Archery Performance and Stability of Compound Archers

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of the use of arch-support insoles on the archery performance and center of plantar pressure (CoP) excursion in compound archers. Fifteen highly skilled compound archers were the subjects. A pressure plate was used to measure the CoP excursion and percentage distribution of plantar pressure. The parameters were compared between archers wearing flat and arch-support insoles using a paired-sample t-test. The results demonstrated that the shooting score in archers wearing the arch-support insole was significantly greater than in those wearing the flat insoles. The CoP excursion of the left foot, right foot, and both feet in archers wearing the arch-support insole were significantly smaller than in those wearing the flat insole. The distributed percentage of the plantar pressure showed that the arch-support insole significantly reduced the plantar pressure in the left posterior zone by 3.54% compared with the flat insole, and increased the plantar pressure in the right anterior zone by 2.54%. The principal conclusion was that compound archers wearing arch-support insoles during the arrow-release process can reduce the CoP excursion of the foot and increase their shooting score. The plantar pressure was distributed evenly in arch-support insoles.

Performance assessment in archery: a systematic review

Archery is a sport accessible to a wide range of people, no matter their age, gender or ability, and can be practiced both by able-bodied and impaired athletes on a level playing field. The recent increase in the number of studies concerning the biomechanical evaluation of the archery discipline revealed the need to advance an evidence-based approach for a standardised and objective assessment of the athletic gesture. A systematic literature search of relevant databases in July 2021 yielded 41 studies spanning 35 years (1986-2021). The research strings focused on the parameters, employed measurement systems and on the outcomes. The investigation of the influence of a wide range of physiological and kinematic parameters on the archer performance revealed that expert athletes tend to maximise postural stability and develop personal strategies of muscular activation and time management. These findings evidenced the importance of the repeatability of the technical gesture, opening additional scenarios for further investigations.

The Role of Neuromuscular Control of Postural and Core Stability in Functional Movement and Athlete Performance

Balance and core stabilization exercises have often been associated with improved athlete performance and/or decreased incidence of injuries. While these exercises seem to be efficient in the prevention of injuries, there is insufficient evidence regarding their role in sport-specific performance and related functional movements. The aim of this scoping review is (1) to map the literature that investigates whether currently available variables of postural and core stability are functionally related to athlete performance in sports with high demands on body balance and spinal posture and (2) to identify gaps in the literature and suggest further research on this topic. The literature search conducted on MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases was completed by Google Scholar, SpringerLink, and Elsevier. Altogether 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. Findings revealed that postural stability plays an important role in performance in archery, biathlon, gymnastics, shooting, and team sports (e.g., basketball, hockey, soccer, tennis). Also core stability and strength represent an integral part of athlete performance in sports based on lifting tasks and trunk rotations. Variables of these abilities are associated with performance-related skills in cricket, cycling, running, and team sports (e.g., baseball, football, hockey, netball, soccer, tennis). Better neuromuscular control of postural and core stability contribute to more efficient functional movements specific to particular sports. Training programs incorporating general and sport-specific exercises that involve the use of postural and core muscles showed an improvement of body balance, back muscle strength, and endurance. However, there is controversy about whether the improvement in these abilities is translated into athletic performance. There is still a lack of research investigating the relationship of body balance and stability of the core with sport-specific performance. In particular, corresponding variables should be better specified in relation to functional movements in sports with high demands on postural and core stability. Identifying the relationship of passive, active, and neural mechanisms underlying balance control and spinal posture with athlete performance would provide a basis for a multifaced approach in designing training and testing tools addressing postural and core stability in athletes under sport-specific conditions.

Twelve-Week Lower Trapezius-Centred Muscular Training Regimen in University Archers

Archery is a fine-motor-skill sport, in which success results from multiple factors including a fine neuromuscular tuning. The present study hypothesised that lower trapezius specific training can improve archers’ performance with concomitant changes in muscle activity and shoulder kinematics. We conducted a prospective study in a university archery team. Athletes were classified into exercise and control groups. A supervised lower trapezius muscle training program was performed for 12 weeks in the exercise group. The exercise program focused on a lower trapezius-centred muscular training. Performance in a simulated game was recorded as the primary outcome, and shoulder muscle strength, kinematics, and surface electromyography were measured and analysed. In the exercise group, the average score of the simulation game increased from 628 to 639 after the training regimens (maximum score was 720), while there were no such increases in the control group. The lower trapezius muscle strength increased from 8 to 9 kgf after training regimens and shoulder horizontal abductor also increased from 81 to 93 body weight% for the exercise group. The upper/lower trapezius ratio decreased from 2.2 to 1.1 after training. The lower trapezius exercise training regimen could effectively improve the performance of an archer with a simultaneous increase in shoulder horizontal abductor and lower trapezius muscle strength.

Effects of beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviour

Objectives

This study aimed to determine the effect of selective (bisoprolol-5 mg) and non-selective (propranolol-40 mg) beta-blockers on archery performance, body sway and aiming behaviour.

Methods

Fifteen male archers participated in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study and competed four times (control, placebo, selective (bisoprolol) and non-selective (propranolol) beta-blocker trials). Mechanical data related to the changes in the centre of pressure during body sway and aim point fluctuation and when shooting was collected. During the shots, heart rate was recorded continuously.

Results

Results indicated that, in beta-blocker trials, although shooting heart rates were lowered by 12.8% and 8.6%, respectively, for bisoprolol and propranolol, no positive effect of beta-blockers was observed on shooting scores. Also, the use of beta-blockers did not affect shooting behaviour and body sway.

Conclusion

The use of either selective or non-selective single dose beta-blockers had no positive effect on shooting performance in archery during simulated match conditions.

Nicotine supplementation enhances simulated game performance of archery athletes

Background

Nicotine is beneficial to mood, arousal and cognition in humans. Due to the importance of cognitive functioning for archery athletes, we investigated the effects of nicotine supplementation on the cognitive abilities, heart rate variability (HRV), and sport performance of professional archers.

Methods

Eleven college archers were recruited and given 2 mg of nicotine supplementation (NIC group) and placebo (PLA group) in a crossover design.

Results

The results showed that at 30 min after the intake of nicotine gum, the “correct rejection” time in the NIC group was significantly lower than that of the PLA group (7.29 ± 0.87 vs. 8.23 ± 0.98 msec, p < 0.05). In addition, the NIC group completed the grooved pegboard test in a shorter time than the PLA group (48.76 ± 3.18 vs. 53.41 ± 4.05 s, p < 0.05), whereas motor reaction times were not different between the two groups. Saliva α-amylase activity was significantly lower after nicotine supplementation (p < 0.01) but increased immediately after the archery test in the NIC group (p < 0.05). In addition, nicotine supplementation significantly decreased HRV and increased the archery score (290.58 ± 10.09 vs. 298.05 ± 8.56, p < 0.01).

Conclusions

Nicotine enhances the performance of archery athletes by increasing cognitive function and stimulating the sympathetic adrenergic system.

Relationship between bow stability and postural control in recurve archery

AbstractArchery is a sport that requires fine movement control, and postural stability is considered an important variable to achieve high performance. In order to better understand the coupling between archer and bow during the aiming phase, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between bow stability and postural control in recurve archery according to shooting performance. A total of 8 archers shot 6 arrows at a 13-m distant target. The three-dimensional position of one marker attached to the bow and the center of pressure (COP) position of the archer (the point of application of the resultant ground reaction force on a force plate) were measured during the aiming phase, representing bow and archer displacement, respectively. COP displacement in the direction across the target (COP_Y), length of the COP trajectory (D_COP) and length of the bow trajectory (D_bow) were higher in the lowest scoring shot compared to the highest one. A strong and significant correlation was found between COP and bow displacement in the direction towards/away from the target (COP_X and D_X) and between COP_X and vertical displacement of the bow (D_Z) during the highest scoring shot. This result indicates that synchronization between body and bow sway may influence the accuracy of the shot, suggesting that combined balance and bow stability training exercises would be beneficial to improve archery performance.

Cardio-Respiratory Monitoring in Archery Using a Smart Textile Based on Flexible Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors

In precision sports, the control of breathing and heart rate is crucial to help the body to remain stable in the shooting position. To improve stability, archers try to adopt similar breathing patterns and to have a low heartbeat during each shot. We proposed an easy-to-use and unobtrusive smart textile (ST) which is able to detect chest wall excursions due to breathing and heart beating. The sensing part is based on two FBGs housed into a soft polymer matrix to optimize the adherence to the chest wall and the system robustness. The ST was assessed on volunteers to figure out its performance in the estimation of respiratory frequency (f_R) and heart rate (HR). Then, the system was tested on two archers during four shooting sessions. This is the first study to monitor cardio-respiratory activity on archers during shooting. The good performance of the ST is supported by the low mean absolute percentage error for f_R and HR estimation (≤1.97% and ≤5.74%, respectively), calculated with respect to reference signals (flow sensor for f_R, photopletismography sensor for HR). Moreover, results showed the capability of the ST to estimate f_R and HR during different phases of shooting action. The promising results motivate future investigations to speculate about the influence of f_R and HR on archers' performance.

Relationship Between Sport Expertise and Postural Skills

The review addresses the relationship between sport expertise (i.e., sport competition level), postural performance (amount of motion of the center of mass/of pressure of foot or ability to preserve body balance), and postural strategy (geometric organization of different body segments as well as neurobiological involvement of organism). Since the conditions of postural evaluation are likely to influence results, the aim is to compare athletes at different competition levels in ecological postural conditions (specific postural conditions related to the sport practiced) and non-ecological postural conditions (decontextualized postural conditions in relation to the sport practiced). Evidence suggests that the most successful athletes in terms of sport competition level have the best postural performance both in ecological and non-ecological postural conditions. However, in non-ecological conditions, the postural tasks should be preferentially challenging or relatively close to the sport practice stance. Moreover, the most successful athletes also have more elaborate postural strategies compared with athletes at lower competition level. Mechanistic explanations as well as conceptual models are proposed to explain the role of different factors influencing the relationship between sport expertise and postural performance and strategy.

The Uncontrolled Manifold Concept Reveals That the Structure of Postural Control in Recurve Archery Shooting Is Related to Accuracy

In this study, we examine the structure of postural variability in six elite-level recurve archers using the uncontrolled manifold concept. Previous research showed equivocal results for the relationship between postural control and shooting accuracy, but these studies were mainly limited to a descriptive approach to postural variability/stability and did not take the simultaneous movements of the upper limb joints into account. In this study, we show that the goal-equivalent variability which stabilizes the orientation of the arrow in space is significantly larger than that of the non-goal-equivalent variability in arrows of high accuracy (score 9 or 10). Conversely, arrows of lower accuracy (score 6, 7, or 8) failed to reach significant thresholds throughout the majority of the aiming phase. This analysis reveals that it is not necessary (or even possible) for elite archers to minimize the movements of all degrees of freedom during aiming, but rather that the structure of variability of the redundant kinematic chain is exploited so that the relevant performance variable (orientation of the arrow) is stabilized.

Comparison of posturographic parameters between young taekwondo and tennis athletes

[Purpose] Physical activity can influence the development of postural control and balance. Therefore, the aim of study was to use posturography assessment to compare balance control on the Romberg test between athletes in two very different sports, taekwondo and tennis. [Participants and Methods] Twenty-nine young athletes participated in the study, 11 forming the taekwondo group and 18 the tennis group. Posturography was performed using the FreeMed system (Sensor Medica). Between-group differences were evaluated using unpaired Student’s t-test. [Results] There was a significance between-group difference in the centre of pressure and the ellipse surface area with no between-group difference in frontal and sagittal plane postural control. [Conclusion] The taekwondo athletes displayed greater stability than tennis athletes, with a smaller ellipse area and a decrease in the amplitude of oscillations of the centre of pressure along the frontal plane, adaptations which likely reflect the demands of the taekwondo. Further studies are needed to support these conclusions.

The identification of high potential archers based on fitness and motor ability variables: A Support Vector Machine approach

Support Vector Machine (SVM) has been shown to be an effective learning algorithm for classification and prediction. However, the application of SVM for prediction and classification in specific sport has rarely been used to quantify/discriminate low and high-performance athletes. The present study classified and predicted high and low-potential archers from a set of fitness and motor ability variables trained on different SVMs kernel algorithms. 50 youth archers with the mean age and standard deviation of 17.0 ± 0.6 years drawn from various archery programmes completed a six arrows shooting score test. Standard fitness and ability measurements namely hand grip, vertical jump, standing broad jump, static balance, upper muscle strength and the core muscle strength were also recorded. Hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis (HACA) was used to cluster the archers based on the performance variables tested. SVM models with linear, quadratic, cubic, fine RBF, medium RBF, as well as the coarse RBF kernel functions, were trained based on the measured performance variables. The HACA clustered the archers into high-potential archers (HPA) and low-potential archers (LPA), respectively. The linear, quadratic, cubic, as well as the medium RBF kernel functions models, demonstrated reasonably excellent classification accuracy of 97.5% and 2.5% error rate for the prediction of the HPA and the LPA. The findings of this investigation can be valuable to coaches and sports managers to recognise high potential athletes from a combination of the selected few measured fitness and motor ability performance variables examined which would consequently save cost, time and effort during talent identification programme.