Anthropometric And Physical Fitness Components Comparison between High- And Low-Performance Archers

Abstract

Background.Archery is a sport that demands a high level of fitness due to its long hours of training and competitive nature. Thus, archers need to have high fatigue tolerance and body figure to perform successfully. Objectives. This study aims to compare and correlate the anthropometric and physical fitness variables on archery shooting performance. Methods. Participants were youth archers of the Terengganu state team and Malaysia Pahang Sports School from Malaysia (n=12; male: 9 and female: 3; Mean age: 16.0±1.6 years). They were divided into two groups (high-performance, HPA, and low-performance, LPA) based on their preliminary archery score obtained in the early stage of the study. The archery shooting performance was assessed by total shooting score (36 arrows shot from 70 meters distance). Anthropometric (height, body mass, body mass index, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, and arm span), muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, balance, and aerobic fitness were assessed. Results. Mann-Whitney test showed that height, arm span, handgrip strength, and predicted VO2max showed significant differences between the groups (p<0.05). Spearman correlation showed that height, arm span, right-hand grip, and predicted VO2max significantly correlated with scores (r=0.80, 0.82, 0.61, 0.68). Conclusion. The result showed that archers with higher height and longer arm span have more advantages in archery. In terms of fitness level, muscular strength and aerobic capacity are essential for the archer to excel in this sport. This finding helps coaches and team managers when conducting talent identification programs and training programs for athletes.

Anthropometric, Physiological, and Psychological Variables That Determine the Elite Pistol Performance of Women

“…In addition, contrary to other precision sports such as archery, in which the arm span could determine the performance [7], we did not find correlations between anthropometric variables and performance. Although in pistol shooting, it could be thought that the arm length could generate a greater tremor as a consequence of the kinetic chain [21], there seem to be other non-anthropometric factors that would better explain the barrel movements of the pistol, such as strength [19] or balance [13].…”

“…Although in pistol shooting, it could be thought that the arm length could generate a greater tremor as a consequence of the kinetic chain [21], there seem to be other non-anthropometric factors that would better explain the barrel movements of the pistol, such as strength [19] or balance [13]. Therefore, in contrast to those studies that pointed out that shooters could have some specific anthropometric characteristics [3], such as being heavier and smaller than the athletes of other sports [5], our results would suggest that there is not a specific profile related to performance in women's pistol shooting and that the anthropometric factors are more efficient in combination with physical fitness [7]. Nonetheless, the knowledge of relative measures to the full body such as arm musculature or weight, or specific strengths related to the arm such as shoulder abduction or hand grip, could provide additional information on variables that could influence performance in shooting events [15].…”

“…Regarding the anthropometric profile, finding the proper body type in the sport could lead athletes to achieve success [7]. However, our results showed no differences in the anthropometric variables between elite and non-elite shooters.…”

“…Furthermore, when shooters are compared to athletes from other sports, they seem to be heavier and shorter [5], which could suggest a preferential morphology profile in the Olympic shooting sport. In contrast, other studies concluded that height was not related to balance [7], body sway does not affect pistol shooting performance [13], and there is no relationship between weight and center of gravity [5].…”

“…Regarding anthropometric factors, measuring body mass index (BMI) [6] and examining the body structure of an athlete, such as height (stand and sit), limb length (arm span, leg length) [7], or some proportions such as sitting height divided by standing height and sitting height related to leg length [8], could determine the athletic balance [9] and the potential to achieve greater success. In this line, some authors noted that tall or long-limbed athletes would have more body sway or tremor.…”