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Physiological Arousal and Performance in Elite Archers: A Field Study

Published Online:September 01, 2006https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.3.4.263

Abstract

The performance and heart rate of ten top-level female archers were assessed in a field study. The study was designed (a) to analyze the impact of physiological arousal on performance, (b) to investigate whether heart-rate deceleration during shooting, a marker of optimal functioning of attentional processes, is affected by arousal modification, and (c) to verify whether heart-rate deceleration appears under conditions of occluded vision and mental rehearsal or while simulating execution. Treatments comprised optimal, delayed, blind, simulated, high-arousal, and low-arousal shooting conditions. Within-factors analysis of variance was conducted on performance variables (shooting scores, variable error, and total error) and heart rate. The results revealed that best and worst outcomes were associated with optimal and delayed conditions, respectively. Decreased performance was also found for high arousal. Analysis of heart rate yielded significant results: Heart-rate deceleration during shooting, from draw to release, was associated with optimal, blind, and simulated conditions. Implications for practice in archery are derived from findings. Performance outcomes and heart-rate pattern can be assessed during training to determine optimal arousal and action timing. Furthermore, heart-rate deceleration can be used as a physiological marker of modifications induced by mental rehearsal and skill simulation.

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