The effect of biofeedback exercises on some physiological factors and performance of skilled archers

One of the most important goals of any athlete is optimum performance during competitions, and biofeedback is one of the new and growing ways to improve athletes’ performance. This study investigated the effect of biofeedback exercises on some physiological factors and the performance of skilled archers.

The present study was a semi-experimental type with pre-test and post-test design and a control group. Twenty four young men with an average age of 22.5 years were purposefully recruited among the participants who attended national ranking archery competitions and randomly assigned to an experimental and a control group, each consisting of 12 participants. After the pre-test (archery performance test), the experimental group first attended 10 sessions of biofeedback training related to heart rate control and breathing control based on the training protocol and then attended 10 sessions of the same biofeedback exercises with skin conduction guidance. Both groups continued their routine archery exercises under the supervision of the researchers during this period. After completing 20 training sessions, the archery performance was taken again as the post-test with the same pre-test condition from both groups.

The results showed that the heart rate of the participants was higher in tension and stress conditions compared to the resting state (p < 0.05). Also, at the post-test, the experimental group showed a lower heart rate under stress conditions compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the analysis of covariance showed that the performance of both groups improved compared to the pre-test, but the experimental group performed better than the control group (p < 0.05). 

According to the findings of this study, more attention should be given to biofeedback exercises, and it is suggested to emphasize its use along with other training protocols.