Heart Rate Variability, Flow and Emotional Intelligence as Predictors of Novice Archers’ Shooting Accuracy

Abstract

We examined whether Heart Rate Variability (HRV), together with flow and trait emotional intelligence may predict variations in arrow shooting accuracy for novice archers. 30 novice archers ranging in age from 18 to 23 volunteered. Participants first completed the Schutte Emotional Intelligence Inventory. Then, participants’ resting HRV was measured for 4 minutes. Afterwards, participants shot 10 arrows from 18 m to an 80 cm diameter target while their HRV was measured. Accuracy was determined in terms of radial distance (error) from the center of the target. In order to calculate an overall performance score, the median value of the 10 arrows was calculated for each participant. Results showed that HRV, certain flow dimensions, and trait emotional intelligence may have account for variations in novice archers’ shooting accuracy. On the basis of the results obtained from the current study, we conclude that the determination of performance or shooting accuracy should be based on both physiological and psychological characteristics, in this case, HRV, flow, and emotional intelligence. This information might be beneficial for coaches, athletes, or other practitioners aiming to develop archers’ performance.

Keywords

• HRV,low to high frequency ratio,flow,emotional intelligence,archery

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