Comparison of two recurve archery techniques: A preliminary study

Interest in archery is growing nowadays in Malaysia. Archery is preferred because it can be considered a static sport (Hafiz & Daliya, 2010). It is easy to learn archery but very difficult to master the techniques in archery (Lee & Benner, 2009). We even made good progress during SEA games in 1997, others already more advanced than us, especially in developing a good technique in archery. One of the best techniques already introduced by Kisik Lee for recurve archery (Villasor, no date). The objective of this research was to compare the similarities and differences between Kisik Lee’s technique and the elite’s technique. An elite archer from Kelantan state archer volunteered to be a subject for this study. A passive marker was used to detect the movement in each technique. The performance of the elite’s technique and Kisik Lee’s technique was captured using a 3D Qualysis motion analysis system. The performance evaluated after a short period of time was allocated for training and practicing the Kisik Lee’s technique. Statistical analysis was done in 11 steps of the technique during stance, posture and shoulder alignment using Wilcoxon signed rank test. Eight steps showed significant differences, while three steps showed no significant difference between the tested techniques.  Results showed that Kisik Lee’s method was different from the elite’s method.  We can also conclude that Kisik Lee’s method was suitable for the Malaysian athletes, since it showed an improvement in target grouping from the score sheet even after a short period of training time. Longer training time is needed to make perfect the Kisik Lee’s technique.