The Effects of Shoulder Kinesio Taping on Shooting Accuracy and Joint Position Sense in Female Archery Athletes

Background and Objectives: Archery is a static sport and requires high degrees of accuracy and stability in the glenohumeral joint. Kinesio Tape (KT) is known as a technique for increasing joint stability and Joint Position Sense (JPS), with subsequent improvement in accuracy. The present study aims to investigate the effect of KT on shoulder JPS and accuracy in female archery athletes using Olympic recurve bows.  Materials and Methods: A total of 30 female archers with a mean age of 24.77±6.16 years and minimum of one year’s experience of archery, volunteered to take part in the study. The repositioning angle test was performed on the shoulder JPS (of the drawing arm) at 30 degrees and 60 degrees of external rotation. In this test, the drawing arm shoulder was at 90 degrees of abduction and the elbow was at 90 degrees of flexion. Then, each participant shot three arrows from distances of 18, 30, and 50 meters, and their scores were recorded. Next, KT was placed on the deltoid and supraspinatus muscles, and repositioning test and shooting were repeated. Results: KT positively affected archery scores (P=0.004, 0.000, and 0.004 for 18, 30, and 50 meters, respectively). The results for absolute error in repositioning angle test showed an increase in JPS at 60 degrees of external rotation (P=0.000), but no significant difference was observed at 30 degrees of external rotation (P=0.637). Conclusion: It appears that KT technique can be used to increase the shoulder joint JPS and improve archers’ shooting accuracy