Colour Me … Calm?

Something our editor always tells anyone thinking of buying their first riser (once they have decided budget) is to buy based on look and colour. He’s very insistent in people loving their bow and shape is important .. but why is he so obsessed with colour?

Well, its probably (we hope) something to do with colour psychology. So what’s colour psychology? Its the study of how certain colours impact human behaviour. Colours at the red end of spectrum are known as warm colours and include red, orange, and yellow. These evoke emotions ranging from warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. At the blue end of the spectrum, the cool colours include blue, and green. These colours often inspire feelings of sadness or indifference but are in the main considered as calming.

Hang on .. We’re both wearing blue and gold. Which of us has the dominant uniform?

So what about colours in sport, do they have any effect? Well, while nothing has been comprehensively proven, there are quite a few small studies that have shown tendencies if not actual patterns influenced by colour. There is a belief that regarding uniform colour, red is more successful than other colours. Research has found that in some cases, athletes dressed in warm colours ranked significantly higher in aggression and dominance than the athletes in cooler colours. Conversely, a recent study has said that its not true that red wins more. White seems to be neither positive or negative in these studies but one did say that black seems to get penalized more often and is considered more intimidating. Mike Tyson’s black shorts, The 1970’s Oakland Raiders, New Zealand’s All Blacks. Yeah, we can totally see that!

Assuming any validity to colour psychology, it works for and against Glasgow Archers as our club colours are red tops and black trousers. We suppose its a bit pointless to drive yourself hard to win with passion then get ejected for less than social behaviour or giving lip to the judges although to be honest that’s probably just our editor!

So what should your bow instil in you? Passion and fire with a red riser OR calm and relaxed with a green one? Well, we’re archers so calm would be good but desire and passion driving you on would also be good. Alternatively, is the bad boy/girl in black more your vibe? At the end of the day, it comes down to what you like. Much as it pains us to agree with our editor, pick a colour and a riser you can love because archery is a sport where loving your bow can do nothing but make the experience better. That said, Brady Ellison won the world cup with a pink riser he shot for a year to highlight breast cancer (respect) but as a professional, he could probably shoot in international matches with a luminous green and puce riser yet still win! We think we mere mortals need to stick to colours we like.

I see a red door and I want it painted black – No colours anymore I want them to turn black

GA Case Study: Three of the higher classed archers at GA all shoot black bows. In addition, two are committee members. Black is considered mysterious .. intimidating .. evil. Think Ninjas .. Darth Vader .. Dracula. Do these traits rub off on our committee members?

Yikes! … starting to think there might be something to this colour psychology after all.