Parameters affecting shooting performance

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”The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun.“

Shooting is one of the most technical sports where even the slightest imperfection in technique can lead to missing the often very small targets. Imagine a 5cm target at a 10m distance: If you only aim 0.3° off target, you will miss the shot [1]. Therefore, the most important factor elite shooters need to work incredibly detailed on, is the standardization of their technical and psychological routine. This allows them to recreate perfect shots hundreds of times in a row without missing a single target. Despite findings that professional skeet shooters are significantly better at hand-eye coordination and visual memory than non-athletes [2], the margin of error in shooting remains incredibly small.  So what are the key factors in shooting routines that influence shooting performance?

Outside factors

Elite shooters always need to adapt to their environment, since external factors can potentially have an impact on whether you hit your target or not. Surprisingly, researchers found that environmental temperature drops do not have an effect on shooting performance [3]. However, it has been suggested that a temperature shift in any direction can be detrimental to sensory perception, which can potentially worsen shooting performance [4]. Additionally, it is even important to consider how a change of layers in clothing affects the hold of the rifle [5]. Wind speed and direction is another important factor that needs to be considered as even little effects on bullets are enough to change their path slightly enough so that you miss your target. Reading the wind correctly takes lots of experience and is a skill that is necessary to become great at shooting [6].

Shooters touch

Arguably one of the most important aspects that elite shooters need to control are physiological tremors during aiming as this involuntary movement is inversely correlated with shooting performance [1]. Research has investigated how these tremors can be influenced via different methods, one of which was locally cooling down the forearm which significantly reduced tremor size [7]. Interestingly, this finding shows a beneficial side of cooling on shooting performance contrary to the aforementioned environmental temperature drops that had no effect [3]. Moreover, studies found that some technical components are more important than others in order to produce accurate shots. Stability of hold, cleanness of triggering, aiming accuracy, and timing of triggering account for 81% of the variance in shooting score in elite air rifle shooters , while postural balance accounts for only less than 1% [8].  This was confirmed by another study that also showed that the aiming ability is the most important component, explaining 28.5% of the variance in standing shooting [9]. The most common way the score in air rifle shooting is determined is by how close you shoot to the center of a circle, with the center giving 10 points and the further away you hit from the center the lower your score for the shot [10]. The margin of scores between competitors is often very small, so the slightest error can make the difference between winning and coming in second. However, it is important to note that these technical factors have a complex relationship with each other where one imperfection in a single technical aspect affects another one which ultimately affects the result of the shot [11]. Therefore, it is not always easy to pinpoint due to which technical mistake the shot actually missed the target. Hence, the goal of any elite shooter is to minimize single technical mistakes that cascade through the shot. For example, an increased pulse due to nervousness produces more movement in the body and therefore can potentially lead to more errors. Research has shown that elite shooters have a significantly lower heart rate just before taking a shot than novices. Furthermore, heart rate variability – the difference of intervals in between heartbeats – was found to be a significant predictor of shooting performance [12]. This also hints at the psychological state of total calmness elite shooters find themselves in before competition.

The higher the standardization of a sport, the more important are steady mental routines.

If a sport is highly standardized with hundreds of the same repetitions, the mental aspect plays a bigger role, as it gets harder to concentrate correctly the longer you shoot. This is why you should practice your mental routine and technical skills with many repetitions on easy shots first. Being able to hit the same shot, no matter how easy it is, 200 times in a row, shows that you are consistent in your technique and mental routine before each shot. This will help you down the stretch in important competitions when you also have the additional pressure of needing to hit the winning shot.

Our advice: Watch the 2024 Olympic Final Skeet Shooting shoot-off [13]. Can you see how the Chilean athlete keeps her head down before her decisive shots and ignores the contest of her opponent? This is a great example of focusing on yourself and your pre shot routines in order to stay in your rhythm no matter how high the stakes are.

#trainyourbrain

If this article sparked your interest and you would like to know more about this or other topics, please do not hesitate to contact us via info@neuro11.de. We look forward to hearing from you.   

References

​[1] Experimental Psychology article: Link

[2] International Journal of Environmental Reserach and Public Health article: Link

[3] Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine article: Link

[4] European Journal of Applied Physiology article: Link

[5] Fieldsports Journal blog: Link

[6] Precision shooting blog: Link

[7] Journal of Sports Sciences article: Link

[8] Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports article: Link

[9] Sports Biomechanics article: Link

[10] Wikipedia “ISSF 10 meter air rifle”: Link

[11] International Symposium on Biomechanics in Sport article: Link

[12] Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback: Link

[13] Youtube Video 2024 Olympic Skeet Final Shoot-off: Link