INTRODUCTION: Postural balance is one of the major contributing factors in successful biathlon standing shooting 1. It has traditionally been assessed by measuring center of pressure (COP) movement with force plates in a test where the biathlete shoots multiple 5-shot sets 2. This study investigated the associations of balance in biathlon standing shooting with balance in a holding task to explore the importance of static balance control in biathlon standing shooting. METHODS: 22 biathletes performed a holding test (HOLD) and a biathlon shooting test (SHOOTING) using the standing posture. HOLD consisted of 4×45-second periods in the standing posture with 30-second breaks, each period including two 10-second holds when the biathlete was instructed to aim steadily at the target while holding their breath. SHOOTING consisted of 6×5 shots using the normal competition technique and rhythm in a resting state. Postural balance was measured with force plates during both tasks for the whole body (WB), front leg (FL) and rear leg (RL) as the COP standard deviation in the shooting (SDY) and cross-shooting directions (SDX). The shortest 5-second COP trace was analyzed from the 10-second holds and the last 0.6 seconds before triggering was analyzed from each shot. RESULTS: Pearson`s correlation coefficients showed positive associations between postural balance variables in HOLD and SHOOTING (SDX WB r = .64, p = .001; SDX FL r = .80, p < .001; SDY FL r = .46, p = .032; SDX RL r = .40, p = .066; SDY RL r = .74, p < .001). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Even though biathlon standing shooting is performed under time pressure and the athletes spend less than 30 seconds on the shooting mat 3, the results indicate that static balance measured in the shooting posture is associated with the balance measured during shooting in a resting state with the normal competition technique and rhythm. Especially biathletes with little standing shooting experience and those who struggle to find the optimal shooting posture could benefit from regular postural balance testing with the described protocol.
© Copyright 2023 9th International Congress on Science and Skiing, March 18 - 22, 2023, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria. Veröffentlicht von University of Salzburg. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.