Aim To assess the effect of rifle carriage on skiing performance and angular kinematics in biathletes, and whether the rifle`s effect on angular kinematics could explain its effect on skiing perfor mance, under ecologically valid conditions. Methods Twenty-nine biathletes (11 females, 18 males) performed two maximum effort skiing time-trials on snow, once with and once without rifle. During time-trials, biathletes wore a three-dimen sional motion analysis system to measure maximum angle, minimum angle and range of motion of knee, hip and elbow flexion. A two-way mixed model analysis of variance and multilevel linear model were used to assess the effect of rifle carriage on skiing performance and angular kinematics respectively. In case of a significant effect, a Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the relation between the rifle`s effect on the respective angular measure and the rifle`s effect on skiing speed. Results Skiing performance was impaired with rifle compared to without rifle (P<.001; 2p=0.04). No effect of rifle carriage was observed on any angular measure, except for maximum elbow flexion (P=.03; Cohen f 2<0.01). Maximum elbow flexion was reduced with rifle compared to without rifle (mean difference 11.9±37.6°). Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a positive correlation between the rifle`s effect on maximum elbow flexion and its effect on skiing speed (r=0.19; P=.04). Practical application The results demonstrate the negative impact of rifle carriage on biathlon skiing performance and suggest that maximum elbow flexion plays a role. Therefore, upper body contributions, elbow flexion angles in particular, might be of interest for biathlon coaches.
© Copyright 2022 Book of Abstracts. 4th Nordic Winter Sports Conference "Performance in snow sports: Translating science into practice" 3rd-4th October, 2022, Mid Sweden University, Campus Östersund, Sweden. Veröffentlicht von Swedish Winter Sports Research Centre at Mid Sweden University. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.