Postural and aiming control in dry and real biathlon standing shooting

Abstract Introduction Biathlon shooting performance depends on rifle and postural stability. World-class biathletes perform many thousands of shots per year, of which many are dry shots (i.e., without ammunition, often used for training purposes). Here, we aimed to compare postural sway and aiming parameters during dry and real standing shooting. Methods Six female biathletes (World or IBU Cups level) were monitored during dry and real shooting sessions (2*5 standing shots per condition, random order in a rested state). An optoelectronic device registered standard aiming parameters, while a custom-built force platform synchronized with shot release measured the center of pressure (CoP) displacement along and across the shooting direction, during three time instants preceding each shot (from − 1 to − 0.6 s, from − 0.6 to − 0.25 s and from − 0.25 to the release instant). Results Starting from 0.25 s to the shot, latero-lateral and antero-posterior CoP displacement increased significantly more in the real than in the dry condition (paired-sample t test p < 0.05) with respect to the preceding aiming instants. Hold stability, aiming accuracy and triggering cleanness were all significantly worse in the real than in the dry condition ( p = 0.046, 0.050, 0.005, respectively), even though overall shooting performance was only 1 cm less accurate during dry shooting ( p = 0.208). Conclusion When shooting with regular ammunition, postural sway is significantly altered in the last part of the aiming phase: anticipatory postural adjustments are taken by athletes as feedforward movements to compensate for rifle rebound and guarantee body stability during and after shot release, making aiming more challenging. Increasing standing real shooting to the maximum is essential for high-level biathletes, both at rest and under fatiguing training conditions, to properly manage postural and aiming control in the last part of the aiming phase.