In Biathlon many factors can have influence on the shooting results. Nitzsche (1998) consid-ered shooting position, targeting, breathing technique and triggering as main performance variables. Regarding stance stability and triggering Sattlecker (2007) stated that these two variables do not require a maximum or minimum, an individual optimum seems to be neces-sary. According to Nitzsche (1998) a pre shot triggering of at least 70 to 80 percent should be achieved. Comparisons between youth and elite athletes showed significant differences be-tween these two groups concerning shooting results, stance stability and triggering (Sattlecker 2009). The aim of this study was on the one hand to compare 3 different age groups (youth, junior and elite biathletes). On the other hand it was important to measure the influence of stance stability-variables and triggering on the shooting results. Therefore 8 youth (15 ? 1 yr), 5 jun-ior (18 ? 1 yr) and 7 World Cup athletes (28 ? 5 yr) were tested in May 2008. Each biathlete had to shoot 8 series of 5 shots in the standing and 4 series in the prone position. All shots were made without physical load. The measure station consisted of 1) Force plate (FiTRO Sway Check, SVK) for stance stability, 2) Oil force transducer at the trigger (Spezialmess-technik Ilmenau, GER), 3) Computer controlled display for the shooting results ("SA 921" - Sius Ascor, GER). The data were processed by iSportmanager-Biathlon (Ike-Software, AUT). As variables the mean pre-shot trigger force (TF) over one second before firing [in % of the maximum force], the deviation of the standing position [mm] in x-(cross shooting) direction (Xdev) and y-direction (in shooting course) (Ydev), the path length [mm2] (PL) on the force plate and the shooting results (1-10) (Score) were measured. For the prone shooting only TF and the scores were quantified. For the standing shooting the results showed significant differences between youth and elite and between youth and junior athletes for the stance stability parameters (PL, Xdev, Ydev) but not for the triggering (TF). In prone shooting TF was significantly different between youth biathletes and the two other groups. Regarding the calculated relationships the results demon-strated high significant correlations between all stance stability parameters (PL, Xdev, Ydev) and the shooting scores, although the coefficients were low (-0,275; -0,170; -0,196; p < 0,001). For TF no significant correlation with the shooting results could be found. The results also showed that in most cases the correlations for the younger athletes are higher than for the World Cup biathletes. The significant differences between the groups showed that stance stability and triggering seem to be relevant. Especially for beginners and young athletes the analysed variables look like being important for good shooting scores. It can be assumed that the correlations are low because biathlon shooting is a complex task with many other influencing parameters.
© Copyright 2009 14th annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, Oslo/Norway, June 24-27, 2009, Book of Abstracts. Veröffentlicht von The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. / Übersetzt mit https://www.DeepL.com/Translator