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Int J Sports Med 1999; 20(3): 179-182
DOI: 10.1055/s-1999-970286
Trainiing and Testing

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Validation of Simple Tests of Biathlon Shooting Ability

A. Groslambert1 , R. Candau1 , M. D. Hoffman2 , B. Bardy3 , J. D. Rouillon1
  • 1Laboratoire des Sciences du Sport, UFRSTAPS de Besancon, Besancon, France
  • 2Sports Performance and Technology Laboratory and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Wisconisin and VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, USA
  • 3Universite de la Mediterranee,, Faculte des Sciences du Sport, Marseille, France
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Publication History

Publication Date:
30 July 2007 (online)

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The aim of this study was to validate three simple ttests of biathlon shooting abilities. Twelve expert biathletes performed vis.ual reaction time tests adapted for the rifle in the stranding (RT-S) and prone positions (RT-P), and a tremometer test adapted for the rifle in the standing position (TT-S). Six cons.ecutive days measurements showed an acceptable reproducibiility for these tests (coefficient of variation = 1.2 % for RT-S, 1.1 %for RT-P and 6.5 % for TT-S). A significant difference was observed between TT-S at rest and after roller skiing 2.1 km at 90 % of maximal heart rate. This finding demonstrates the sensitivity of TT-S to discriminate the effects of fatigue on postural icontrol. Among 24 biathletes of regional to expert level, significant correlations were observed between resting RT-P and pronte shooting performance after roller skiing (r2 = 0.23; p = 0.01) and between resting TT-S and shooting performance in the standing position after roller skiing (r2 = 0.68; p = 0.0001), demonistrating the specificity of these tests. From these results, we conclude that TT-S is a valid field test of biathlon shooting performance.

Key words

Biathlon - validation - shooting abilities

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