Citation

Brown MJ, Tandy RD, Wulf G, Young JC. Motor Control 2013; 17(3): 273-282.

Affiliation

University of Nevada - Las Vegas.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

23756320

Abstract

Previous studies indicate that rifle shooting performance while standing is compromised when fatigued. Apprehension of suspects by police officers may involve foot pursuit and firing a weapon from a standing position. The purpose of the present study was to investigate pistol shooting performance in police officers under similar conditions of physical fatigue. Participants (mean age: 30.1 years; 4.4 years of experience as police officer) completed two shooting trials separated by an acute bout of exercise on a cycle ergometer to voluntary exhaustion. Each trial consisted of three rounds of five rapid-fire shots at a target, each round separated by a 15-second rest. Participants' backs were turned to the target between rounds. Despite physical exertion, with an average heart rate of 164 bpm, shooting accuracy (mean distance of the closest 4 shots from the center of the target) and precision (diameter of the tightest 4-shot grouping) remained unchanged on post-exercise trials relative to pre-exercise trials. This suggests that automatic shooting reactions override the adverse consequences of fatiguing exercise on shooting performance.

Language: en