Sports Performance
by Harry Hoover BSc Sports Sciences
In most sports today, the gap between 1st, 2nd and 3rd places is often in the region of hundredths of
a second or perhaps one or two tenths of a percentage point. So what makes one person a winner and
another a runner up? Most athletes train very hard and if you were to measure the physical
characteristics of, lets say two top 100 meter sprinters, you would probably find that they were of
approximately equal strength, flexibility, stamina, etc. And if they weren't, a good coach would
identify the differences and then institute a training programme that would address the particular
issues.
So what makes one a consistent winner and the other consistently in 2nd place? Sports Sciences are
the key to answering this question, and by applying the correct sports science, improvements in
performance can be found in many areas.
In pistol shooting, the most critical area of performance is the athlete's (shooters) mental
abilities. Imagine giving a world champion shooter an out of the box gun, they'd probably still score
far higher than most of us could in our dreams. Imagine then giving a novice shooter the best gun on
earth, and I'm sure you will see that the equipment is only a small part of the equation.
Mental skills and mental skills training are often looked upon with suspicion by athletes who think
there must be something wrong with them if they need to use Sport Psychology to improve their
performance, but this is only a broad term to describe things like goal setting, relaxation training,
visualization, anxiety control, focusing, activation levels, etc. Are you one of those people who can
perform superbly at your home club in practice matches, but loose the plot when you go to big
competitions? Sport Psychology can help you by developing skills to control your anxiety, get you
properly prepared for competition, help you develop routines for use in practice which will then
follow on to competition, leading of course to an improved performance.
There are of course many other aspects of Sport Sciences, which can help you improve your performance,
and if each aspect gives you a small increase in score, then overall you may make significant gains.
This might be all the difference between 1st and 2nd place.
Biomechanics is the study of the movement of the human body and can be used to make sure that you are
moving in the most appropriate manner to achieve the optimal performance possible, to minimize the
risks of injury and to utilize muscle to it's best possible advantage. ISSF shooters require a
precise knowledge of the human skeleton and musculature in order to achieve a physical posture that
can be maintained for several hours without undue stress, which of course leads to reduced performance.
The key is knowing what to do and why.
Several years ago, the then NRA training squad employed a professional Biomechanist to study how NRA
action shooters could improve the mechanics of adopting a prone position in as short a time as
possible. A video analysis of all the squad members was done and followed by recommendations for
technique changes. After some practice with the modified technique, all squad members managed to
decrease the time in which they took to "go prone". This of course, gave each shooter increased
shooting time which in turn gave the potential for greater accuracy. Special tools (force platforms,
video analysis) are available in laboratories to analyze how to achieve the best stance, or how
balance factors can impinge on your particular discipline and these tools can and have been used to
measure a variety of shooting performances. (most labs can be safely set up to handle air pistol or
air rifle shots).
Nutrition is a factor that plays a large part in shooting performance, and what and how you eat before
and during a competition can have a large impact on your final score. For example, how well do you
shoot half an hour after lunch, or what happens if you have a fatty pie for lunch?
Along with food factors, there is also the hydration issue. When you feel thirsty, you are already
up to 10% dehydrated, and one of the first parts of your body to loose fluid is your eyeballs. As you
can probably guess, our eyesight is critical in shooting sports and anything that affects our vision is
going to affect our performance. But, taking a drink of water has an effect on our physiology, usually
with increased heartrate, elevated blood pressure, etc and this can have a short term effect on
performance, especially in a precision sport like shooting. So how to stay hydrated without the
physiological response? Take very little sips often. Better to be slightly over hydrated than
dehydrated. There are dozens of nutritional issues for shooters, and you can work many of them out
for youself, or you can speed the process up by consulting an expert. Of course you may have to pay
for the expert, but when you offset that against the cost of years of experimentation, you may find
it worthwhile in the long run.
Coaching science, Exercise physiology and Injury rehabilitation are all areas of sports sciences which
you can utilize to improve your performance, assuming of course that you do want better scores. And if
you're happy with your shooting ability, but want to increase your enjoyment of your sport, then sport
sciences can also help, as what happens in sport often closely mirrors what happens in life. For
example if you learn to cope with competitive stress in sport, then that ability will help you cope
with stress in life. Conversely, if you need to set goals in life, such as loosing weight, sport
sciences can help, and those skills gained will be equally valid in sport. However you look at it,
the use of sport sciences can help you, both in life and sport, and I hope this brief introduction
will encourage some of you to look outside the square of what you are doing now and to use the
knowledge that is available to improve the quality of whatever it is that you may want to change.
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