Effects of complex functional strength training on balance and shooting performance of rifle shooters

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the effects of complex functional strength training (whole-body vibration + unstable surface training) on overall shooting performance, including the shooters’ stability of hold, time on target, and the body sway. We compared the shooters’ performances at three time intervals: (a) pretraining, (b) 6 weeks post-WBV+UST, and (c) 6 weeks de-training. The study participants were eight rifle shooters. Training was c on an unstable surface with vibration frequency of 30 Hz and amplitude of 2 mm. Six weeks after complex training, par-ticipants’ shooting performance and body sway significantly improved. Specifically, shooting scores and total time improved by 5.50% and 7.34%, respectively, as did the DevTotal values between performances at different times: 10 ms (p = 0.01), 20 ms (p = 0.04), 30 ms (p = 0.02), and 40 ms (p = 0.02). The DevY values also showed significant differences between performances at different times: 10 ms (p < 0.01), 20 ms (p < 0.01), 30 ms (p < 0.01), 40 ms (p < 0.01), and 50 ms (p < 0.01). A 6 week complex training method can effectively improve shooting stability, fluency, and scores.