Validating the use of a dumbbell to measure body sway in female Olympic air pistol shooting

The present study validates use of a dumbbell to simulate the air pistol in female Olympic shooting, examining, at the same time, the relation between body sway and performance. The study’s participants were 23 senior female Olympic pistol shooters who competed at a Spanish air pistol championship. The participants’ performance was measured at competition while their COP movements were recorded during two static bipodal balance tests which were performed the day previous to the competition, during the official training time and at the training stands. During one of the tests a 1.5 kg dumbbell was used to simulate the pistol. The calculated Pearson product moment correlations for all variables that refer to the movement of the COP revealed statistically significant correlations between the two tests. Statistically significant inverse linear correlations were also found between performance and COP movements regarding both tests: strong correlations regarding COP movement amplitudes and moderate correlations regarding COP velocities. The study concludes that a) a dumbbell can be validly used to simulate the pistol in female Olympic air pistol shooting, and b) specific balance training programs should be taken into account in order to improve performance in female air pistol shooting.