Validation of simple tests of biathlon shooting ability

The aim of this study was to validate three simple tests of biathlon shooti ng abilities. Twelve expert biathletes performed visual reaction time tests adapted for the rifle in the standing (RT-S) and prone positions (RT-P), a nd a tremometer test adapted for the rifle in the standing position (TT-S). Six consecutive days' measurements showed an acceptable reproducibility fo r these tests (coefficient of variation = 1.2% for RT-S, 1.1 %for RTP and 6 .5% for TT-S). A significant difference was observed between TT-S at rest a nd after roller skiing 2.1 km at 90% of maximal heart rate. This finding de monstrates the sensitivity of TT-S to discriminate the effects of fatigue o n postural control. Among 24 biathletes of regional to expert level, signif icant correlations were observed between resting RT-P and prone shooting pe rformance after roller skiing (r(2) = 0.23; p = 0.01) and between resting T T-S and shooting performance in the standing position after roller skiing ( r(2) = 0.68; p = 0.0001), demonstrating the specificity of these tests. Fro m these results, we conclude that TT-S is a valid field test of biathlon sh ooting performance.