I.A. Sabirova, doctoral student, associate professor, Ph.D.
G.N. Germanov, Dr.Hab., Honorary worker of physical culture of the RF
Teacher training institute of physical culture and sport of Moscow City Teachers' Training University, Moscow

Key words: shooting, postural stability, ready position, young and qualified shooters, stabiloanalyzer “Stabilan-01”.

Introduction.  A new approach to athletes' technical skills is required due to growing sports results in bullet shooting in the international arena for both men and women, as well as new requirements for shooting technique in accordance with the changed standard of targets, reduced time for performance of exercise and introduced finals.

In some exercises the results have reached the ultimate level or are close to it. It is already not enough for shooters making a shot from a pneumatic gun to hit 10-0, today they struggle for tenths, and the winner is the athlete who has a more accurate and stable technique of actions. Experts note that shooting results largely depend on athlete's coordination skills and high degree of stability in the system “shooter - gun". For example, in the previous studies the high correlation between the degree of gun fluctuations before a shot and the result of shooting was proved and repeatedly confirmed [1, 3, 5]. Consequently, better individual pose of ready position contributes to higher stability of the system “shooter - gun" and “shooter - gun – target” in terms of increasing fatigue during training and competitive activities.

The purpose of the study was to design an educational technology of formation of individual ready position of young athletes in shooting from a pneumatic gun.

Materials and methods. Highly qualified gun shooters (n=6, Masters of Sports and Masters of Sports of International grade) and students of training groups of the first and the second years of training at Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve №11 of the town of Voronezh (n=16) took part in the study, the age of the participants was 13-14 years old, and the level of sports qualification - II category.

The dual-platform stabiloanalyzer “Stabilan-01” with the appropriate certification [2, 4, 6, 7] was used to assess postural stability. The following parameters were recorded: projection of feet on the supporting surface of the stabilometric platforms; statokinesiograms for each limb; statokinesiograms of the CCP (common center of pressure), weight of the person under test distributed between his right and left legs; zone of preference in statokinesiograms of each foot in which the center of pressure of the limb is more often located. A computer shooting simulator called SKATT was used to evaluate the athletes’ technical performance. The following parameters were studied: average shot result in the PG-6 exercise (points), average time of shot (seconds), stability in 10-0 and 10-5 with regards to ASP (aiming center point) and TC (target center), (%), path length vertically and horizontally (mm), speed of the aiming point (mm/sec), and accuracy factor.

Results and discussion. The study found the most common individual features of an athlete’s ready position. Thus, at the beginning of a shooting exercise the body weight with the gun in ready position is within the ratio of 60/40 shares closer to the toes with respect to the center of pressure, and only minor shift in the frontal plane is recorded in the course of the exercise (of 7.5±0.2 mm on the average). At the same time in the course of the exercise the CCP gradually shifts in the sagittal plane by -1.26±0.11 mm on the average due to the “shifting” of the lumbar spine. In this case, the left foot stands mostly on the toe, and by the end of the exercise the center of pressure shifts to the center of the foot due to minor transfer of the sagittal projection onto the outer arch of the foot. The analysis of the stabilographic projection of the right leg showed an increase in the shift of the center of pressure in the frontal plane towards the toe and an increase of “the fall” of the foot onto the outer arch.

The correlation analysis showed an inverse relationship between the shot performance and the vertical shift of the common center of pressure (r= -0.734). The shot time has a direct relation to the common center of pressure of the right foot in the frontal plane (r=0.654), i.e., the more an athlete shifts onto the heel of the right foot, the more time he needs to make a shot due to posture correction and stabilization of the “shooter - gun" system. Stability indicators in the center of the target are linked to the parameters of the shift of the common center of pressure of the left foot onto the outer arch: the less it is, the higher stability indicators are in 10-5 and 10-0 of the TC. Stability in 10-0 and 10-5 with regards to the ASP is directly linked to the parameters of the shift of the common center of pressure of the right and left feet in the sagittal plane (outer arch of foot) (r=0.587) and is inversely linked to the sagittal plane indicators of the common center of pressure, i.e., there is a body shift back towards the right leg. And it is its shift by the right foot in the sagittal plane (towards the outer arch of foot) that leads to the shift back of the common center of pressure of an athlete and the foot of the right leg to the outer arch and the heel (from r= –0.411 to r=0.458).

Therefore, while performing a shooting exercise, highly qualified athletes shift the common center of pressure in the frontal plane by an average of 2.1% as well as shift the body weight onto the heels and the outer arch of foot to have the greatest stability of the “shooter - gun - target” system.

Based on preliminary studies, we have developed a program of training sessions in order to form coordination stability during “idle run” of athletes and when shooting with bullets. The main condition was posture correction using individual markers that are used for precise control of the movements of the “shooter - gun - target” system while performing a single shot. This technique was used in the main part of the training session and was aimed at the formation and strengthening of the muscle-joint feeling of postural stability, at error detection and making immediate adjustments to the ready position. The rational ready position using the dual-platform stabiloanalyzer “Stabilan-01” was to be formed by the following algorithm:

• training uniform load distribution on the feet in the frontal plane with the 50/50 ratio eliminating the fall of the feet in the sagittal plane;
• selection of the distance between feet while standing depending on the morphological and functional features of young athletes on the basis of the common center of pressure shift control;
• selection of the rational feet positioning in the frontal plane taking into consideration common center of pressure shift of each foot;
• selection of the turning angle of the feet by controlling the area of the ellipse, the asymmetry coefficient;
• defining individual body deviation by controlling the shoulder-to-shoulder axis and oppositely directed shoulder-to-shoulder and femoral axes in view of the common center of pressure indicators;
• determining the position of the left arm on the basis of individual morphometric features of the shooter (the length of arms and torso) and biomechanical parameters;
• determining the position of the right arm by fixing the wrist joint and the hand under the control of the common center of pressure shift in the frontal and sagittal planes;
• determining the strength of the grip of the “pistol” butt with the right hand under the control of the center of pressure trajectory length in the sagittal and frontal planes;
• determining the position of the head on the comb taking into account the shift of the center of gravity of the “shooter – gun” system in the frontal and sagittal projections;
• training consolidation of the “shooter - gun" system on the basis of control of the parameters of the statokinesiogram - the CCP, the average spread for the CP, path length of the CP vertically and horizontally.

To test the effectiveness of the proposed method an educational experiment was carried out under natural conditions of the training process, involving two groups of subjects whom we provisionally called a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG), 8 people in each. Classes in the CG were held according to the standard shooting program for Specialized Children and Youth Sports School of the Olympic Reserve. In the days and hours of training sessions related to mastering the technique of shooting from a pneumatic gun in the EG modern equipment with biofeedback was used for forming individual ready position of young athletes – “Stabilan-01” - along with the method described above. Work on the formation of an optimal ready position was carried out individually during the main part of the training session. A total of 18 hours of individual training took place: explanation and demonstration of model characteristics of the ready position of highly qualified athletes (2 hours), formation of rational ready position taking into account morphological and functional characteristics and physical fitness of young athletes (4 hours); training consolidation of the “shooter – gun” system based on the analysis of stabilographic indicators (6 hours); training to control consolidation of the “shooter - gun – target” system (4 hours); testing the stability of the “shooter – gun” and “shooter - gun – target” systems (2 hours). The educational experiment lasted 16 weeks. At the end of the study control shooting was carried out in the PG-2 exercise under competition (20 record shots from a pneumatic gun while standing). The comparative analysis of the results showed that the subjects of the EG mastered the technique of shooting from a pneumatic gun better. Athletic performance in the exercise PG-6 improved by 2.1 points (р0,05), and two athletes of the EG performed the standard of the I adult category, while there was a positive change of almost all considered parameters (by 3,6-5,4%).

Conclusion. The stabilographic analysis of the technique of the ready position at shooting exercises in a standing position suggests that the use of immediate information media with biofeedback stimulates the development of kinesthetic sensations when forming postural stability of athletes at different phases of sports training. This confidence relies on the coincidence of the authors' data with the results of other researchers [5]. Thanks to using modern immediate information media with biofeedback a trainer can rationally plan an individual training program for young athletes, recommended effective methods of training shooting skills for every athlete and correct technical training of skilled shooters.

Such an approach develops on the new technological level the direction in assessment and control of stability of the "shooter - gun" and "shooter - gun - target" systems.

References

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Corresponding author: genchay@mail.ru