The Associations between Plantar Force Distribution and Successfulness in Short-Fire Shooting among Special Police Officers

The main purpose of the study was to determine whether a pistol shooting efficiency score could be predicted by plantar force distribution patterns. In this cross-sectional study, participants were special police male officers (N = 30), members of the Anti-Terrorist Unit ‘Lučko’ (agemean±SD = 40 ± 6...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences Vol. 12; no. 10; p. 5199
Main Authors: Kasović, Mario, Štefan, Lovro, Bilobrk, Mate, Sladin, Damir, Štefan, Andro, Štrbac, Ivana, Jencikova, Katerina
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-05-2022
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Summary:The main purpose of the study was to determine whether a pistol shooting efficiency score could be predicted by plantar force distribution patterns. In this cross-sectional study, participants were special police male officers (N = 30), members of the Anti-Terrorist Unit ‘Lučko’ (agemean±SD = 40 ± 6 years, heightmean±SD = 180 ± 5 cm, weightmean±SD = 89 ± 8 kg). Shooting efficiency at a target 10 m away was tested on a scale from 0 to 5, while standing on a Zebris pedobarographic platform. Higher absolute (N; β = −0.19, p = 0.002) and relative (%; β = −0.12, p = 0.043) forces beneath the hindfoot were associated with poorer shooting efficiency. A significant positive association between the relative force beneath the forefoot and shooting efficiency was found, i.e., higher relative forces beneath the forefoot region exhibited better shooting values (β = 0.12, p = 0.043). When the force was normalized by weight (N/kg), similar associations remained. This study shows that higher force values under the hindfoot region may lead to a lower shooting performance, while higher force values under the forefoot region can increase shooting performance.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app12105199