Effects of Complex Functional Strength Training on Balance and Shooting Performance of Rifle Shooters

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 detraining. 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, participants’ 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.