Anglia Ruskin Research Online (ARRO)
Browse
Allen_et_al_2016.pdf (910.7 kB)

The Level of Vision Necessary for Competitive Performance in Rifle Shooting: Setting the Standards for Paralympic Shooting with Vision Impairment

Download (910.7 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-07-26, 13:59 authored by Peter M. Allen, Keziah Latham, David L. Mann, Rianne H. J. C. Ravensbergen, Joy Myint
The aim of this study was to investigate the level of vision impairment (VI) that would reduce performance in shooting; to guide development of entry criteria to visually impaired (VI) shooting. Nineteen international-level shooters without VI took part in the study. Participants shot an air rifle, while standing, toward a regulation target placed at the end of a 10 m shooting range. Cambridge simulation glasses were used to simulate six different levels of VI. Visual acuity (VA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) were assessed along with shooting performance in each of seven conditions of simulated impairment and compared to that with habitual vision. Shooting performance was evaluated by calculating each individual’s average score in every level of simulated VI and normalizing this score by expressing it as a percentage of the baseline performance achieved with habitual vision. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves were constructed to evaluate the ability of different VA and CS cut-off criteria to appropriately classify these athletes as achieving ‘expected’ or ‘below expected’ shooting results based on their performance with different levels of VA and CS. Shooting performance remained relatively unaffected by mild decreases in VA and CS, but quickly deteriorated with more moderate losses. The ability of visual function measurements to classify shooting performance was good, with 78% of performances appropriately classified using a cut-off of 0.53 logMAR and 74% appropriately classified using a cut-off of 0.83 logCS. The current inclusion criteria for VI shooting (1.0 logMAR) is conservative, maximizing the chance of including only those with an impairment that does impact performance, but potentially excluding some who do have a genuine impairment in the sport. A lower level of impairment would include more athletes who do have a genuine impairment but would potentially include those who do not actually have an impairment that impacts performance in the sport. An impairment to CS could impact performance in the sport and might be considered in determining eligibility to take part in VI competition.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

7

Page range

1731

Publication title

Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN

1664-1078

Publisher

Frontiers Media

File version

  • Published version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2016-11-11

Legacy creation date

2016-11-11

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

ARCHIVED Faculty of Science & Technology (until September 2018)

Note

This document is protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. It is reproduced with permission.

Usage metrics

    ARU Outputs

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC