Here is a sample of a shooting test called the Meyer 20 x1. The athlete starts next to the shooting mat with rifle on his back. The clock starts and he gets into prone, fires one shot and gets back on his feet with the rifle back on his back. This is repeated a total of 10 times in prone and then continuing 10 times in standing. In this example it took Cam 6:21 and with the 15 sec penalty for the prone miss he was at 6:36.

Only biathlon hits are credited. Biathlon misses are a 15 sec penalty–he had one in prone [a shot breaking the line counts up]–so after penalties he is up to 6:36.

Then each point from the ringed targets = one second bonus. He had 79 points in prone and 69 in standing or a total of 148 or 2:28 subtracted for a final score of 4:08. [His PR score is 3:42.]

This test requires the athlete to build his position very quickly and shoot fast, but the penalty for misses is high and it encourages shooting tighter groups than just hitting the biathlon target, both of which tend to reward more care for each shot. Working against the athlete is the previous training load and the fatigue of getting up and down 10 times for prone plus even the small effort to get into the standing position quickly 10 times after the prone.

The same dichotomy that exists during the shooting in a race.

Other tests are slow fire with no timing, just for accuracy, 5 shots at a time on metal timed, a combined series of accuracy, speed and position building called the French Test, and shooting at different heart rates to determine optimum approach speed/aerobic load. And of course combos or combination training which is as close to racing as you can get but doing it in intervals so you can continue longer.

Shooting is a fascinating game, and when combined with hard skiing–it is a real challenge!!
Bill Meyer