Analysis of perceived comfort in Compak Sporting competition

INTRODUCTION: Comfort perceived by the shooter is influenced by several factors including the recoil of the shotgun and the number of shots fired in a certain time. In general, the recoil of a shotgun is influenced by its own weight and by the presence or absence of recoil reduction systems. On the other hand, a clay shooting sport such as Compak Sporting consists of two 25 clays series per day, for a total of 200 clays in 4 consecutive days. In this discipline over&under shotgun is widespread. In this study the perceived comfort is investigated in terms of exertion and ache produced by shotgun recoil on shooter using skin temperature responses, pain and effort scales. METHODS: A Compak Sporting simulated competition was carried out using three over&under shotguns (model 828U, Benelli Armi S.p.A., Urbino, Italy): two hunting shotguns (weight 3019 g) differing in the presence (S1) or absence (S2) of ‘Progressive Comfort System’ (damping device) and one sportive (weight 3564 g) without damping device (S3). 6 male subjects (age 26.8±4.6 yrs; BMI 22.9±1.5 kg/m2) with a minimum of 4 years shooting experience were recruited. Each shooter fired with all shotguns and was blinded to which one was firing with. Shooting sessions were separated by 30 days of rest. The onset of fatigue or pain was investigated by means of two different approaches. Infrared thermography images (IR) was used as an objective measure to analyse the presence of any injuries on the upper trunk. In contrast, a subjective measure of pain and exertion was performed through Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). The evaluation tests were carried out before and after two shooting series, per four consecutive days. One-way ANOVA was used to compare VAS, RPE and temperature variations within the interface area between the shotgun and the shooter, which was formerly identified inside the infrared images. RESULTS: The evaluation tests showed these results: VAS=2.2±1.7; RPE=6.8±0.5; IR=0.43±0.26°C for S1; VAS=6.0±1.5; RPE=7.8±0.5; IR=0.82±0.5°C for S2; VAS=2.5±1.5; RPE=6.7±0.6; IR=0.36±0.32°C for S3. Using a heavier shotgun (S3) or one with a damping device (S1) led to a significantly (p<0.02) reduced temperature increase compared to a light shotgun (S2). The same trend was observed through subjective measures: both VAS and RPE confirm a significant reduction (p<0.02) in pain and exertion perceived by shooters using S1 and S3 compared to S2. CONCLUSION: Objective and subjective measures of comfort perceived by the shooter in a simulated competition show the same tendency. In general, a heavier shotgun or one lighter but equipped with a damping device causes a lower recoil than that produced by a light shotgun. This results in less effort and pain experienced by the shooter leading to an improved perception of comfort. These finding are well supported by both quantitative (IR) and qualitative (VAS,RPE) data with strong statistical significance.