Is er een associatie tussen grip-strength en schietprestaties en speelt deze een rol in verschillen in schietprestaties van mannelijke en vrouwelijke schutters? Lees zelf het HELE artikel voor een genuanceerde en echte inzichtelijke kijk op deze belangrijke zaak en niet alleen de samenvatting! In deze unieke studie werden de volgende hypotheses getest:
(1) Op basis van eerder onderzoek is de verachting dat “ gender differences will exist in shooting performance, such that male officers will outperform female officers”
As predicted, male officers included in the current study did have, on average, higher PPQ scores compared to female officers and, consistent with prior research (e.g., Blaskovits et al., 2016), female officers failed the agency mandated PPQ at a significantly higher rate than male officers (21.9 % versus 8.1 %).
(2) Op basis van eerder onderzoek is de verachting dat “male officers will possess greater grip strength than female officers, and grip strength will be positively related to performance in shooting tests”
Not only did male officers in this study have a higher grip strength, on average, than female officers, but we also found that it was necessary to have a grip strength that exceeded that exhibited by most female officers in our sample (M = 77.5lbs) to achieve reasonably high scores on the PPQ.
More specifically, to achieve a score of 85 % on the PPQ using the pistol examined in this study, officers needed to have a grip strength of 80lbs. To achieve a 90 % score, one’s grip strength would have to be approximately 125lbs. We believe this is the first time that such grip strength guidelines have been proposed for the PPQ under investigation.
(3) Grip strength will play a mediating role when considering the relationship between officer gender and performance in shooting tests.
Further evidence for the important role that grip strength plays in explaining the relationship between officer gender and shooting performance ….is the finding that grip strength might mediate the impact of officer gender on PPQ scores.
This result, in combination with the other findings reported in this paper, suggests that if heavy trigger weights are used without instituting minimum grip strength requirements, this will likely result in failures on the PPQ; disproportionately affecting the number of failing scores experienced by female officers.
Consequentially, an absence of minimum grip strength requirements may also thereby pose increased risk to public and police safety.
Overige onderwerpen
Scoren vrouwen slechter dan mannen op een schiettest?
Ten eerste betreft dit maar 1 vorm van schiettest. Ten tweede doen vrouwen met gelijke handkracht het net zo goed als de mannen.
The current study also demonstrates that female officers perform at a rate comparable to male officers – with a heavy trigger weight – when their grip strengths are equivalent.
Trekker gewicht: je zou enerzijds de trekker druk lager kunnen maken om het effect negatieve effect van handkracht te verminderen. Anderzijds vergroot je daarmee mogelijk het risico op ongewilde schoten.
Dr. Lewinski zegt hier over: “To mitigate unintentional trigger pulls and subsequent discharges, including cases that involve muscle co-activation, startle response, or routine weapon handling, keeping the finger outside of the trigger well is a critical safety protocol regardless of the trigger pull weight.” (2)
Dr Lewinski zegt verder: “We often hear that higher trigger pull weights can provide increased decision-making time for officers. The research does not support that position.” Dr. Lewinski explained: “Even the heavier triggers can have a travel time as quick as 6/100 to 8/100 of a second. If the decision to pull the trigger has already been made, the travel time of the trigger isn’t going to result in sufficient time to change your mind and stop that action.” (2)
Gevolgen voor de training?
In het onderzoek worden opties voor training besproken waaronder ‘krachttraining’. De andere optie is het veranderen van de trekker druk alhoewel daar geen specifiek onderzoek naar gedaan is.
Bronnen
- Andrew Brown Simon Baldwin Brittany Blaskovits Craig Bennell. Examining the impact of grip strength and officer gender on shooting performance. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2021.103536
- https://www.forcescience.org/2021/09/new-study-grip-strength-and-shooting-performance/