Pupil movements characteristic of air pistol shooter athletes during shooting performance

The aim of this study was to examine the durations of effective and final focusing (quiet eye) carried out during the process of taking aim at the target and examine levels of cognitive load that occur during shooting performance of air-pistol shooting athletes with their eyes immediately before taking a shot. A total of 8 right-handed male licensed pistol shooting athletes (4 novice and 4 elite) participated in the research. A total of 320 shots -160 dry (unscored) and 160 live (scored) shots were taken by the novice and elite athletes. For the purpose of recording pupil movements and quiet eye durations during the shots taken by the athletes, an eye-tracking device attached to the head was used. The recorded data were examined with iMotions computer software, which can perform biometric analysis. In order to record the pupil movements of the athletes during their shooting, an eye tracker (Eye Tracker) attached to the athlete's head was used. During the research process, the natural shooting conditions of the athletes were not changed and the shots made by the athletes in their own routines were recorded as they existed. Each athlete's pistol shooting performance with and without 20 points was recorded with an eye tracker attached to the athlete's head. The data of pupil movements resulting from 40 shots of each athlete and 320 shots of all athletes in total were analyzed frame by frame with the imotions computer software used for biometric measurements. SPSS program was used for the statistical evaluation of the obtained data. The athletes' quiet eye durations occurring when taking aim at the target were examined according to athletes' characteristics (novice and elite) and the type of shot carried out (scored and unscored) by means of the independent samples t-test. The findings of the study revealed that the athletes had 25.3% longer quiet eye durations when firing scored shots than when firing unscored shots. Novice athletes exhibited 37.8% longer periods of focusing behaviour when firing scored shots than when firing unscored shots. Elite athletes displayed 21.26% longer periods of focusing behaviour when firing unscored shots compared with novice athletes. According to the results of the research, it can be said that in the sport of pistol shooting, giving priority to dry shooting training and conducting special exercises for developing quiet eye (QE) duration can contribute positively to the development of novice athletes' shooting skills. On completion of the shot, the sport shooters' pupils dilated on average by 2.85 mm at a rate of 32.5% compared to the situation at shot onset. Moreover, novice shooters' pupils dilated more when firing scored shots than when firing unscored shots. According to the research results, it can be said that sports shooters engage in intensive cognitive processes while aiming and trigger pulling immediately before firing the shot. Novice shooters engage in more intensive cognitive processes when firing scored shots than when firing unscored shots. The volatility between the pupil-focusing behavior of amateur athletes with or without points was realized quite a lot compared to elite athletes. This situation shows that the effective focusing (quiet eye) pupil behavior of elite athletes during the aiming process does not change much according to whether the shot is scored or not. The fact that the pupil sizes of all athletes at the beginning of effective focusing to make their shots are larger at the end of effective focusing show that the athletes are under a certain cognitive load. When the findings obtained as a result of the research are evaluated; It is thought that more use of dry trigger (no points) training methods in shooting branch, pre-season camps and individual training periods will contribute to the effective focusing (QE) skills of shooters. It is expected that the use of dry trigger (no points) training methods in the shooting branch, pre-season camps and individual training periods will contribute to the effective focusing (QE) skills of shooters. It is thought that the effective use of the eye tracker during the training periods of the elite shooting athletes in order to detect the mistakes that the athlete is not even aware of will contribute to the improvement of the performance of the shooting athletes. It is envisaged that the eye tracker can be used in the skill selection processes of the shooting athletes in the Turkish Olympic Preparation Centers, so that it will be more possible for the candidate athletes to be directed to the right branches suitable for their abilities at the stage of becoming an elite or Olympic athlete. Future studies with shooting athletes will involve more extensive use of eye tracking system and other research instruments (eg EEG, EMG, HRV, etc.) to analyze together the different processes (mental, visual perception, coordination, etc.) involved in the performance of athletes. and it is appreciated that it will contribute to obtaining precise results.