Abstract
Police officers often encounter high-stress situations requiring physical exertion immediately followed by accurate firearms performance. Understanding how elevated heart rate (HR) influences marksmanship may help inform training practices and standards for cadets. PURPOSE: The study was designed to determine whether a correlation exists between increased HR and short-distance marksmanship in police academy cadets. METHODS: Nineteen cadets (17 male and 2 female) completed two marksmanship trials at 3 m. Each participant first completed a baseline test involving 10 rounds fired without prior physical exertion, using a standard laser training cartridge and Mantis Laser Academy application. Participants then performed a 30 s self-paced warm-up on an assault bike followed by a 60 s maximal effort bout to elevate HR. Peak HR, peak Wattage, and mean Wattage were recorded after the maximal effort cycling bout. Immediately following the maximal effort cycling bout, participants completed a second 10-round marksmanship test at the same distance. HR was recorded at each shot timepoint and shooting accuracy scores were compared between pre- and post-stress conditions. RESULTS: Beginning HR values for the post-exertion trial were significantly higher than beginning baseline HR, (M = 150.7, SD = 13.3; M = 99.6, SD = 11.1 bpm), t(18) = -12.504, p < 0.0001. No significant difference in marksmanship performance was observed between baseline and post-exertion conditions (p = 0.57). A shot-by-shot HR paired t-test analysis concluded that all HR were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) after the maximal exertion cycling bout. A shot-by-shot accuracy score paired t-test analysis concluded that all shots were not significantly different (p > 0.05) comparing baseline to the maximal exertion cycling bout, with exception of Shot 6 which had 4 out of 19 score zero due to shooter error. Additionally, heart rate was not significantly correlated with marksmanship performance, where Pearson r < + 0.26, with the exception of Shot 1 at r = - 0.41. CONCLUSION: Elevated HR alone did not meaningfully reduce short-range marksmanship performance among police academy cadets. At close distances cadets may be capable of maintaining shooting accuracy even under heightened physiological stress. Further research with additional distances, stressors, and performance metrics may help clarify what factors influence marksmanship under stress in police cadets.
Recommended Citation
Tankersley, Devon K.; Jabai, Hussien; Oldham, Michael D.; Jones, Brian; and Lollar, Brinley
(2026)
"Correlation Between Increased Heart Rate and Marksmanship in Police Cadets,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2:
Iss.
18, Article 180.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss18/180