TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF

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atr
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Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:00 am
Location: Northwestern Ontario

TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF

Post by atr »

Thirty-four years ago, in 1970, the ISSF approved a major change in its rifle clothing rules. Special shooting jackets of that period were banned because they had become so thick, heavy and stiff that they immobilized shooters’ bodies and artificially increased their scores. Today, members of the ISSF Rifle Section Committee, Technical Committee, Executive Committee and Administrative Council have concluded that rifle shooters’ clothing has again reached the point where another major rules change is required. A decision has been made to eliminate special shooting trousers.
The ISSF must ensure that its rules achieve four objectives. ISSF rules must 1) respect shooting’s history and heritage, 2) be responsive to today’s athletes and trainers, 3) assure a healthy future for shooting and 4) sustain shooting’s stature as an Olympic sport. Competition rules not only establish contemporary standards for juries and officials to enforce, but more importantly, they embody a “spirit of the rules” that incorporates the sport’s most important objectives. The rules the ISSF adopted in 1970 included the 2.5 mm jacket thickness limit that still is valid today. Those rules also required rifle clothing to be “soft, pliable and flexible.” The “spirit” and objective of that rule was to assure that shooting clothing does not artificially improve shooters’ scores and become a substitute for physical and mental skills and training.

Throughout the histories of sports and shooting there has been a struggle to balance the efforts of equipment manufacturers, trainers and athletes to develop new and better equipment with the efforts of rule makers to protect the fundamental objectives of the sport and assure its future. The primary objective of the shooting sports as they are governed by the ISSF is to test athletes and not their equipment. This was the concept the ISSF sought to reestablish in its 1970 rule changes. That objective took on new meaning during the 1980s and 1990s, when shooting grew from a small Olympic sport with six or seven events into a large, strong Olympic sport with 17 events, because it is also a critical objective of all sports recognized by the IOC. To strengthen its position in the Olympic family, it became vital for shooting to respect the IOC requirement that Olympic sports must test human performance skills and not “mechanical” systems.

When the ISSF revised and updated its rifle clothing rules in 1988, it adopted a standard that renewed and clearly articulated this concept. The spirit and objective of that 1988 rule is especially relevant today as the ISSF decides the rifle clothing rules that will apply for the next four years and beyond. Rule 7.4.9, originally adopted in 1988, states:
The use of any special devices, means or garments which immobilize or unduly reduce the movement of the shooter's legs, body or arms is prohibited in order to assure that the performance skills of the shooters are not artificially improved by special clothing.

Throughout the last 20 years and perhaps longer, the ISSF has struggled to enforce this rule even as new shooting clothing was developed that took rifle shooting in the opposite direction. Various tests were devised to check the pliability and flexibility of jacket material, but shooting jackets still changed from soft leather to stiff canvas. Trousers worn by rifle shooters evolved from ordinary sports trousers into special leather trousers and then into stiff, tight canvas trousers. Trouser heights were limited and tests to assure flexibility were used, but none were especially successful. Shooting trousers used today, in particular, have clearly evolved to a point where they immobilize and reduce the movements of shooters legs and body and artificially improve rifle scores. The ISSF finds itself in a position where it must decide whether to respect and enforce Rule 7.4.9 or abandon this standard that is so critical to shooting’s status as an Olympic sport.

Today’s high rifle scores are undoubtedly due to a significant degree to the improved technical and psychological skills and training of the shooters. Notwithstanding the impact of these advances, recent dramatic improvements in standing position scores also can be linked to the prevalent use of special, stiff shooting trousers. Five women have now fired perfect 400 scores in 10 m air rifle, all since 2002. The men’s air rifle record also stands at 600, fired in 2000. In comparison, pistol events, where clothing that might improve scores has not been permitted, have world records that date as far back as 1980. Winning pistol scores have not improved nearly as much as rifle scores. It is difficult to believe that this difference can be attributed to insufficient training by today’s pistol shooters.

The ISSF wants all of its events to be competitions where results are improved through training and sporting effort and not by using equipment that is a substitute for training and sporting effort. After extensive discussions and the consideration of comments from all concerned parties, the ISSF Rifle and Technical Committees have drafted new clothing rules to go into effect in 2005. Details of the new rules will be finalized in the coming months, but the most important points of the new ISSF rifle clothing rules are:

1. Trousers. No special shooting trousers will be permitted. Trousers material must be soft cloth; no canvas material will be permitted. The same trousers must be worn in all three positions. A 40 mm wide belt will be permitted. Shooters will be permitted to use a separate “heel pad” (10 mm thickness compressed) that may be placed between the buttocks and heel in kneeling, but no special padding may be added to the trousers.

2. Shooting jackets. Present 2.5 mm thick shooting jackets will continue to be permitted, but side pockets and right shoulder closure devices must be removed.

3. Shooting shoes. Present shooting shoes will continue to be permitted.

In developing these changes, the ISSF is concerned that today’s stiff shooting trousers created many unique problems for shooting. In an era when it is important for all Olympic sports to present themselves positively to the media and public, rifle shooters were taking extreme means to put their trousers on and could not walk normally, bend down or sit with their trousers on. This brought derision and incredulity to shooting. Indeed, it has been difficult to explain to IOC leaders, the media and public why shooting’s ‘highly trained athletes’ need “artificial support” to hold their bodies still.

When athletic equipment such as shooting trousers reaches a point where it is difficult to justify or regulate, it is time to examine whether this equipment is even necessary. Some sports equipment is necessary for competitors to perform the basic sport skills involved in any Olympic or shooting event. A runner needs running shoes. A skier needs skis. A pole-vaulter must have a pole. An archer must have a bow and a shooter must have a rifle, pistol or shotgun. Scientific endeavors to improve the performances of this basic equipment are fully justified. In shooting, for example, the more accurate the rifle and ammunition is, the more closely the final results will reflect the actual competitive performances of the shooters.

Some equipment is necessary to protect the athletes. Runners wear shoes not to enhance their sporting result, but to protect their feet from injury. Fencers wear masks to prevent injury to the eyes or face. Rifle shooters wear shooting jackets to protect the elbows, shoulder and upper body from discomfort and possible injury. Nevertheless, when the protective equipment or clothing is modified to not only provide for comfort and prevent injury, but also to artificially improve results, then those modifications must be examined and restricted. When the ISSF examined the role played by special shooting trousers, it was not possible to convincingly argue that they are necessary for the completion of any rifle event. The padding on the buttocks did provide for comfort in the kneeling position, but that can easily be achieved with the heel pad that will be permitted under the new clothing rules.

One of the primary arguments for special shooting trousers is that they allegedly prevent back or spinal injuries. The opinions of some doctors were used to support this argument, but other medical experts question whether shooting trousers actually prevent spinal injuries. The ISSF Medical Committee carefully examined this argument and concluded that while special shooting trousers do yield “a more stable stance” and “an increase in performance levels,” there is no conclusive evidence that they prevent injury or reduce health risks to the shooters.

To understand this conclusion, consider the generations of rifle shooters who competed in ISSF Championships before heavy canvas shooting trousers were available. Rifle shooters have been practicing intensive, high performance training since the 1950s. Through that entire period, there were shooters who experienced knee trauma from kneeling position practice, but there were no shooters who experienced disabling spinal trauma as a result of shooting in the standing position in loose-fitting trousers made of soft material. Some elite shooters who wore soft, loose-fitting trousers experienced back pain. Today, some elite shooters who wear tight-fitting, stiff canvas trousers also report back pain. At the same time, there have been no medical studies to verify whether the incidence of spinal complaints is any less now that canvas trousers prevail.

A more likely reason for back pain complaints in rifle shooting is the extreme spinal curvatures used by some shooters in their standing positions. Extreme back bends to the rear or highly elevated hip positions that create strong “S” curves in the spine have been associated with many shooters’ back problems both before and after today’s special shooting trousers were available. Trainers must consider this when working with shooters to select a preferred standing position variation.

The inescapable conclusion is that special shooting trousers are not necessary to complete the rifle events; they are not needed to provide for the comfort of the shooters and they do not prevent back injuries. Special trousers also are expensive and contribute to a situation where it is more and more difficult for rifle shooting to attract new shooters. School and club teams as well as prospective new shooters cannot afford the costs of so much specialized equipment. Eliminating the need to purchase expensive shooting trousers is a small, but potentially important step in making rifle shooting more accessible to young and new shooters.

Today’s rifle clothing has drifted so far from the spirit and objective of the important ISSF rifle clothing rules adopted in 1970 and 1988, that it is now necessary to change ISSF rifle clothing rules to reestablish this original spirit and objective. ISSF leaders have considered the voices of dissent in making this decision. The biggest opposition to eliminating shooting trousers comes from elite national and international shooters who use special shooting trousers so successfully and recognize that they contribute to high scores. Change is always most difficult for those who must alter something that is part of their present formula for success, but the arguments for eliminating shooting trousers far outweigh the arguments for keeping them.

The ISSF decision concerning the elimination of special shooting trousers is vital to the future of shooting. The decision will require today’s elite shooters to make a difficult change. They will need to undergo several months of retraining. Nevertheless, the benefits of this change are significant. Shooting will reestablish the principle that its rifle events are truly athletic endeavors where competitors’ performance skills are not to be artificially enhanced by special equipment. Rifle shooting will become easier for shooting clubs and grassroots programs to promote and rifle events will be more attractive to present to the media and public.

Throughout its 100-plus years as an Olympic sport, change has been an important part of its history. Many beloved events like 300-meter rifle left the Olympic program and new events like air rifle, air pistol and women’s events entered the program and contributed to shooting’s growth. Finals were vigorously resisted when the ISSF and IOC first introduced them in 1986, but now everyone looks back at those changes and agrees that while they were indeed difficult, they also were good for shooting. The ISSF and its shooting rules changed because change is necessary to adapt to new realities and make shooting stronger. Shooting can be proud of its present strong position in the Olympic movement, but it must also recognize that this strength came because it was able to change, adapt and grow. Now the ISSF calls on its rifle shooters and trainers to recognize that “it is time for another rifle clothing rules change.”

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