You have probably seen it on TV, trainers who show hits from the shooter and world stars who tell how they were forced to “screw” on the rifle.
But what does everything really mean? What happens when a biathlete screws on his sight? Who makes the decision? And perhaps most importantly: How difficult is it to keep track of all the details, while at the same time pushing yourself to the limit or tormented by nervousness?
Mona Brorsson laughs large.
– It’s quite difficult! she says later.
– You have to be aware, you have to be focused and dare to make decisions when you are tired. You have to remember how it blew on the insert and how you have screwed since then. You have to be calculating – and prepared.
– “You have to be calculating – and prepared,” says biathlon veteran Mona Brorsson about screwing right.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
What it’s about about is how the wind affects the shooting on the dike.
On the so-called firing before a competition, the biathletes prepare to find the, for the moment, the right settings on their rifles. But not infrequently the conditions change before or during a race, and then it is important to act.
– A small change in the wind will always affect the ball. So you have to have very good control of how the wind is just when you lie down, says Johan Hagström, long-time shooting coach in the Swedish biathlon national team.
– The last thing the skiers do before they lie down for horizontal shooting – because you never screw up – is to check the pennants. How’s the wind? Do I need to correct?
On the so-called the diopter, or sight, on the rifle are screws for height and sideways adjustment. By turning the screws, the diopter hole is adjusted, and thus the impact position.
Corrections are made almost only laterally. And a “click” or a “snap” moves the hit three millimeters.
It is often far too little, says Mona Brorsson.
– Since the dot in “lie” is 4.5 centimeters, it is important that you dare. A snap does nothing, so it’s about daring to screw up quite a lot.
– The days before a competition is about being very attentive to the conditions. How much does a flag really move? How many centimeters does it correspond to? It is important that you have done your homework, and then remember how it blew on the shot before the race and what you have done since then.
She turns 32 in March and has participated in six World Cups and two Olympics.
Has it ever happened to anyone that you have screwed yourself away?
– No, it has almost never happened, says Brorsson.
– On the other hand, I have many times screwed too little. It has been windy, but they have not dared to do so.
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– image 1 of 2 Photo: Joel Marklund / Bildbyrån
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– image 2 of 2 Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
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It is not allowed for the shooting coaches on the shooting range to talk to the active ones, shout out instructions or make signs during a competition.
On the other hand, they communicate hit images to other leaders out on the track, who show these to the active ones when they whiz past.
To screw or not screw is in the Swedish Olympic team entirely the rider’s decision.
Other national teams act differently.
– There are some nations that have it as their tactic, that coaches on the track shout to the active “screw!” and how much, says Johan Hagström.
– But we only show how they have fired and then it is up to them to decide. It is always their responsibility. This is how the active must keep a close eye.
Just like Brorsson Hagström believes that it is screwed too little rather than too much on the dike.
– Yes, you are often very careful in your screwing. I think you are afraid that it will affect too much, he says.
– If you come in and see that the wind has changed a bit since the shot, you may take two snaps, but it is only six millimeters. If you were to take 6-7 shots, you would still have a margin to hit.
In a sport where it is saved In time everywhere, every tenth of a second is important. The actual torque is often done in the same movement as the biathlete takes off the rifle. Then it only takes half to a second, says Hagström.
The movement should be routine.
– Because if you need to stop in the middle of the series and check why you are missing, check the pennants and make a decision then if you should screw – then it takes a very long time.
How good is the Swedish team at this type of quick decision?
– The best are very good at it, so I think we are pretty good with that. But then, of course, you can always wish they had even better control.
– Sometimes it happens that I see that it blows much more but that the active still chooses not to screw. It is frustrating.
– Olympic and World Cup gold medalist Hanna Öberg on the shooting range in China.
Foto: Henrik Montgomery/TT
At the same time, it is not Of course you have to screw up, the shooting coach continues. Although in today’s biathlon it has more or less become standard.
Instead, “holding up against the wind”, that is, aiming a little crookedly, used to be a common alternative. But there are still active people who sometimes do so, for example Mona Brorsson.
– Especially if there are gusts, it can be an advantage, she says and explains:
– If the wind comes from the left, I can aim a little to the left. But then it is important that you have a lot of experience of it and know how much you need to keep.
Johan Hagström again:
– The advantage of aiming to the side is that you can adjust during the series itself; if it blows a lot at the first shot, aim a little at an angle, if it stops blowing, aim in the middle again. But if you have screwed instead, you may have to screw back in the middle of the series, or wait out the wind.
To make such decisions in the middle of a series, however, is difficult, Hagström adds. Many see it as too great a risk. In addition, it costs time.
– Ten years ago, you shot a little slower, then you could lie for a long time, be more accurate, aim on the side and carry out each shot with greater accuracy. Now it feels more like everyone is screwing, and I think it comes out that it should go so much faster today.
– Today you know that you have to make a decision before you go to bed. I screw if I need to and then I shoot. Because if I lie for too long, it still does not matter that I shoot all hits.
Why not screw in the standing shooter?
– Because the dot is twice as big there and when you shoot stand, the barrel moves so much, it is a completely different shooting. But when you shoot “lie” you are basically completely still, you lie down, you have a strap that helps to hold the rifle to the arm. There, the margin is so very small.
– Olympic biathletes Anna Magnusson, Mona Brorsson and Linn Persson.
Photo: Jonas Lindkvist
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