Investigation of shooter's body characteristics effect on weapon recoil injury

One of the most important parameters in reducing the army force function is the injuries which are caused by unallowable shoulder weapon recoil energy. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of shooters’ body characteristics on shoulder weapon recoil injury and determine the optimal age range for minimizing these injuries. In a descriptive-analytical study 15 soldiers of a garrison were selected voluntarily. They were asked to shoot 15 times a day and between each shot، they were questioned about the pain and recoil they had experienced. Of the 15 volunteers، 14 demonstrated evidence of injury in the anterior shoulder (deltoid muscle). According to bruise definition، force is divided in two groups: the first one had minor injuries (40%) and the second had moderate injuries (60%). Three anthropometric variables were found to have predictive value on injury severity such as height، weight and dominant handgrip strength which were 177. 29 cm، 80. 36 kg، and 52. 82 kg for the first group respectively and for the second one were 171. 03 cm، 71. 036 kg and 42. 34 kg. Dominant handgrip strength was introduced as most effective parameter on recoil injury in human body characteristics.