ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Movement Science
Correlation between physical fitness, psychophysiological parameters and performance in a firearm proficiency test in military police officers
Provisionally accepted
Antoniony Fantecelle Junger1Geanderson Sampaio de Oliveira1Michell Vetoraci Viana1Manuela Amaral Pinheiro1Pedro F. da C. Fortes Junior1,2
Roberta L. Rica2
Valentina Bullo3*
Stefano Gobbo3
Marco Bergamin3
Danilo Sales Bocalini1- 1Laboratory of Experimental Physiology and Biochemistry, Federal University of Espírito Santo, Physical Education and Sport Center, Vitória, Espirito Santo, Brazil, Vitória, Espirito Santo, Brazil
- 2Estacio de Sá University, Department of Physical Education, Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil, Victoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil
- 3Universita degli Studi di Padova Dipartimento di Medicina, Padua, Italy
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Introduction: military police officers must combine physical conditioning, emotional control, and technical skills to act effectively in high-stress scenarios. However, evidence on the relationship between physical and psychophysiological indicators and performance in firearm proficiency remains scarce. Methods: this study investigated correlations between physical fitness, handgrip strength, mood state, and shooting performance among 26 military police officers of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Physical fitness was assessed by institutional protocols, handgrip strength was measured in standard and shooting positions, and firearm accuracy was evaluated under operational conditions. Results: our data showed that overall physical fitness indicators did not correlate (p > 0.05) with shooting proficiency. In contrast, dominant handgrip strength (p < 0.05) and body mass-related parameters were positively associated with shooting accuracy and performance. Mood vigor was also linked to higher scores. Discussion: These findings suggest that targeted grip strength development and psychophysiological monitoring may represent practical strategies to optimize firearm proficiency training.
Keywords: firearm proficiency, Military Police, Physical Fitness, Psychophysiology, training
Received: 31 Oct 2025; Accepted: 11 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Junger, de Oliveira, Viana, Pinheiro, Junior, Rica, Bullo, Gobbo, Bergamin and Bocalini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Valentina Bullo
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