In June/July 2006, the Australian Catholic University (ACU) in conjunction with the Australian International Shooting Ltd (AISL) and the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) conducted a research project investigating the effects of caffeine ingestion on the Trap shotgun shooting event. The groundings for the research was an honours thesis completed by Bianca Share under the supervision of Dr Justin Kemp (ACU) and Nick Sanders (AISL). In The Effects of Caffeine on Shooting Performance, it is stated that caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive (nerve-effecting) drug in the world, known for its stimulatory effects.
In January 2004, caffeine was one of several substances removed from the Prohibited Substance List by the World Anti-Doping Agency, yet the supplement is still being closely monitored in drugs tests. An elaborate set of conditions and tests were set up for 10 shooters over three weeks at the Werribee International Shooting Complex in Victoria. Statistically, the findings of this study suggest that caffeine provides no ergogenic benefit with the respect to reaction time, target tracking times and importantly, performance scores in the Olympic Double Trap event. There was a trend for participants to produce an improved reaction time, but this was accompanied by a reduction in shooting accuracy (ie, total score).