What Is ErgShoot? Learn About the Precision Test That Made Waves at the 2025 TYR Cup
In a sport known for heavy barbells, muscle-ups, and handstand push-ups, you don’t usually expect to see athletes handling pistols. But at the recent TYR Cup at TYR Wodapalooza SoCal in Huntington Beach, CA, that’s exactly what happened.
One of last weekend’s most talked-about events wasn’t a max lift or an endurance test; it was an event that combined the SkiErg with a handstand walk slalom course and pistol shooting.
- More specifically, athletes used an ErgShoot laser precision pistol. According to Kyle Rolfe, one of ErgShoot’s founders, this is the same technology employed in the biathlon event at the Olympic Games.
Worth noting: The concept of shooting in a CrossFit-style competition might seem unusual, but it’s not entirely unheard of.
- ErgShoot first appeared earlier this year at the French Throwdown, one of Europe’s biggest CrossFit events. In 2019, the Rogue Invitational featured a similar setup using air rifles.
ErgShoot: A Mental Game at the TYR Wodapalooza
ErgShoot was showcased at the TYR Cup and across all community divisions at TYR Wodapalooza SoCal, which drew over 2,000 athletes.
Rolfe and ErgShoot co-founders Matthew Lawrence and Florence Kum worked with hundreds of athletes over the weekend, teaching them the intricacies of ErgShoot.
“The athletes picked up the precision shooting within minutes in practice before the competition,” Rolfe said.
However, when the competition began, it was a different story.
According to Rolfe, Team North America arrived well-prepared for the ErgShoot event. He said Justin Medeiros and Dallin Pepper were “dialed in” during practice.
- But once the clock started, “They missed several much-needed shots and in training and warmup they were nailing everything,” Rolfe said.
On the other hand, Jayson Hopper wasn’t as good as Pepper and Medeiros in training, “but he held his own” during the competition, “showing that he could remain calm under pressure,” Rolfe said.
Team World had the opposite experience.
- “They struggled in training and warm-ups, but during the competition, they absolutely smashed it,” he said.
Ultimately, the event was a perfect example of what it really takes to excel at shooting: not just accuracy, but also the ability to stay calm and composed under physical and emotional stress, Rolfe said.
The Birth of ErgShoot
The idea for ErgShoot began a year and a half ago when Lawrence, an affiliate owner, and Kum, who works for PlayStation, came up with the idea to bring mental control and precision to the world of functional fitness. The result was ErgShoot.
To help spread the word in the CrossFit space, they brought Rolfe in as a third founder, as the long-time coach has numerous connections within the CrossFit world and is married to 2024’s Third Fittest Woman, Emily Rolfe.
Since then, it has been full speed ahead for Rolfe and his two co-founders, who have been present not only at TYR Wodapalooza SoCal and the French Throwdown but also at the World Fitness Project’s (WFP) Tour Stop II, where they conducted a demonstration.
- They have already sold plenty of ErgShoot guns and targets to CrossFit athletes and gym owners worldwide.
They’re expecting sales to rise after hundreds of athletes had the chance to try ErgShoot at TYR Wodapalooza.
- “We have only been inundated with messages on Instagram since then,” Rolfe said.
Next up: Now that the CrossFit community is starting to recognize the name and get excited about ErgShoot, Rolfe and his business partners are planning to build a global affiliate network. They will train coaches to teach shooting protocols to their athletes, effectively adding a new skill-building layer within functional fitness gyms.
- But their larger plan is to turn ErgShoot into a unique sport that combines precision laser shooting with endurance, similar to the Olympic biathlon, but replacing cross-country skiing with an erg: a SkiErg, a Bike Erg, or a rowing ergometer.
The Big Picture: Why Shooting Belongs in CrossFit
Introducing shooting into fitness competitions naturally raises eyebrows, and Rolfe has heard it all.
- “The big question I get is: Why should shooting be part of CrossFit? Their argument is, ‘But this is a skill,’” he said.
Rolfe’s answer is straightforward: “This is a skill. Yeah, it’s a new skill. And CrossFit has always introduced new skills.”
Furthermore, shooting directly relates to CrossFit’s 10 general physical skills, one of which is accuracy.
Most importantly, however, is that shooting teaches athletes how to stay calm under duress, a very useful skill for any CrossFit athlete, Rolfe explained.
- “It is a great way to train to control your heart rate, which can translate to other areas of CrossFit and keeping calm when you need to,” he said.
Rolfe added: “If you panic, you achieve nothing. Panicking doesn’t help you, and if you learn to stay calm in stressful situations, it becomes much easier to handle, and that’s exactly what happens in shooting.”
Featured image: Scott Freymond
