In the Dominion War arc of Star Trek: Deep Space 9, we see several scenes involving ground battles between Federation troops and Jem'Hadar soldiers. One thing that always strikes me as odd is the tendency for the Federation guys to fire their phasers as if they were guns, aiming very quickly and firing a very short blast.
With a gun, that's advantageous to keep recoil under control, but if your weapon fires an energy beam, and your enemies are in the open, standing up and not behind cover, the way Jem'Hadar commonly were, it would seem that the obvious tactic would be to aim at chest height, hold down the firing button, and sweep left-to-right. (Or right-to-left, of course.) But I don't believe we ever see anyone using a phaser in that way.
Was any explanation ever given for this?