1. Relationship between static and dynamic balance abilities in Italian professional and youth league soccer players.
- Author
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Pau M, Arippa F, Leban B, Corona F, Ibba G, Todde F, and Scorcu M
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Humans, Italy, Retrospective Studies, Young Adult, Athletes, Postural Balance physiology, Soccer physiology
- Abstract
Objectives: To assess the existence of correlations between static and dynamic balance abilities in young and professional elite soccer players., Design: Cross-sectional., Participants: Fifty-one elite players who regularly compete at national level divided into two groups: Professional (age 18-34, n = 20) and Under 15-17 (age 14-16, n = 31)., Main Outcome Measures: Dynamic balance was assessed for the case of a single-leg landing task by means of vertical time to stabilization (TTS) and postural sway calculated on the basis of center-of-pressure (COP) trajectories (sway area, COP displacements in antero-posterior and medio-lateral direction, COP path length). The same parameters were also measured for a 20 s one-legged stance to assess static balance abilities., Results: No significant correlations were found between static and dynamic balance parameters except for TTS and COP displacements in the antero-posterior direction (r = 0.29, p = 0.003). Professional players are characterized by lower TTS in comparison with youth leagues players (0.767 vs. 1.188 s for the dominant limb, p < 0.001) and exhibit reduced sway area (of 34-40%, p < 0.05) for both conditions tested., Conclusion: The assessment of balance in soccer players should be performed with both dynamic and static tests, considering that the postural control performances in the two cases are not related., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2015
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