Abstract
Purpose: Balance ability is an important domain of sports-related physical fitness. The purpose of this study is to compare the static and dynamic balance performance in five groups of elite college athletes as well as the differences between male and female athletes. Methods: Athletic teams at a national university were screened and invited to participate in this study. The inclusion criteria were (1) scored among the top 5 list of group B (non- physical education major) of National College Cup in the year of 2004; (2) contained more than 5 males and 5 females; (3) coach consent to participate. Five males and 5 females without recent injuries in the neuromusculoskeletal system from each of the Taekwondo, Judo, soft tennis, table tennis, and swim teams participated in this study. A total of 50 subjects (25 males, 25 females) completed the dynamic posturographic test (Smart Balance Master system, NeuroCom Internation Inc.) and the one-leg stance test. The average age of subjects were 21.68 years old, average height was 168 cm, and average weight was 63.27 kgs. The dynamic posturographic test included the rhythmic weight shift test in the mediolateral and anterioposterior directions, the sustained weight shift test towards eight peripheral targets, and the sensory organization test. Results: The table tennis players demonstrated better mediolateral directional control during rhythmic weight shift than the swimmers (p＜0.05). The Taekwondo players demonstrated better anterioposterior direction control during rhythmic weight shift than the table tennis players (p＜0.05). The Taekwondo players also demonstrated shorter sustained weight shift reaction time in the left-front direction than soft tennis players (p＜0.05). The table tennis players shifted weight faster than the swimers in the right-posterior direction (p＜0.05). The Judo players and swimmers were more stable than the table tennis players under the eyes closed with sway-referenced surface condition of the sensory organization test (p＜0.05). Female athletes were more stable than female athletes under the eyes closed or sway-referenced visual with sway-referenced surface conditions (p＜0.01). However, male athletes stood significantly longer than female athletes during the first trial of one-leg stance test with eyes closed on the left leg (p＜0.05). Conclusion: The study revealed different superiority in dynamic weight shift ability and sensory organization balance ability among the five athletic teams and between male and female athletes. The differences revealed in this study might be due to training effect or innate motor ability.
| Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 33-40 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | 物理治療 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2005 |