Assessment of spontaneous body sway during static upright stance in soccer players

(Bestimmung spontaner Körperschwankungen beim statischen Aufrechtstehens von Fußballspielern)

Introduction: The system of postural control is particularly complex and involves the integration of various sensory and motor components. The integration of information from the three sensory systems (visual, vestibular and proprioceptive) is of great importance for standing balance. Sport training has significant effect on motor skills of athletes and has a considerable role for maintenance of their stable equilibrium during upright stance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the standing balance during quiet upright stance of soccer players compared with healthy untrained subjects. Methods: The postural stability of 15 soccer players and 15 age-matched untrained healthy controls was investigated. Four conditions were tested: upright stance on firm and foam supports with open and closed eyes. The postural sway was measured by a static posturographic system made at the Institute of Neurobiology, Sofia. The equilibrium was evaluated by changes of following parameters: mean velocity and mean amplitude of displacements of center of foot pressure in medial-lateral (ML) and anterior-posterior (AP) planes. Results & Discussion: No significant differences in anthropometric data (weight, height, length of soles) between groups were found. The sway amplitude and mean velocity were lower in the group of soccer players than in the group of untrained subjects in four conditions: open and closed eyes, stance on firm and soft supports. The stance on soft support led to significantly increased lateral postural sway for the untrained subjects only. The reduction of vision (eyes closed) did not significantly change the mean amplitude and velocity of postural sways of the athletes. The untrained subjects showed slight increase in the amplitude in both planes during stance with eyes closed. In the ML plane, we found greater differences in balance performance between both groups than in the AP plane. The football is a sport characterized with small sprints, acceleration and deceleration of movements and body turnings. We suggest that prolonged specific training programs of soccer players may change the strategy of the postural control in quiet upright stance and may improve the static postural maintenance.
© Copyright 2014 19th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Amsterdam, 2. - 5. July 2014. Veröffentlicht von VU University Amsterdam. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Schlagworte: Fußball Bewegung Haltung Steuerung Sensomotorik Stabilität
Notationen: Biowissenschaften und Sportmedizin Spielsportarten
Veröffentlicht in: 19th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Amsterdam, 2. - 5. July 2014
Herausgeber: A. De Haan, C. J. De Ruiter, E. Tsolakidis
Veröffentlicht: Amsterdam VU University Amsterdam 2014
Seiten: 649
Dokumentenarten: Kongressband, Tagungsbericht
Sprache: Englisch
Level: hoch