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Abstract
The effects of different factors—such as age, sex, performance level, and athletic shoe features—on postural balance in athletes remain unclear. The main objective of our study is to identify the features of postural stability in athletes of different age, sex, performance level, and using different types of athletic shoes. This study assessed postural stability in athletes (n = 936, 6–47 years) in a normal bipedal stance with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC). Postural stability was evaluated based on the center of pressure (COP), sway area (AS), and velocity (VCP) while standing on a stabiloplatform. Children (6–12 years) and teen athletes (13–17 years) showed reduced AS-EO (p < 0.01) and VCP-EO (p < 0.01) compared to control (n = 225, 7–30 years). In male and female athletes aged 18+, only VCP-EC was lower versus control. In females (13–17 and 18+), VCP-EO and EC were lower than in males (p < 0.05). Only in the Shooting group, the athletes’ performance levels had an effect on VCP-EO (p = 0.020). Long use of rigid athletic shoes with stiff ankle support was associated with reduced posture stability. Postural stability in athletes was mostly influenced by the athlete‘s age, and, to a lesser extent, by their sex, performance level, and athlete shoe features.
Highlights
Good postural balance reduces the risk of sports injuries [1,2,3] and their negative consequences for the athlete’s physical condition and career
AS-EO was lower in teenage male athletes (p = 0.0001, d = 0.63) and teenage athletes (p = 0.001, d = 0.46), whereas AS-eyes closed (EC) was only lower in teenage male athletes (p = 0.019, d = 0.31)
Postural stability in athletes was mostly influenced by the athlete‘s age and, to a lesser extent, their sex, performance level, and the features of their athletic shoes
Summary
Good postural balance reduces the risk of sports injuries [1,2,3] and their negative consequences for the athlete’s physical condition and career. Good postural balance is a prerequisite for improving the control of voluntary movements in sports and, for enhancing athletic performance [4]. Postural balance has not been sufficiently studied on large samples of athletes [5] of different ages, sex, performance levels, and using different types of athlete shoes. The bulk of the studies have evaluated postural balance in subjects under 12–13 years, and very few studies have compared it between adolescents and young adults [6,7]. Postural stability continued to improve at the ages of 9 to 16, whereas in girls, it approached the adult levels by the age of 10 [9]
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