Relationship of Knee and Hip Joint Proprioception with Competition Success in Aerobic Gymnastics

Abstract

The aim of the study was to (1) evaluate the joint position sense development in young aerobic gymnasts of different age groups and (2) investigate the relationship of position sense with execution success in competition. 112 competition athletes from four different age groups participated in the study. Joint position sense tests with a smartphone and phone app fixed to the lower extremities were performed during the Aerobic Gymnastics Turkey Championship competitions. Correlation and linear regression analysis were performed on the participant data, which showed normal distribution within the competition age groups. There were negative and significant correlations between 45o knee extension absolute errors and competition execution points. The 45o knee flexion absolute score correlated to competition execution points. 90o hip flexion absolute error scores were significantly associated with competition execution points. A positive correlation was found between the age of the gymnasts and the competition execution points. Considering the entire sample, results demonstrated that a final model consisting solely of hip extension absolute scores was able to explain a significant amount of variance in competition execution points. When the data is partitioned according to gender, the model fails to explain variation in competition execution scores in the male sample. However, a final model consisting of joint position sense error scores of hip flexion and knee extension could explain a significant proportion of variance in competition execution points of the female sample. In conclusion, gymnasts who made more positional errors had lower execution scores. Target position replication accuracy in gymnasts improved with age. The effect of joint position sense accuracy in predicting the outcome of the competition was significant. Training that develops joint position sense can improve gymnasts' competitive results.