The Effect of Balance and Sand Training on Postural Control in Elite Beach Volleyball Players.

Sergio Sebastia-Amat,Alfonso Penichet-Tomas,Luca Paolo Ardigò,Jose Manuel Jimenez-Olmedo,Basilio Pueo

doi:10.3390/ijerph17238981

Sergio Sebastia-Amat, Alfonso Penichet-Tomas + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238981

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week-long balance training program on the postural control of elite male beach volleyball players and the effect on balance when swapping to specific sports training in the sand in the following 12 weeks. Six elite players were tested before and after the balance training program and also 12 weeks after the balance training had finished. To this aim, a pressure platform was used to collect the following center of pressure parameters: path length, speed, mean position, and root-mean-square amplitude in the medial-lateral and anteroposterior planes. Romberg quotients for the center of pressure parameters were also calculated. The results of the present study showed better static postural control after specific balance training: smaller path length and speed under open eyes condition in dominant (p = 0.015; p = 0.009, respectively) and non-dominant monopedal stances (p = 0.005; p = 0.004, respectively). Contrastingly, 12 weeks after the balance training program, the path length and speed values under open eyes condition in bipedal stance increased significantly (p = 0.045; p = 0.004, respectively) for sand training. According to our results, balance training is effective to achieve positive balance test scores. It is speculated, and yet to be proven, that sand training could be effective to improve dynamic and open eyes postural control during beach volleyball practice. In beach volleyball players, a balance training program is effective to develop static balance but the effect of ecological sand training on dynamic performance deserves specific investigation.

Highlights

IntroductionPostural control is a complex function of the central nervous system for detecting sensory stimuli, interpreting information, and responding appropriately in order to maintain an upright position [1,2]
Postural control is a complex function of the central nervous system for detecting sensory stimuli, interpreting information, and responding appropriately in order to maintain an upright position [1,2].The development of postural control requires integration between sensory systems, i.e., vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems [3,4]
The values of the parameters related to postural control in static bipedal stance are shown in speed (p = 0.004) increases, resulted between post-balance training and post-sand training, once the replacement training in sand had finished

Summary

Introduction

Postural control is a complex function of the central nervous system for detecting sensory stimuli, interpreting information, and responding appropriately in order to maintain an upright position [1,2]. The development of postural control requires integration between sensory systems, i.e., vestibular, visual, and somatosensory systems [3,4]. Physical training allows for the acquisition of new skills and strategies for postural control improvements [8]. Balance training has been shown to be effective for the improvement of postural control in different populations: active and inactive young people [10,11], athletes [12,13,14], and the elderly [15,16]

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