TRAINING HISTORY CONSTRAINS POSTURAL SWAY DYNAMICS: A STUDY OF BALANCE IN COLLEGIATE ICE HOCKEY PLAYERS

Publication date: Available online 11 September 2018

Source: Gait & Posture

Author(s): Mark Walsh, Eric Slattery, Arden McMath, Ronald Cox, Joshua Haworth

ABSTRACT

Background

Balance and postural control are integral to training and sport performance. Demands on posture are contextual and vary in different ways depending on the specific physical activity.

Research Question

The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility that sustained exposure to environmental constraints, through specific sport participation, might lead to a persistent modification of postural control.

Methods

Double and single-leg postural sway were compared between ice hockey players, American football players and physically active college students. Data from 30 second trials were analyzed using traditional postural sway measures of range and pathlength of the center of pressure, as well as with Sample Entropy (SEn), in both mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) directions.

Results

Each group displayed unique postural sway characteristics. During single-leg stance, ice hockey players show significantly different ML pathlength and ML and AP SEn from the physically active college students (all p < 0.05), and significantly different ML and AP pathlength and AP SEn from the American football players (all p < 0.05). The American football players and the physically active college students differed for all single-legged conditions (all p < 0.05).

Significance

This suggests that the organization and development of postural sway is not only context dependent but also influenced by training history; supporting the idea that balance training for sport should be designed with regards to sport specific conditions.

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