ls there a difference in proprioception/balance between professional footballers, semi-professional footballers and a physically active group?
Item
- Title
- ls there a difference in proprioception/balance between professional footballers, semi-professional footballers and a physically active group?
- Author(s)
- Ashton, E
- Abstract
- Background: Balance/proprioception is sustained through the complex interaction of the sensory and motor systems regulated by the central Nervous system (CNS) including the auditory and visual systems. when more than one of these sensory systems is affected, postural control will be disrupted. Proprioception in sports, particularly football, has been documented to be of importance for injury prevention. This study was to flnd out levels of proprioception across varying levels of training and fitness, comparing professional footballers with semi-professional footballers, and a physically active group that was used as the control. Objective: To establish if there is a difference between the three groups of participants with differing fitness levels and abilities, and if there was a variable level of proprioceptive/balance function. Design: This was an observational study. Method: This study used the three groups of participants, derived from the original 67. The data (particulary sway, mean distance, pre-falls risk) was captured on a wii Balance Board (WBB), utilising a double leg stance. The figures were entered into the programme Analyse lt on an excel spread sheet and then the researcher applied the shapiro- wilks, Krustal-wallis, ANOVA and Steels tests (as appropriate), to establish the base line. Procedure: Data collected was compared for proprioception, across the groups. This was captured via a wii Balance Board and a computer, using the Analyse-it programme and the statistics compared in Microsoft Excel. Results: There were 67 participants, divided into three groups of varying athletic ability. The baseline characteristics demonstrated statistical differences between the groups in terms of age, weight and BMl, but not height, as height was balanced across the groups. This may have skewed the data, as there was a significant difference in many of the proprioception outcome measures. Discussion: This study showed that there was a significant difference in proprioception in the groups of varying athletic ability However, there were anomalies that may have skewed outcomes for example distraction of participants during testing, as well as there being a novice researcher. Despite this, it does still appear that the professional group did demonstrate better proprioceptive function. Conclusion: The results of this study do suggest some difference in proprioception between the different groups, though more research ts needed to confirm this, and to establish the benefit of having the individual players statistics to help with improved performance and rehabilitation.
- presented at
- European School of Osteopathy
- Date Accepted
- 2017
- Date Submitted
- 4.12.2017 17:06:20
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 16029
- Inst-Identifier
- 1229
- Keywords
- Balance and proprioception, Injury and proprioception, football injuries, Osteopathy and proprioception, cost of injury in football
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Ashton, E, “ls there a difference in proprioception/balance between professional footballers, semi-professional footballers and a physically active group?”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 4, 2025, https://www.osteopathicresearch.com/s/orw/item/244