Postural Balance in Young Tennis Players of Varied Competition Levels

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of young tennis players’ expertise on their postural balance (PB) under sensorial conditions with eyes open (EO) and with eyes closed (EC). Our participants were 75 healthy adolescents aged 15–18 years, divided into three groups based on their skill levels: (a) national tennis players (NAT; n = 25), regional tennis players (REG; n =25), and a control group of non-sport practitioners (CG; n = 25). We recorded center of pressure area and mean velocity on a force platform while participants stood in bipedal and unipedal stances in EO and EC conditions for all three groups. Statistical analyses showed that NAT participants swayed less than CG participants in all conditions and less than REG participants in the bipedal stance with EC and in the unipedal stance, both with EO and EC. Thus, tennis practice/experience may have improved PB in this sample, as high-level tennis players had better PB compared to novices, especially in challenging conditions.

Ground reaction forces better than center of pressure differentiate postural control between young female volleyball players and untrained peers

“…with hypothetically significant differences in balance) are ambiguous or, at most, wind up with insignificant differences and small effect sizes 13 , 14 . One way to improve this situation is to test subjects in more demanding experimental conditions 15 , 16 and preferably in those that are similar to tasks performed during sports competitions or training. Another approach could be to use new indicators that are known to be strongly associated with postural control.…”

Static Postural Control during Single-Leg Stance in Endurance, Team and Combat Athletes from the Spanish National Sport Technification Program

“…According to the best available evidence, generally, sport practitioners are more skilled than non-sport practitioners [1,[8][9][10][11]. Moreover, young female athletes show less body Int.…”

“…Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 4292 2 of 10 sway than non-athletes and young male athletes [11,12]. Other studies indicate that there are differences between sports and levels of competition [11][12][13][14].…”

Postural control in girls practicing volleyball is different than in non-playing peers: comparison of data on the center of pressure and ground reaction forces

“…with hypothetically significant differences in balance) are ambiguous or, at most, wind up with insignificant differences and small effect sizes (Andreeva et al, 2020;Kiers et al, 2013). One way to improve this situation is to test subjects in more demanding experimental conditions (Srihi et al, 2022;Zemková & Kováčiková, 2022) and preferably in those that are similar to tasks performed during sports competitions or training. Another approach could be to use new indicators that are known to be strongly associated with postural control.…”