Efficacy of a 6-week Neuromuscular Training Program for Improving Postural Control in Figure Skaters
Year: 2011
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: It has been suggested that figure skaters shouldincorporate off-ice balance and ankle stability exercises into
their normal training to potentially increase postural control.
PURPOSE: 1) to determine the effectiveness of a 6-week
neuromuscular training (NMT) program for improving postural control
with respect to a variety of force plate measures, and 2) to
determine the ability of force plate measures to predict figure
skater skill level and competition experience. Our specific aim was
to utilize force plate measurements to calculate mean velocity of
the center of pressure (MVCOP) and time to stabilization of
vertical ground reaction force (TTSz) for the purposes of 1)
evaluating MVCOP and TTSz for a jump landing test before and after
a 6-week NMT program, and 2) analyzing the correlations between
subject characteristics and the dependent variables MVCOP and TTSz.
To achieve our aim, we tested the following hypothesis: 1) compared
with controls, MVCOP and TTSz for the SLS and SLL tests will
decrease following NMT, 2) at baseline, MVCOP and TTSz for the SLS
and SLL tests will be inversely correlated with skater skill level
and years of competition experience, and 3) compared with more
experienced skaters, there will be a differential response to NMT
such that less experienced skaters will improve to a greater
extent. METHODS: Twenty-six female freestyle figure skaters (age:
14.7¬±4.5 yr) with a wide range of competition experience (5.4±3.1
yr) were randomly assigned to a NMT group (n=14) or a control group
(n=12). Before and after a 6-week NMT intervention, MVCOP and TTSz
were calculated from force plate measurements for two different 15
second trials (single leg stance, and a single leg landing from an
8 inch box). MVCOP was normalized to body mass to give relative
MVCOP. RESULTS: Surprisingly, NMT did not differentially influence
skaters of different levels of skill or experience. Furthermore,
our results indicate no significant baseline correlation between
years of competition experience, skating level, and hours of weekly
on-ice practice with the dependent variables MVCOP and TTSz.
Relative MVCOP for the SLS test did not change for the training
group from baseline (1.94±1.88 mm/s/kg) to post- intervention
(1.88±0.88 mm/s/kg), but did decrease significantly from baseline
(1.56±0.77 mm/s/kg) to post-intervention (1.42±0.70 mm/s/kg) for
the control group (p < 0.05). Relative MVCOP for the SLL test
did not change for the training or control groups from baseline
(2.53±1.17 mm/s/kg, 2.27±0.93 mm/s/kg, respectively) to post-
intervention (2.50±1.02 mm/s/kg, 2.16±0.98 mm/s/kg, respectively).
TTSz decreased significantly for the training and control groups
from baseline (3941±57 ms, 3892±72 ms, respectively) to
post-intervention (3854±61 ms, 3784±94 ms, respectively). However,
there were no significant differences between the training and
control groups at baseline or following the intervention for any
test. CONCLUSIONS: The 6-week NMT program offered in this study did
not improve postural control with respect to MVCOP…
Author: Nathan W. Saunders
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2562739046