Article

It was hypothesized that training in 'static balance' or 'dynamic balance' sports
has differential effects on postural control and its attention demands during
quiet standing. In order to test this hypothesis, two groups of female athletes
practicing shooting, as a 'static balance' sport, and Taekwondo, as a 'dynamic
balance' sport, and a control group of non-physically active females voluntarily
participated in this study. Postural control was assessed during bipedal and
unipedal stance with and without performing a Go/No-go reaction time task. Visual
and/or support surface conditions were manipulated in bipedal and unipedal
stances in order to modify postural difficulty. Mixed model analysis of variance
was used to determine the effects of dual tasking on postural and cognitive
performance. Similar pattern of results were found in bipedal and unipedal
stances, with Taekwondo practitioners displaying larger sway, shooters displaying
lower sway and non-athletes displaying sway characteristics intermediate to
Taekwondo and shooting athletes. Larger effect was found in bipedal stance.
Single to dual-task comparison of postural control showed no significant effect
of mental task on sway velocity in shooters, indicating less cognitive effort
invested in balance control during bipedal stance. We suggest that expertise in
shooting has a more pronounced effect on decreased sway in static balance
conditions. Furthermore, shooters invest less attention in postures that are more
specific to their training, i.e. bipedal stance.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS