BALANCE TEST RESULTS OF ALPINE SKIERS
Tolga SAKA1, Metin POLAT2
1Erciyes Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Spor Hekimliği Anabilim Dalı, Kayseri
2Gençlik ve Spor İl Müdürlüğü, Kayseri
Keywords: Alpine skiing, static balance, dynamic balance, balance tests
Abstract
There are apparently no published studies about static and dynamic balance testing of professional Alpine skiers. The aim of the study is to compare balance performances of professional Alpine skiers with that of persons without any skiing experience. Subjects underwent one leg standing, hopping course, single hop for distance, triple hop for distance, 6 m hop for time, and cross 6 m hop for time tests. Professional skiers obtained better test results in all static and dynamic functional balance tests, reaching statistical significance for one leg standing tests for both legs (p<0.001), and the and triple hop for distance test for the right leg (p<0.05). It may be concluded that Alpine skiers have enhanced static balance test scores compared with controls, due to the nature of skiing, which involves balance training.
