n International SportMed Journal - The effect of functional fatigue on static and dynamic balance in female athletes : original research article

Abstract

Background : Balance is one of the critical factors that affects athletes' performances, and is recognized to have a central role in sport injury prevention, while the effect of functional fatigue on static and dynamic balance has not been properly investigated.

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Research question : To understand the effect of functional fatigue on static and dynamic balance in female athletes.

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Methods : Fifteen female basketball players (age: 16.1 ± 1.1 years; weight: 53.1 ± 6.7 kg; height: 164.1 ± 4.6 cm) with no orthopaedic problems volunteered to participate in the study. They performed subsequently pre-One-Foot Balance Test (OFBT), pre-Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), fatigue protocol, post-SEBT, and post-OFBT. The SEBT and OFBT protocol were used to measure the amount of dynamic and static balance, respectively. A functional fatigue protocol that lasted 20 minutes was performed to tire the subjects. The amount of perceived fatigue was measured with rating of perceived excursion (RPE) values.

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Results : Although the effect of functional fatigue was not significant on the dynamic balance of the subjects, the dynamic balance performance between directions was found to be significant (P <0.001). In addition, the result showed that fatigue had a significant effect on the subjects' static balance (P = 0.019).

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Conclusion : As static balance is one of the factors that affects athletic performance and is also used during the rehabilitation tasks; the finding may help to prevent fatigue-related problems, such as balance perturbation of athletes during conditioning and rehabilitation, and consequently in preventing injuries.