Do Collegiate Athletes Display Better Balance Skills than their Non-Athlete Counterparts?

Purpose: Determine if collegiate athletes possess superior balance than the general population. Design: Three hundred subjects, 68 collegiate athletes (21.0+3.5 Yrs) and 232 non-athletes (32.8+14.9 Yrs), were administered a battery of 5 balance tests, 3 static and 2 dynamic tests. Analysis: Mann-Whitney non-parametric and one-way ANOVA parametric tests were used to analyze the balance results comparisons between the two groups. Results: Non-parametric Mann-Whitney results indicated significant superior static and dynamic balance of the collegiate athletes except for the Stork static balance tests in both the dominant and non-dominant leg. Do Collegiate Athletes Better Balance Skills Non-Athlete


Introduction
Balance is important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It has become an essential component of performance conditioning for athletes trying to improve their athletic skillset or for the elderly trying to sustain their quality of life by reducing the risk of injury due to falls. The need for mobility while maintaining stability in a static position or in a dynamic one is crucial to everyday life and athletic competition. Programs have been developed to improve an individual's stability and mobility through balance exercise programs that not only provide strength, endurance and flexibility to major muscles used in specific movements but also their associated stabilizing muscles [1]. No matter the present status of a person's balance, it can be improved [2]. As is the case for any conditioning program, assessments must be administered before a suitable program can be devised for the subject or the subpopulation in question [3].
Balance is the ability to stay upright or stay in control of body movement. There are two types of balance: static and dynamic.
Static balance is maintaining equilibrium when stationary, while dynamic balance is maintaining equilibrium when moving. Eyes, ears and 'body sense' are used to help retain balance [4]. Athletes " possess an athletic skillset that is unique to their specific sport.
Their athletic performance is superior to the general population by virtue of their genetics and their specific training. The purpose of this study is to determine if collegiate athletes possess superior balance than the general population. The battery of tests administered to the subjects consisted of the following tests. A brief description of the tests is also included

c) Timed Up-and-Go Dynamic Test
A chair is placed against a wall and a spot is measured and marked ten feet from the chair. The test is how long it takes to get up out of the chair, walk 10 feet, turn around, and sit back down. If it takes longer than 14 seconds, there is a high risk for falling.

d) The 5 Times Sit-to-Stand Dynamic Test
Sit in a chair. Whenever ready, stand up and down 5 complete times as fast as possible. Stand fully and sit down with the glutes touching the chair. Persons without balance problems can do this test in less than 13 seconds.
e) The Balance Error Scoring System Static Test [10] There are six positions of the balance error scoring system static test. Three stances (double-leg support, single-leg support,  *-Significant, Level of Significance ρ = 0.05. *-Significant, Level of Significance ρ = 0.05

Discussion
The study revealed that the athletes displayed significantly superior dynamic and static balance as compared to the nonathletes in all the balance tests except for the stork tests in both the dominant and non-dominant legs. The athletes scored better than the non-athletes in both the right and left leg stork tests, but not significantly better. In the right leg stork test the mean average and standard deviation for the athletes was 32.5 + 42.2 seconds, while the non-athletes mean score was 35.5 + 40.8 seconds. In the left leg stork test the athletes scored a mean average of 33.0 + 42.7 seconds, and the non-athletes scored 33.6 + 39.6 seconds.
How can a subject or a group score significant changes in one static balance test and not in another? The fact is that each test measures balance in a different manner, but the differences provide a better understanding about the subject or group. The one-leg tests measure unipedal balance like the stork tests, but the oneleg tests allow the subjects or groups to use the non-supporting leg, the upper appendages, and the torso to move and contort to maintain static unipedal balance. The stork tests also measure unipedal static balance, but they restrict the subjects or groups from using their non-supporting leg, their appendages, and/or their torso to assist them in maintaining their static balance. So, the subjects or the groups that display better proprioception and body coordination in the one-leg tests are at an advantage to those that

Conclusion
The authors recommend additional testing to verify the results obtained from the study; and to secure larger samples that would include parametric analyses of all 5 balance tests used in the current study for a deeper insight into the balance skills of the two subgroups.