Training history constrains postural sway dynamics: A study of balance in collegiate ice hockey players

Balance and postural control are integral to training and sport performance. Demands on posture are contextual and vary in different ways depending on the specific physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the possibility that sustained exposure to environmental constraints, through specific sport participation, might lead to a persistent modification of postural control.

Double and single-leg postural sway were compared between ice hockey players, American football players and physically active college students. Data from 30 s trials were analyzed using traditional postural sway measures of range and pathlength of the center of pressure, as well as with Sample Entropy (SEn), in both mediolateral (ML) and anteroposterior (AP) directions.

Each group displayed unique postural sway characteristics. During single-leg stance, ice hockey players show significantly different ML pathlength and ML and AP SEn from the physically active college students (all p < 0.05), and significantly different ML and AP pathlength and AP SEn from the American football players (all p < 0.05). The American football players and the physically active college students differed for all single-legged conditions (all p < 0.05).

This suggests that the organization and development of postural sway is not only context dependent but also influenced by training history; supporting the idea that balance training for sport should be designed with regards to sport specific conditions.