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Influence of Hand Position on Performance Outcomes of the Y-Balance and Reactive Balance Tests in Young Athletes
Ebru Tekin1, Fatma Unver2, İzzet Şener Kara3
1Balıkesir University, Department of Therapy and Rehabilitation, Bigadiç Vocational School, Türkiye, Balıkesir.
Background:
Balance ability is a fundamental component of athletic performance and injury prevention. Although upper extremity position is known to influence postural control, its effect on commonly used lower-extremity balance tests has not been sufficiently clarified.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of hand position on performance parameters in the Y Balance Test (YBT) and Reactive Balance Test (RBT) and to assess within-condition test-retest reproducibility in young athletes.
Methods:
This randomized crossover study with repeated measures and a test-retest design was conducted in a physiotherapy laboratory in Türkiye. Nineteen adolescent female volleyball players (mean age: 16.16 ± 1.01 years) participated in the study. The YBT and RBT were performed under two hand position conditions (free hand position and hands on hips). The initial hand position was randomly assigned, and all assessments were repeated after 48 hours under identical conditions. The study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07111923).
Results:
For the YBT, hand position had no significant effect on reach distances in the anterior, posteromedial, or posterolateral directions, nor on composite scores (p > 0.05). Exploratory reproducibility analyses demonstrated moderate test-retest reproducibility in selected YBT directions only: left anterior (ICC = 0.479, p = 0.016), left posterolateral (ICC = 0.476, p = 0.017), and right posteromedial (ICC = 0.472, p = 0.018). In contrast, RBT performance was significantly influenced by hand position. The free hand condition resulted in shorter reaction times (right: p = 0.007; left: p = 0.003), whereas the hands-on-hips condition yielded higher accuracy rates (right: p = 0.039; left: p = 0.026), indicating a clear speed-accuracy trade-off.
Conclusion:
Hand position does not substantially alter overall YBT performance; however, reproducibility appears to be direction-specific. In contrast, RBT outcomes are highly sensitive to hand position. These findings highlight the need for explicit standardization of hand position during RBT administration to ensure comparable and interpretable results in both research and clinical settings.
