Clarifying Proprioceptive Training: A Narrative Review

Proprioception is traditionally defined as the perception of joint position and movement, yet contemporary evidence supports a broader view: a multimodal sensorimotor system integrating peripheral afferent input with central motor commands. Despite its recognised importance in rehabilitation and sport, conceptual and methodological inconsistencies persist regarding its definition, assessment and training, and interventions labelled proprioceptive are frequently indistinguishable from general neuromuscular or balance-based exercise. This narrative review, reported in accordance with the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA), critically analyses the current state of knowledge on proprioception and clarifies the concept of proprioceptive training. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus were searched from January 2000 to May 2025, combining "proprioception", "kinaesthesia", "joint position sense" and "force sense" with "definition", "assessment", "training" and "rehabilitation". Sources addressing conceptual foundations, assessment instruments, interventions explicitly labelled proprioceptive, or critical reviews were eligible, with no restriction of body region; studies on balance alone without proprioceptive measurement and non-peer-reviewed material were excluded. Of 1412 records screened, 119 informed the synthesis. Proprioception comprises distinct submodalities-joint position sense, kinaesthesia and force sense-mediated by specific receptors and pathways. Current tools isolate these under artificial conditions with limited ecological validity, and most interventions labelled proprioceptive induce general motor adaptations rather than genuine sensory ones. Submodality-specific operational definitions and ecologically valid assessment tools are required.