Static and Dynamic Balance of Competitive Sport Climbers Compared to Controls

Researchers have examined many factors that could influence sport climbing success following the sport's Olympic debut in 2020; however, balance has strangely been overlooked. This study evaluated both static and dynamic balance in experienced, competitive sport climbers relative to nonclimbing, physically active controls.

Climbers (20 men, 17 women) and controls (10 men, 10 women) completed both static and dynamic balance tests. Static balance was assessed using the Balance Error Scoring System, while dynamic balance was evaluated by the lower quarter Y-balance test and upper quarter Y-balance test. Spearman rho correlation coefficients were used to quantify strength of relationships among balance scores and climbing grade, and a 1-way analysis of variance with sex as a covariate and Bonferroni post hoc analysis was done to determine statistical differences between controls, intermediate, and advanced climbers.

Significantly more errors (P < .001) were observed in the Balance Error Scoring System test for the control group (12.4 [5.4]) than the intermediate (7.8 [3.3]) and advanced (7.5 [2.3]) climbers. There was a significant difference between the climbers and the control group (P < .001) for the lower quarter Y-balance test and upper quarter Y-balance test, with the controls scoring lower than climbers for each limb, but no significant difference was found between intermediate and advanced climbers. The relationship between static and dynamic balance was moderate (ρ = -.324 to -.565). Climbing grade was weakly correlated with dynamic balance (ρ = .202 to .350).

Experienced climbers develop and rely on superior balance as an integral aspect of their climbing performance.