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Efficacy of a 6-week Neuromuscular Training Program for Improving Postural Control in Figure Skaters

Saunders, Nathan William

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2011, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services.
It has been suggested that figure skaters should incorporate off-ice balance and ankle stability exercises into their normal training to potentially increase postural control. PURPOSE: 1) to determine the effectiveness of a 6-week neuromuscular training (NMT) program for improving postural control with respect to a variety of force plate measures, and 2) to determine the ability of force plate measures to predict figure skater skill level and competition experience. Our specific aim was to utilize force plate measurements to calculate mean velocity of the center of pressure (MVCOP) and time to stabilization of vertical ground reaction force (TTSz) for the purposes of 1) evaluating MVCOP and TTSz for a jump landing test before and after a 6-week NMT program, and 2) analyzing the correlations between subject characteristics and the dependent variables MVCOP and TTSz. To achieve our aim, we tested the following hypothesis: 1) compared with controls, MVCOP and TTSz for the SLS and SLL tests will decrease following NMT, 2) at baseline, MVCOP and TTSz for the SLS and SLL tests will be inversely correlated with skater skill level and years of competition experience, and 3) compared with more experienced skaters, there will be a differential response to NMT such that less experienced skaters will improve to a greater extent. METHODS: Twenty-six female freestyle figure skaters (age: 14.7¬±4.5 yr) with a wide range of competition experience (5.4±3.1 yr) were randomly assigned to a NMT group (n=14) or a control group (n=12). Before and after a 6-week NMT intervention, MVCOP and TTSz were calculated from force plate measurements for two different 15 second trials (single leg stance, and a single leg landing from an 8 inch box). MVCOP was normalized to body mass to give relative MVCOP. RESULTS: Surprisingly, NMT did not differentially influence skaters of different levels of skill or experience. Furthermore, our results indicate no significant baseline correlation between years of competition experience, skating level, and hours of weekly on-ice practice with the dependent variables MVCOP and TTSz. Relative MVCOP for the SLS test did not change for the training group from baseline (1.94±1.88 mm/s/kg) to post- intervention (1.88±0.88 mm/s/kg), but did decrease significantly from baseline (1.56±0.77 mm/s/kg) to post-intervention (1.42±0.70 mm/s/kg) for the control group (p < 0.05). Relative MVCOP for the SLL test did not change for the training or control groups from baseline (2.53±1.17 mm/s/kg, 2.27±0.93 mm/s/kg, respectively) to post- intervention (2.50±1.02 mm/s/kg, 2.16±0.98 mm/s/kg, respectively). TTSz decreased significantly for the training and control groups from baseline (3941±57 ms, 3892±72 ms, respectively) to post-intervention (3854±61 ms, 3784±94 ms, respectively). However, there were no significant differences between the training and control groups at baseline or following the intervention for any test. CONCLUSIONS: The 6-week NMT program offered in this study did not improve postural control with respect to MVCOP during the SLS and SLL tests. It is inconclusive what contribution the NMT program may have made to the observed improvement in TTSz as both the training and control groups improved to the same extent.
Steven Devor (Advisor)
Timothy Kirby (Committee Member)
56 p.

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Citations

  • Saunders, N. W. (2011). Efficacy of a 6-week Neuromuscular Training Program for Improving Postural Control in Figure Skaters [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305044478

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Saunders, Nathan. Efficacy of a 6-week Neuromuscular Training Program for Improving Postural Control in Figure Skaters. 2011. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305044478.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Saunders, Nathan. "Efficacy of a 6-week Neuromuscular Training Program for Improving Postural Control in Figure Skaters." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1305044478

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)