Pilot study of lower extremity dynamic balance in football, handball and taekwondo athletes: a comparison with functional tests

Athletes from different sport fields are needed to lower extremity dynamic balance for their specific skills. The question can be raised is whether athletes from different sport fields are different in lower extremity dynamic balance? The aim of this study was to compare the dynamic balance of lower extremity of football، handball and taekwondo athletes with functional tests. Ten football، 10 handball، and 10 taekwondo healthy male athletes with the mean age of 23. 83±0. 06 years participated voluntarily in this study. The lower extremity dynamic balance was assessed by Shuttle Run test (SR)، figure of 8 Hop test (FEH)، Side to Side Hop test (SSH) and Agility Hop test (AH). All analyses were conducted using SPSS version 19. The scores of SR، FEH and AH tests were higher in taekwondo players compared to football and handball players (7. 11± 0. 26، 9. 86±1. 09 and 9. 2 ±1. 31، respectively). Football players gained the highest score in SSH test (7. 52±0. 84). The FEH test score in handball players was higher than football players (9. 59±0. 94). Statistical analysis showed significant differences between three groups on two tests (SR P=0/03 and AH P=0/01). This study showed that lower extremity function of athletes from different fields of sport may be different. It seems that football and handball players need more agility and speed than taekwondo players for doing their own skills. This issue should be considered in designing the sport specific training protocol for athletes.