The Effect of Manipulation of Visual, Vestibular and Proprioceptive Systems on Postural Control in Professional and Beginner Swimmers

The present study examined the effect of manipulating systems involved in postural control of professional and beginner swimmers. The study was conducted on 80 swimmers (male and female, age range: 15 - 20 years old) who were selected by non-random purposive sampling method. In this study, single leg stand test (SLS) was used to measure postural control under four different sensory conditions: 1) Standing on the hard surface with open eyes, 2) Standing on a foam with hyperextension of the head, 3) Standing on the hard surface with closed eyes and hyperextension of the head, 4) standing on a foam with closed eyes. For data analysis, one-way ANOVA was used to examine the intergroup changes and Tukey post hoc test was used for paired comparisons at a significance level (P≤0.05). The results showed that the share of vestibular system in the control postural of professional swimmers was higher than that of beginner swimmers (P=0.03). Also, there was no difference in visual and proprioceptive systems between professional and beginner swimmers. So it can be concluded that swimming improves the vestibular system.