A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in
partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Medicine in the field of
Sports Science
15 May 2014 / Introduction: This study sought to determine the relationships between eccentric strength
and power of the lower extremity with dynamic balance in male football players. Footballers
with superior balance, kick more accurately, have a possible reduced risk of injury and faster
agility times. However, the relationship between eccentric strength and power with dynamic
balance remains unresolved.
Methods: Fifty male footballers (university; n = 27 and professional; n = 23) volunteered to
participate in the study and performed the Y-balance Test, eccentric isokinetic knee extensor
and flexor testing and the countermovement jump.
Results: The university group demonstrated significant positive correlations between mean
eccentric peak torque to body weight of the knee extensors and composite score in the Ybalance
test (r = 0.42, p = 0.03) and between eccentric peak torque to body weight of the knee
extensors of the non-dominant leg with normalised reach distance in the Y-balance test on the
non-dominant limb (r = 0.50, p = 0.008). In the professional group, countermovement jump
height was significantly correlated with composite score in the Y-balance test (r = 0.52, p =
0.02). Furthermore, countermovement height was positively correlated to normalised reach
distance in the Y-balance test on the non-dominant limb in the university (r = 0.4, p = 0.05)
and professional (r = 0.56, p = 0.006) groups, respectively.
Conclusion: Moderate positive relationships exist between eccentric strength of the knee
extensors and dynamic balance in the university group and between power and dynamic
balance in the professional group. These findings may be due to different coordination
strategies between the groups to maximize reach distance. Both groups demonstrated a
significant relationship between countermovement jump height and reach performance on the
non-dominant leg. In footballers, different neural control strategies may develop between the
limbs due to their constant use of their non-dominant leg to stabilise whilst executing a
kicking action. Due to these significant relationships, a longitudinal study measuring the
effects of strength and power training on dynamic balance in footballers is required to
ascertain cause and effect.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/15457 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Booysen, Marc Jon |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
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