About this Research Topic
Postural balance control is a determinant in achieving daily-living goals, increasing the quality of life and maximizing recreational and professional sports performance. Indeed, in sports activity, postural balance control can be one of the limiting factors of performance, and it can be related to injury risk. Moreover, an efficient postural balance control is fundamental to achieve sports techniques where specific complex motor skills are required.
However, the complexity of balance mechanisms makes postural balance control assessment with a rational approach challenging. In sport and exercise, the postural balance assessment in static condition provides objective data based on conventional techniques (e.g., measurements of centre of foot pressure), but this condition may not be adequately challenging among athletes or healthy active people. Conversely, functional and ecological tests provide information on the postural ability but may lack objectivity in the scoring process. Moreover, postural balance assessment can be influenced by the postural conditions adopted i.e., specific postural conditions versus decontextualized postural conditions concerning the activity practiced. Hence, the study of the influence of postural balance in sport performance or injury risk should necessarily include assessments in dynamic and/or ecological conditions in addition to assessments in static and/or decontextualized condition in order to enrich literature on this topic.
The scope of this Research Topic is to generate high-level evidence on the role static and dynamic postural balance control is having on sport and exercise performance, focusing on both static and dynamic methods of assessment. Authors are encouraged to present Original Researches, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, and Case Reports addressing the following topics:
Postural balance in sport and exercise (strategies not defined).
Sports performance and postural balance.
Effectiveness of postural balance training protocols on sport and exercise performance.
Postural balance and injury rates in sport and exercise.
Postural balance training and injury prevention.
Due to recent technological and methodological advances, contributions proposing new objective methods to assess static and dynamic postural balance are also welcome.
However, the complexity of balance mechanisms makes postural balance control assessment with a rational approach challenging. In sport and exercise, the postural balance assessment in static condition provides objective data based on conventional techniques (e.g., measurements of centre of foot pressure), but this condition may not be adequately challenging among athletes or healthy active people. Conversely, functional and ecological tests provide information on the postural ability but may lack objectivity in the scoring process. Moreover, postural balance assessment can be influenced by the postural conditions adopted i.e., specific postural conditions versus decontextualized postural conditions concerning the activity practiced. Hence, the study of the influence of postural balance in sport performance or injury risk should necessarily include assessments in dynamic and/or ecological conditions in addition to assessments in static and/or decontextualized condition in order to enrich literature on this topic.
The scope of this Research Topic is to generate high-level evidence on the role static and dynamic postural balance control is having on sport and exercise performance, focusing on both static and dynamic methods of assessment. Authors are encouraged to present Original Researches, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, and Case Reports addressing the following topics:
Postural balance in sport and exercise (strategies not defined).
Sports performance and postural balance.
Effectiveness of postural balance training protocols on sport and exercise performance.
Postural balance and injury rates in sport and exercise.
Postural balance training and injury prevention.
Due to recent technological and methodological advances, contributions proposing new objective methods to assess static and dynamic postural balance are also welcome.
Keywords: balance, posture, control mechanisms, assessment, performance
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
