Postural orientation, what to expect in youth athletes? A cohort study on data from the Malmö Youth Sport Study

Background Studies investigating postural orientation in uninjured youth athletes are scarce. Understanding how postural orientation during functional performance tests change with age in uninjured athletes has the potential to enhance awareness of changes in performance after injury and to set realistic goals for injured athletes. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore postural orientation during functional tasks at early adolescence, and changes in postural orientation from early to middle adolescence and relate this to sex, type of sport and right leg lean body mass (RLLBM). Methods In this cohort study 144 (38% female) youth athletes (mean age 13.5 years, SD 0.3) were included at baseline and 86 of these at follow up 2 years later. Four functional performance tests were visually evaluated for Postural Orientation Errors (POEs) with an ordinal scale, ranging from 0 (good) to 2 (poor), yielding a maximum total POE score of 51, and RLLBM by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results Improvements were observed in the total POE score from baseline to follow-up, median difference − 10 and − 7 (p < 0.001) for female and male athletes, respectively. At follow-up, female athletes had lower total POE score (median 18) than males (median 24) (p = 0.01). There were no differences in POE scores between sports type (team, individual, aesthetic) (p = 0.20–0.98) and no relationship between total POE score and RLLBM (rs = 0.09, p = 0.42). Conclusions POEs appear to be quite common in young athletic population, but improvements are achieved over time. At mid-adolescence, female athletes seem to have less POEs than males. Neither sport type nor RLLBM seem to influence postural orientation.

Sex differences in postural orientation errors and association with objective and patient-reported function in patients with ACL injury: an exploratory cross-sectional study

ObjectivesThere is limited research on sex differences in postural orientation (ie, alignment between body segments) in people with knee injury measured with a clinically applicable method. An understanding of the relationship between postural orientation and physical function may help guide decision making in rehabilitation. The aims were to evaluate (1) sex differences in visual assessment of Postural Orientation Errors (POEs) and (2) the association between POEs and objective and patient-reported physical function, in men and women with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR).MethodsTwenty-four women and 29 men (mean 26.7 (SD 6.5) years) with ACLR were included. Six POEs (lower extremity and trunk) were scored from a video of five tasks with varying difficulty to compute POE scores (total and subscores). Objective physical function was evaluated with the single-leg hop for distance and side hop. Patient-reported physical function was evaluated using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).ResultsWomen had significantly more POEs than men (median difference 5.5–25, p≤0.028). More POEs were associated with shorter hop distance and fewer side hops in women (rs= −0.425 to −0.518, p<0.038), but not in men (rs<0.301, p>0.05). No associations were found between POE scores and PROMs, in either sex (rs< –0.246, p>0.05).ConclusionsWomen with ACLR seem to have more POEs compared with men, indicating worse postural orientation. More POEs were associated with worse hop performance, suggesting that POE scores may be used as criteria for rehabilitation progression. The lack of associations between POE scores and PROMs indicate that these measures complement each other.

Extended Version of a Test Battery for Visual Assessment of Postural Orientation Errors: Face Validity, Internal Consistency, and Reliability

Objective Undesirable postural orientation may be a risk factor for a second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate face validity, internal consistency, and interrater reliability of an extended version of a previous test battery for visual assessment of postural orientation errors (POEs) in patients during the late phase of rehabilitation following ACL reconstruction (ACLR) (ie, when they have initiated jumping exercises). Methods This study used a cross-sectional design. Fifty-three patients (45% women) in the late phase of ACLR rehabilitation performed 5 functional tasks of varying difficulty. POEs of the lower extremity and trunk were visually assessed from video and scored on a scale from 0 (good) to 2 (poor). Results The side-hop and 2 new POEs (femur medial to shank, femoral valgus) were added to the test battery after expert focus group discussions. Internal consistency was calculated for all tasks (α = .712–.823). Interrater reliability showed fair to substantial agreement for femur medial to shank and femoral valgus during all tasks (K = 0.31–0.815) and almost perfect agreement for side-hop (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.88). Conclusions The good internal consistency and reliability after adding side-hop, femur medial to shank, and femoral valgus suggests that this test battery is a suitable tool to quantify postural orientation throughout ACLR rehabilitation. Impact This test battery for visual assessment of POEs was evaluated in a heterogeneous group of patients in different phases of ACLR battery and can be used in clinical practice to measure POEs in patients with ACLR, including in the late phase of rehabilitation to return to sport. This study encourages research on more demanding tasks and additional POEs to cover the entire rehabilitation period after ACL injury or reconstruction.

Improving Sports Technique of Jaeger Salto on Uneven Bars Based on Biomechanical Indicators

This paper aims at improvement of key sports technique elements using kinematic and dynamic indicators of Jaeger salto on uneven bars during the training stages. The methods used in this research include analysis of the literature; evaluation of techniques of gymnastics exercises using algorithmic structural–systemic analysis of movement; video-computerised methods using ‘Pinnacle Studio’, ‘Kinovea’ and ‘Physics ToolKit’; movement postural orientation and evaluation of sports technique with complex coordination of movement structure; linear-branched programming of learning and improvement; and the ‘KyPlot’ program. Correlative analysis of the indicators of Jaeger salto and performances by 12–15-year-old gymnasts highlighted the connection between the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of sports techniques and the scores in competitions. Video-computerised methods, the method of movement postural orientation and algorithmic analysis of sports technique of Jaeger salto on uneven bars contributed to effective development of long-term learning programmes, improvement of technical execution and achievement of better performances. Keywords: Gymnastics, uneven bars, biomechanics, key elements, long-term programmes of learning, performance.