Quiet standing postural sway of 10- to 13-year-old, national-level, female acrobatic gymnasts

The aim of the study was to determine whether 10- to 13-year-old, national-level, female acrobatic gymnasts present a different quiet standing postural control (with and without visual cues) than untrained female peers.The mean velocity of the center of pressure (in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions) was computed from 60-s long quiet-standing trials on a stationary force plate in fifteen 10- to 13-year-old female acrobatic gymnasts and thirteen sex- and age-matched non-athletes. A two-way repeated measures ANOVA (acrobatic gymnasts vs. non-athletes and eyes open vs. eyes closed) was used for the anterior-posterior and mediallateral COP mean velocity. The relation between subjects' body mass and COP mean velocity was tested with the used Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient.Postural sway (represented by COP mean velocity) was not significantly different between the acrobatic gymnasts and the non-athletes ( p0.05), except for the faster medial-lateral sway in eyes-open conditions in the acrobatic gymnasts ( p0.05). The gymnasts' body mass negatively correlated with their anterior-posterior sway velocity in both visual conditions (eyes open: r = -0.7; eyes closed: r = -0.6) and with medial-lateral sway velocity during eyes-closed trials (r = -0.5; p0.05).Results of the study indicate that in quiet standing postural control 10- to 13-year-old acrobatic gymnasts did not make use of their trained abilities. Heavier gymnasts might have been more stable than lighter ones during quiet standing.