Background Balance and jumping mechanisms are important to prevent injuries in sports such as handball, which require immediately change of direction, jumping and landing strategy. Strong proximal stability is required for accurate jump performance and stability. Objective To investigate the relationship between gluteus medius strength and static, dynamic balance, horizontal and vertical jump performance. Design Prospective field trial study. Setting: Elite women handball players in Turkish Handball Super League. Patients (or Participants): Forty-two elite women handball players from Turkish Handball Super League were included in this study. Interventions (or assessment of risk factors) The Lafayette Hand-Held Dynamometer was used to determine the strength of the gluteus medius. Single leg hop (SLH) test was used for horizontal jump and Lafayette Vertimetric device was used for vertical jump (VJ) evaluation. Y Balance Test (YBT) was used for the dynamic balance with direction of anterior, posteriomedial, posteriolateral and Standing Stork Test (SST) with eyes closed for the measurement of static balance. Main outcome measurements Gluteus medius strength with hand dynamometer compared with YBT, SST, VJ and SLH tests.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
40
Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation
Ankara, Etlik, Turkey (Türkiye)
Muscle strength
GMed strength was assessed with the use of a Lafayette Manual Muscle Tester (Lafayette Instruments; Lafayette, Indiana, USA).
Time frame: 2 weeks
Horizontal Jumping Performance
Lower extremity horizontal jumping was measured using the single leg hop (SLH) test as previously described
Time frame: 2 weeks
Vertical Jumping Performance
To measure the single-leg vertical jump (SLVJ), the participants stood on the ground with their foot flat distributing their weight evenly on both feet.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Dynamic Balance
The Y-Balance Test (YBT) was used to dynamic balance
Time frame: 2 weeks
Static Balance
The Stork balance test (SBT) was used to measure static balance performance
Time frame: 2 weeks
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