Slackline Training for Balance and Strength Promotion

Abstract

The prevalence of sustaining a sport injury is high in adults. Deficits in postural control/muscle strength represent important injury-risk factors. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a specific type of balance training, i. e. slackline training, followed by detraining on balance and strength performance. Twenty-seven adults participated in this study and were assigned to an intervention (age 22.8±3.3 yrs) or a control group (age 23.9±4.4 yrs). The intervention group participated in 4 weeks of slackline training on nylon webbings. Detraining lasted 4 weeks. Tests included the measurement of (a) total centre of pressure displacements during one-legged standing on a balance platform and during the compensation of a perturbation impulse, (b) maximal torque and rate of force development (RFD) of the plantar flexors on an isokinetic device, and (c) jumping height on a force platform. After training, no significant interaction effects were observed for variables of static/dynamic postural control, maximal torque, and jumping height. Training-induced improvements were found for RFD. After the withdrawal of the training stimulus, RFD slightly decreased. Given that the promotion of balance and strength is important for injury prevention, changes in RFD only might not be sufficient to produce an injury-preventive effect.

sensorimotor training - postural sway - rate of force development - jumping height

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