Investigating postural equilibrium of individuals with different athletic skill levels

Human body is an inherently unstable unless human postural control system continuously maintains body balance and prevents it from falling. The capabilities of this system may vary in individuals depending on their motor skill, pathology cognitive load and task difficulties. This study aims to investigate human postural control of three groups of individuals with different athletic skill levels. These groups consisted of dancers, undergraduate students with active life style (five to eight hours of exercise a week) and students with less active lifestyle (less than two hours of exercise a week). Four experiments were conducted to examine the stability of these individuals and to determine their postural control on tandem stance with eyes open and eyes closed on a force plate and on a dynamic platform. The experimental results revealed that all subject exhibited poor postural control when standing on the dynamic platform, particularly in the absence of visual cue. They also indicated that dancers and students with active lifestyle generally have better postural control than students with less active lifestyle.