EFFECT OF HIP ADDUCTORS ON BASKETBALL PLAYERS BALANCE

Abstract

The functional evaluation of athletes is the sports physiotherapist’s initial opportunity to identify dysfunctions and muscle imbalance. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between basketball players’ shortening hip adductors with Patrick’s Test and their balance and coordination with the Shark Skill Test. Methods: We tested 65 healthy active basketball players in Basketball Club “Rilski sportist” – Samokov and the National Bulgarian Basketball Team. The athletes were divided into 2 groups: 22 players in the first Control Group with average 20.9 years and 21 youth players in the second Group with average 15.6 years. They were observed voluntarily in 2016.The 2 tests were applied at least 12 hours after the training. The shortness of hip adductors was assessed with Patrick’s Test and balance and coordination skills - with Shark Skill Test. Results: The results from the Shark Skill Test on the left and on the right lower limb demonstrated statistically significant better time and fewer mistakes among 1G basketball players (average 20.9 years) with shorter left and right adductors than these with normal adductors’ elasticity. In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences among the youth athletes. Conclusion: Summarizing the results, it is clear that the basketball play causes the shortening of the hip adductors of men and teenagers. In this aspect, it is important that the asymmetry of the adductor elasticity in both groups does not lead to statistically significant differences in the duration and mistakes during performance of the Shark skill test. In our opinion, it is necessary to expand the study by applying physiotherapy for the shortened hip adductors and track changes in the implementation of the Shark Skill Test before and after treatment.

Keywords

• basketball players
• patrick’s test
• shark skill test