Acute Effect of Kinesio Taping on Balance, Agility, and Jumping Performance in Tennis Players

Background. Kinesio is an elastic therapeutic agent used to cure sports injuries. The review of the literature revealed numerous studies on the usage of Kinesio tape while treating injuries, but it may also be used regularly in sports branches to improve sports performance parameters. Objectives. This study aimed to analyze the acute effect of Kinesio taping on balance, agility, and jump performance among 8-12 age-group tennis players. Methods. The study voluntarily included 22 tennis players (age 10,32 +/- 0,95 years, sports ages 3,43 +/- 0,82 years, stature 143,21 +/- 5,66 cm, body weight 39,73 +/- 5,92 kg, body-mass index 19,33 +/- 2,39 kg/m2). Physiotherapist affixed Kinesio tape to the participants' dominant ankle peroneal muscles using the muscle technique to assess the effects of taping. Measurements took place as a pre-test before the taping and a post-test after the taping. The measured parameters were the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT), T-Agility Test (TAT), and Vertical Jump Test (VJT). The study used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version for IBM, 23.0 programs for the data analysis. Results. As a result, the test results with Kinesio tape (with KT) were statistically and significantly better (p<0.05) when comparing the balance, agility, and jump tests with and without KT cleaved to the peroneal muscles. Conclusion. The study concluded that the Kinesio tape application onto the peroneal muscles by the appropriate muscle technique in 8-12 age-group tennis players had a statistically significant effect on balance, agility, and vertical jump performances.