Effect of Professional Training on Postural Stability in Classical Ballet Dancers

To clarify an impact of professional training on postural stability, research that evaluated both static and dynamic stability in ballet dances and age-matched control group was performed. Spontaneous center of foot pressure (COP) excursions during quiet stance and a forward maximum voluntary leaning (FMVL) range were studied in 17 female dancers, and 23 women - students of the Academy of Physical Education in Katowice. Characteristics of sway and a forward maximal voluntary body lean were acquired while the subjects were standing quiet with eyes open (EO) and with eyes closed (EC). A greater sway in anteroposterior direction was observed in ballet group, indicating that their static balance might be decreased by a training. Eyes closure in the dancers resulted in additional increase of the postural sway. Their FMVL range, however, was significantly wider to compare with the control subjects and it appeared to be correlated with the mediolateral sway path length. The study documents functional and adaptive changes in the upright stance stability in ballet dancers due to their balance and movement coordination training. The training imposed new biomechanical constraints that resulted in several paradoxical effects: a negligence of the anteroposterior sway control associated with evidently improved dynamic