The Impact of Flexibility on Balance in Rifle Athletes

Author

Ileia NagelkirkFollow

College

Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences (BCAS)

Date of Last Revision

2023-05-03 14:33:29

Major

Exercise Science - PrePhysical Therapy

Honors Course

5550:430

Number of Credits

2

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Date of Expected Graduation

Fall 2019

Abstract

Research has shown that there may be a connection between flexibility and balance when evaluating fall risk in older adults and flexibility’s effect on a balance test (Emilio, Hita-Contreras, Jiménez-Lara, Latorre-Román, & Martínez-Amat, 2014); Overmoyer & Reiser, (2015). Balance is an important component of many sport movements, and has been shown to be particularly important in shooting performance in both novice and Olympic rifle athletes (Mononen, Konttinen, Viitasalo, Era, 2007; Ball, Best, Wrigley, 2003). The purpose of this study was to find if there was a relationship between a rifle athlete’s flexibility and their balance ability, to determine if flexibility training would be beneficial to incorporate into their training program. Sixteen participants (nine females, seven males) went through two trials of ten different range of motion measurement. Between range of motion trials the participants conducted the Postural Stability Test on the Biodex Stability System (BBS, Biodex, Inc., Shirley, New York) to determine their overall stability index, a measure of their balance. The range of motion values were compared to the overall stability index. No significant correlations were found when evaluating all the participants. The male participants alone showed a stronger correlation than females when evaluating the maximum and minimum measurements of flexibility together. The lack of strong correlations between flexibility measurements and balance would require further research to determine if there is a stronger relationship between flexibility and balance.

Research Sponsor

Rachele M. Kappler

First Reader

Laura Richardson

Second Reader

Ronald Otterstetter

Honors Faculty Advisor

Rachele M. Kappler

Recommended Citation

Nagelkirk, Ileia, "The Impact of Flexibility on Balance in Rifle Athletes" (2019). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1024.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1024