Evaluation of posture in sports performance

The aim of this paper was to study a number of 34 athletes practicing different kinds of sports activities, in order to determine whether they have developed a certain spine deficiency and if there is any association between the type of sports they practice and the postural changes they develop.

Methods: In this study we have enrolled 12 members of the men’s volleyball team of the “West University of Timisoara”, 9 members of the men’s football team ASU Politehnica Timișoara, and 13 members of the men’s basketball team BC SCM Timișoara. Postural analysis was carried out with the Zebris CMS-10 from the mechatronics department of the Politehinca University Timisoara, a device that determines the spatial coordinates of the spinous processes. From the obtained data we have established the angle of the spinal deviation both sagittal and frontal, in a similar manner as with the Cobb method.

Results: We have observed a reduction in the spinal curvature in volleyball players; 8 out of 12 had values under the normal range that can in time lead to a rigid spine. 7 players from the basketball team presented values out of the normal range for kyphosis and 8 of them for lordosis, while all except two of the team players present with a front plane deviation of the spine. From the evaluation of the football players from ASU Politehnica Timișoara we cannot generalize a deviation in the sagittal plane, but all of them present deviations in the frontal plane.

Conclusion: Professional athletes can also present postural changes determined by the positions they most frequently adopt depending on the type of sports they practice.