•  
  •  
 

Abstract

Balance, stability, and joint range of motion (ROM) are key attributes of athletic performance and asymmetries may increase injury risk, particularly in sports like wrestling that require high levels of bilateral mobility, strength, and dynamic stability. Identifying these trends during pre-season may help address asymmetries before competition. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine pelvic tilt alignment (PTA), along with upper- and lower-extremity ROM and stability in Division I (D1) male wrestlers during pre-season. METHODS: Twenty-three D1 collegiate male wrestlers (19.7 ± 1.1 y; 174.8 ± 6.7 cm; 80.6 ± 14.9 kg) completed the following tests as part of a pre-season screening: 1) upper and lower quadrant Y-Balance Tests (UQYBT and LQYBT, respectively) to assess stability and dynamic balance, 2) PTA using a caliper and digital inclinometer, 3) ROM for shoulder flexion (SF), internal rotation (SIR) and external rotation (SER), and ROM for hip internal rotation (HIR) and external rotation (HER) using a goniometer. Arm and leg length were measured to determine UQYBT and LQYBT composite scores. Paired t-tests were conducted to compare dominant (D) and non-dominant (ND) limb scores for PTA and all stability and ROM measures. All analyses were performed using SPSS version 30 (IBM Corp) with significance set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences between D and ND limbs were observed for PTA, HIR, and HER. The D limb demonstrated greater PTA (D: 8.70 ± 3.75 vs. ND: 7.14 ± 2.23; t[22] = 2.34, p = 0.03) and HIR (D: 44.06 ± 12.94 vs. ND: 39.60 ± 11.91; t[22] = 3.22, p = 0.004), whereas the ND limb exhibited greater HER (D: 40.40 ± 10.29 vs. ND: 43.99 ± 12.05; t[22] = -2.05, p = 0.03). No significant differences were observed in UQYBT and LQYBT across all reach directions or composite scores (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The significant asymmetries for shoulder and hip ROM in the presence of symmetrical UQYBT and LQYBT scores suggest the PTA asymmetry may be the result of ROM differences between D and ND limbs. This may be an important consideration for strength and conditioning professionals to address in preparation for increased training volume before the competitive season. Future research is needed to explore if these trends in PTA and ROM asymmetry increase injury risk or impact performance metrics in D1 wrestlers.

Download

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.