Sensory organisation and reactive balance control of amateur rugby players: A cross-sectional study

Purpose: This study compared the sensory organisation and reactive balance control of amateur rugby players and a control group. Methods: Forty-one amateur rugby players (22 males: 19 females; mean height ± SD = 168.8 ± 8.8 cm; mean weight ± SD = 63.9 ± 12.5 kg) and 31 control participants (22 males: 9 females; mean height ± SD = 171.5 ± 10.3 cm; mean weight ± SD = 63.8 ± 10.3 kg) completed the study. Their sensory organisation and standing balance performance were evaluated using a sensory organisation test (SOT), and their reactive balance performance was quantified using a motor control test (MCT). The SOT equilibrium scores (ES) and sensory ratios and the MCT motor response latencies were the major outcome measures. Results: The results revealed that compared to the controls, amateur rugby players had lower SOT ESs under different sensory environments (P < .001, Ƞ²p  = 0.142–0.254) and prolonged reactive motor response times in the MCT (P < .001, d = 0.890). The vestibular and visual ratios were also lower in the rugby group (P = .005, Ƞ²p  = 0.107 and 0.108, respectively). No significant difference was found in the somatosensory ratio (P = .853, Ƞ²p < 0.001) between the two groups. Conclusions: Amateur rugby players demonstrated inferior standing balance performance compared to their non-trained counterparts. They relied less heavily on vestibular and visual inputs to maintain standing balance under different sensory environments. In addition, they reacted more slowly to postural disturbance, reflecting their suboptimal reactive balance ability in standing. Copyright © 2016 Taylor & Francis.