THE COMPARISON OF BALANCE ABILITY BETWEEN GYMNASTS AND NON- ATHLETES

Abstract

This present study investigated the balance ability between elite gymnasts and non-athletes. The gymnasts group consisted of ten elite gymnasts, and the second group consisted of ten non- athletes. There were two tests in the study: the static balance test and the dynamic balance test. The equipment used in this study is Kinesthetic Ability Training (K.A.T.) balance board. The results of this study were analyzed by a t-test in order to detect the difference between two groups in balance standing time on one leg with eyes closed, Static Balance Index (SBI) and Dynamic Balance Index (DBI). In the static balance tests, the SBI of gymnasts group was significantly smaller than that of non-athlete group (p < .05). In the dynamic balance test, there was also a significant difference in the DBI between two groups (p < .05).