INFLUENCE OF ANKLE TAPING ON DYNAMIC BALANCE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the effect of ankle taping on dynamic balance performance. Eighteen recreational athletes without any previous ankle sprain history performed six star excursion balance tests on each leg; randomly three trials with taped ankles and three trials without. A three-layer modified closed-basket inelastic taping technique was used. Normalised (by leg length) reaching distance was measured. It was found 1. Movement direction significantly influenced normalised reaching distance (p<0.01); 2.No significant difference in performance between taped and un-taped conditions (p>0.05). Ankle taping did not affect dynamic balance performance therefore taping could be used without risk of negative impact on balance, and protect from ankle sprain for sportspersons.