THE USE OF NINTENDO Wii BALANCE BOARDS FOR REAL-TIME INVESTIGATION OF WEIGHT BEARING ASYMMETRY

Abstract

This study examined the effect of real-time feedback on dynamic weight bearing asymmetry (WBA). Fourteen elite footballers and 33 age-matched untrained males performed six squats with (VFB) and without visual WBA feedback. The squats were completed on two Nintendo Wii Balance Boards (40 Hz) with customised software. Significant reductions in WBA (p=0.007) with VFB was observed, with correlation analysis revealing that participants with higher levels of WBA generally had the greatest response to visual feedback (R=0.46, p = 0.001). However individual profiles indicated that 21% and 30% of participants in the trained and untrained groups WBA declined further with feedback. This acute response by some participants may reverse with further training, or may be due to differing learning preferences (e.g. auditory, kinaesthetic).