Postural stability decreases in elite young soccer players after a competitive soccer match

Objective: To investigate the effects of an official soccer match on postural stability in youth elite soccer players. Design: Single-group pre-post design. Setting: Competitive soccer match. Participants: Twenty elite U-19 male soccer players (mean age: 17.7 +/- 1.0 years) of which 11 completed the full experimental set-up. Main outcome measures: Postural stability evaluated by unilateral stance tests for dominant and non-dominant lower limbs on a force plate under two visual conditions: eyes opened (EO) and eyes closed (EC). Results: After the match, the centre of gravity (CoG) sway velocity with EO increased on the dominant and non-dominant limbs (median [interquartile range], 0.90 degrees/s [0.60-1.10] vs. 1.10 degrees/s [0.60-1.60]; and 0.70 degrees/s [0.50-0.90] vs 1.00 degrees/s [0.70-1.30]; respectively; p < 0.05). The CoG sway velocity with eyes closed did not change pre- to post-match. Conclusions: The soccer match decreased the postural stability only when the assessment was conducted with eyes open. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.