EFFECTS OF PROPRIOCEPTIVE TRAINING ON THE STABILITY OF THE ANKLE IN VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS

Introduction: In sports where there is contact between athletes such as volleyball, sprain is the most common injury and the ankle is the joint most affected when compared with the others, causing major deficits such as joint instability. Proprioceptive training programs have been widely used to minimize these issues. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a proprioceptive training program on ankle joint stability using the Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) in volleyball athletes. Methods: A total of 11 volleyball players from a multi-sport club in Porto Alegre/RS/Brazil were evaluated through an assessment test for stability of the ankle joint, SEBT. The athletes underwent a proprioceptive training program consisting of six exercises that worked proprioception at different levels of difficulty for four weeks and this test was administered pre and post-intervention through the proprioceptive training program of the athletes. Results: Quantitative variables were described by mean and standard deviation, and the study of normality of the variables was described by the Shapiro-Wilk test. Categorical variables were described by absolute and relative frequencies. The paired t-test was used to compare the means of both ankles pre and post-intervention. The level of significance was 5% (p <= 0.05) and analyses were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 18. The results of the SEBT test pre and post proprioceptive intervention showed a significant difference in six directions for the right ankle and five for the left ankle. Conclusion: A proprioceptive training program seems to be effective for increasing joint stability which is essential for volleyball athletes at risk of ankle sprains that cause chronic instabilities.