Commentary on "Dynamic postural stability in young adolescent male and female athletes".

PURPOSE To investigate dynamic postural stability performance of young adolescent athletes. METHODS Eighty-nine male and 81 female athletes participated. Each participant performed 3 trials of the anterior, posterior-medial, and posterior-lateral reach directions of the Star Excursion Balance Test on each limb. Distance achieved for each direction was expressed as a percentage of leg length, with the composite reach distance of these directions being used for statistical analysis. RESULTS No significant interaction effect for sex and limb dominance (P > .05) was found, nor was a significant main effect for sex or limb dominance (P > .05) observed. Notably, the composite reach distance achieved by both male and female athletes was less than 94% of leg length, a value that has previously been identified for increased injury risk in adolescent athletes. CONCLUSION Further longitudinal research is needed to fully understand how dynamic postural stability changes over adolescence.