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3/22/2016 Methods of Postural Assessment Used for Sports Persons

double­sided dribbling group. On the last day of training i.e. on the 67th day, post­test images of the children were
again captured by using the same procedure as that which was used for the pre­test images. The results revealed
significant differences in the posttest values of shoulder asymmetry, chest asymmetry and dorsal angle between the
two groups. The posttest values of the dorsal angle were found out to be 154.9±4.4° and 154.2±4.9° for the single­
sided and double­sided dribbling groups, respectively. Similarly, the post test values of the chest asymmetry and
shoulder asymmetry were found out to be 1.33±0.3° and 0.95±0.3° and 1.49±0.3° and 0.96±0.2° for the former
and latter groups respectively. The authors advocated the use of double­sided dribbling exercises during the
training, instead of only single­sided exercises, since the latter were found to cause shoulder and chest asymmetries.

Scientific evidence for postural evaluation of gymnasts is noteworthy. In a study which was conducted by Radaš
and Bobic [2], 17 postural variables were measured in rhythmic gymnasts and non­trainees and a greater frequency
of a poor kyphotic posture in non­trainees and a poor scoliotic posture in gymnasts were reported. Guimarães et al.,
[9] had selected 84 female students who were aged 8­12 years, to differentiate between the posture of 38 Olympic
gymnasts and 46 non­athlete children, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Subjects were photographed from front,
back and right sides with the camera being placed 2.56 metres away from a square board. The subjects stood as
close as possible to this board in such a way that there was no contact between subject and board. Prior to taking
the photographs, certain anatomical landmarks were marked by using adhesive tags. The photographs which were
thus obtained were analyzed by using Corel Draw, v.11.0 software. The results revealed that the gymnasts
possessed increased lumbar hyperlordosis and a better aligned lower limb (a decreased pelvic asymmetry, knee
valgus and medial rotation of femur). Also, anterior pelvic tilt was found to be more prevalent in this group.

When 28 male university players were assessed for posture, it was found that the throwing arm always showed
presence of dropped shoulder in the participants. Out of 28 subjects, 9 had dropped shoulders. In this study, camera
was used to click photographs of the subjects from anterior, posterior and lateral views, while the subjects stood
against a postural grid. No correlation could be found out between shoulder posture and performance of the player.
The researchers recommended future studies which should be based on larger populations, so as to check whether
any correlation existed between shoulder posture and performance. They had also suggested evaluating the
postures of players who practise other sports [10].

Total 2,270 subjects were recruited by Wojtys et al., so as to measure their thoracic and lumbar angles. A total of
eight groups were there, namely: control group, track, volleyball, hockey, wrestling, football, swimming and
gymnastics. Subjects were photographed by using a camera after placing surface markers at T1, T10, L2 and S1
levels. A significant correlation was depicted between the total number of training hours per year and the degree of
thoracic curvature and lumbar curvature, i.e. more the number of training hours, higher were the values for thoracic
kyphosis and lumbar lordosis. Among all the groups of sports, gymnastics group demonstrated the highest thoracic
angle value (42.4±13.4 degrees), lumbar angle value (52.1±16.7 degrees) and training experience (439 hours per
year). Similarly, track group which had the least training experience (198 hours per year) yielded the lowest values;
29.5± 10.1 degrees and 33.5±17.0 degrees for thoracic angle and lumbar angle, respectively. The results revealed
that the non­athletic population had shown lesser values for thoracic and lumbar angles than the athletic population.
Mean values of the sagittal curvatures of the non­athletic group were, thoracic angle= 16.1±10.4 degrees and
lumbar angle= 17.6±15.6 degrees. Also, significant differences were found between the control group and each of
the sport. This finding suggested that playing sports placed an influence on the postures of the players [11].

Postures of female volleyball players (n=42) were compared with the postures of untrained girls (n=43) who were
aged 13­16 years. The results signified that volleyball players had greater kyphosis and lesser lordosis than their
untrained counterparts. Greater symmetries were found in the volleyball players for shoulder and pelvic positions as
compared to those seen in untrained girls. Also, the former had more asymmetrical shoulder blades and waist
triangles than the latter [12].

Radiographic method 3/7

The “gold standard” method that exists as of now is the radiographic method and it is one of the latest methods. But
its cost and risk of exposure towards harmful radiations promotes the use of non­invasive methods for the

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4064851/