Investigating mobility in elite adolescent footballers using the TE3 balance stick- Are there imbalances?

Abstract

This investigation was carried out using the TE3 balance stick, and the TE3 13 protocol. The TE3 balance stick is a device for measuring mobility across the body's degrees of freedom. The device is used to measure joint angles easily and quickly in the field, the readout of the joint angle is by way of an LED display. The data can be then recorded quickly on a datasheet or collected within the application itself. The idea behind the TE3 balance stick is to give an objective measurement tool to exercise practitioners. Objective is a term defined as "not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts", therefore it should be free of personal bias. Therefore, the TE3 balance stick aims to present a bias-free testing device. The aim of the study is to identify the mobility capabilities of adolescent footballers, using the TE3 13 protocol. Thereby, helping with research and development of a more efficient and efficacious protocol in the future. The participants were selected as they represent a group of elite performers and enable the collection of data from this sample group. The average age of players was 16.5 ± 2.5 years, weight 55 ± 15kg. Each participant completed the TE3 13 test protocol once, please see appendix 1, for all details regarding the testing protocol. To test the hypothesis that imbalances were present between the left and right sides, two tailed t-test were performed to see if there was any statistical significance between the differences in test scores between the left and right side. The two tailed t-test thresholds were set at an alpha of 0.05, the statistics highlighted a number of statistically significant results for the following tests: Hamstring-calf (significant correlation with p<0.01**), Hamstring (p <0.05*) and shank (p<0.05*). The current study should be replicated in order to ascertain whether or not the trends in data are present in the general footballing population and more specifically within the adolescent population that was hereby tested. The results are as yet inconclusive. Discussion: In practice, the TE3 13 protocol offers an easy and effective way for exercise practitioners and coaches to assess their athlete's mobility. It is time-efficient and can be used in the team environment as part of testing and assessment. The TE3 balance stick should be used with caution, and by a well-trained professional who understands how to use the stick effectively. The TE3 13 protocol required further improvement to make it a more well-rounded composite testing protocol. With the addition of a few exercises and movement patterns which introduce a more holistic screening protocol, and with refinement in the methodology the TE3 13 protocol may offer a valid and reliable composite testing procedure in the future. At this stage, it requires further studies of scientific merit be performed, and the validity and reliability of the stick must be ascertained more rigorously and scientifically. Further studies should be carried out to identify the efficacy of the stick itself, a measure against an already valid method would be ideal in practice and would be feasible if performed correctly. However, the testing methodology hereby used was the same as the normal protocol itself and as such is lacking reliability and validity, even if the tests included in this protocol are reliable and valid alone, they need to be researched and refined in the current state. For future direction we would recommend that the protocol be adjusted to meet ordering criterion. While the study should be replicated in a larger group to gain normative data, which would allow for a greater comparison of results. The main research target should be a comparison study of the TE3 balance stick and goniometer to test the reliability of the stick against a reliable measuring device.