# Comparison of Postural Stability and Regulation among Male Athletes from Different Sports
## 4 Discussion  
Because different sports require different kinematics and kinetics to be competitive, we hypothesized that there would be differences in postural control between sports as well. More specifically, divers would present with better postural regulation compared to \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Test Position** & **Parameters** & **Age** & **Height** & **Weight** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**NO**} & ST & \(-\)0.20 & 0.15 & 0.02 \\  & WDI & \(-\)0.21 & 0.11 & 0.19 \\  & HEEL & 0.10 & 0.16 & 0.21 \\  & LEFT & \(-\)0.27 & \(-\)0.16 & \(-\)0.13 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**NC**} & ST & \(-\)0.09 & 0.15 & 0.12 \\  & WDI & \(-\)0.29 & 0.11 & 0.04 \\  & HEEL & 0.13 & 0.18 & 0.34 \\  & LEFT & \(-\)0.29 & \(-\)0.05 & \(-\)0.10 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**PO**} & ST & 0.25 & 0.11 & 0.30 \\  & WDI & \(-\)0.12 & 0.02 & \(-\)0.12 \\  & HEEL & \(-\)0.01 & 0.03 & 0.17 \\  & LEFT & \(-\)0.13 & 0.05 & 0.02 \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{**PC**} & ST & 0.07 & 0.43 & 0.34 \\  & WDI & \(-\)0.17 & 0.07 & \(-\)0.28 \\ \cline{1-1}  & HEEL & 0.08 & \(-\)0.09 & 0.26 \\ \cline{1-1}  & LEFT & \(-\)0.39 & \(-\)0.04 & \(-\)0.22 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Bivariate correlations (r) between anthropometrics and demographics with posture control parameters (ST, WDI, HEEL, LEFT) under four testing conditions (NO, NC, PO, PC). Figure 5: Weight distribution index between sports during four test conditions (NO, NC, PO, PC). Values are provided as mean and 95% CI. hockey and soccer players. This hypothesis was supported, as our results indicated that both ice hockey and soccer players had poorer posturographic performance compared to divers. This was especially prevalent during the more demanding postural positions that attempted to limit the somatosensory system by using an unstable surface and during the eyes closed tasks (PO, PC). Soccer players had their best postural stability under \"normal conditions\" (NO, NC). In return, the divers performed best under reduced somatosensory conditions (PO, PC). This result is not surprising since the sport-specific movements of divers and their subsequent postural control are much more demanding than soccer and hockey players, who are typically not required to produce aerial rotations. Our findings support previous research, which has suggested that more demanding test positions demonstrate greater between-group differences [20]. These results also partially support the findings of [PERSON] et al. [3], who assessed the postural stability of female athletes from a variety of sports and found that gymnasts had superior control over the athletes from the team-based sports. [PERSON] [21] used a stabilometer to assess dynamic balance and found that gymnasts had better postural control than soccer players and swimmers. Our results suggest that male athletes have similar postural control differences between sports. [PERSON] et al. [22] investigated 1724 asymptomatic individuals over the life span (6-97 years). The gender stratified findings of the multifactorial regression analysis revealed that age, mass, and height have a non-linear relationship with postural control. Similarly, other research has suggested that when using stabilometric parameters to assess postural control, clinicians should include anthropometric characteristics [23]. Previous research has also reported that postural control related to physical characteristics is different between sexes [24]. For example, taller and heavier women present with less postural stability. Conversely, taller and heavier men actually present with better postural control. As such, some research has suggested considering subsequent factors when testing, such as activity level [25], which is why our study only tested elite-level athletes. The weight distribution index had the smallest differences between sports. Ice hockey players showed the highest medio-lateral weight distribution in three out of four test positions. The divers presented with the best stability indicator during the more difficult test conditions.