The Effect of Application of Asymmetry Evaluation in Competitive Sports: A Systematic Review
Zixiang Gao
Abstract
It has been widely asserted that the two side human body asymmetries are detrimental to the health and performance alike of athletes in training and competition. The current systematic review aims to promote a more refined understanding of bilateral asymmetry in competitive sports and explore the application of asymmetric assessment to performance, injury and rehabilitation. A systematic review of the articles was undertaken using the Web OF Science, ScienceDirect and PubMed databases in May 2022, retrieving a total of 386 studies published in all years. The study quality scoring system developed was used by two evaluators to assess the grading article quality. Twenty-two articles fulfilled our eligibility criteria. The average quality assessment rate for selected articles in this systematic review is 94.4 ± 6.3% (from 0.78 to 1.00). Articles investigated the effect of the application of asymmetry evaluation in one of the following sports types: gait related sports, upper limb sports, ball sports and multifarious sports. Asymmetry has a positive effect on physical performance in athletes engaged in upper limb movements, but it may lead to potential risk of injures in gait-related sports. When examining bilateral asymmetries among athletes in multifarious sports, the studies were primarily used to investigate the relationship between injury rehabilitation and return-to sport, with mixed findings. Further research needs to determine the possible injury-inducing threshold of asymmetry in multifarious sports and the detailed relationship between bilateral asymmetry and sports performance.