Bilateral difference between lower limbs in children practicing laterally dominant vs. non‐laterally dominant sports
Yanfei Guan, Shannon S. D. Bredin, Jack Taunton, Qinxian Jiang, Lina Wu, Kai Kaufman, Nana Wu, Darren E. R. Warburton
Abstract
ABSTRACT Bilateral asymmetry in lower‐limb power and dynamic balance has been associated with increased risk of sport injury, whereas there is a lack of research examining this asymmetry for child athletes. Twenty‐eight fencers (19 boys and 9 girls, aged 9.71 ± 1.08 years) and 28 Taekwondo athletes (19 boys and 9 girls, aged 9.71 ± 1.08 years) were examined on the single‐leg jump and Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) performance. A mixed model design ANOVA (2 [Sex: Boys, Girls] × 2 [Sport group: Fencing, Taekwondo] × 2 [Limb: Dominant, Non‐dominant Leg]) was conducted to examine for difference for each test. There was a significant main effect of limb on hop and triple hop distance ( p < 0.05). A significant limb by sex interaction ( p = 0.000) was shown for the single‐leg countermovement jump (CMJ) performance, wherein a bilateral difference was only shown in boys. In SEBT, a main effect ( p = 0.007) of limb was identified for posterolateral (PL) reach distance. A limb by sex interaction ( p = 0.009) was also shown for posteromedial (PM) reach distance, wherein a bilateral difference was only shown in girls. These findings suggest that child athletes in both laterally dominant and non‐laterally dominant sports showed inter‐limb asymmetry of leg power and dynamic balance. Sex should be an important consideration when evaluating bilateral difference of leg power and dynamic balance for child athletes.