Aim. Previous work has suggested that the level of activity and the type of sport both may have a major impact on postural control. But few authors have undertaken studies to compare the effects of different type of sport on static and dynamic balance. The aim of this study was to compare static and dynamic balance among athletes competing or training in swimming, soccer, basketball and gymnastic. Methods. Forty female student-athletes (10 swimmers, age=23.3±1.6 years, weight=55.5±4.4 kg and height=163.50±5.46 cm; 10 soccer players, age=22.8±1.4 years, weight=52.9±4.8 kg and height=160.60±5.12 cm; 10 basketball players, age=21.6±1.0 years, weight=57.4±6.2 kg and height=165.50±6.75 cm; and 10 gymnasts, age=14.3±0.4 years, weight=49.7±3.9 kg and height=155.20±7.75 cm) participated in this study. Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) and Star Excursion Balance Test (SEBT) were used to evaluate static and dynamic balance, respectively. The analysis of variance was performed twice, once for each static and dynamic balance and the Tukey model was used for multiple comparisons to help control for inflation of alpha. Results. The results of this study showed that female swimmers displayed lower static balance compared to gymnasts (P=0.002) and soccer players (P=0.04), and basketball players demonstrated lower dynamic balance compared to gymnasts (P=0.008). Conclusion. We observed low level of balance among basketball players and swimmers and this may be a strong predictor of future ankle sprains between these athletes. Therefore we suggest that athletic trainers and coaches should perform a regular screening programs using the balance tests of BESS and SEBT, and assess the athletes balance.
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