This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction, Postural control, The effects of sensorimotor training (balance training), Conclusion, References. Human stance and locomotion are basically related to the ability of balance and the control of posture. It is a great challenge to balance a CoG with a height of approximately 90-110cm in adults over a small area of support. This can easily be seen when balance is impaired due to vestibular deterioration after accidents or due to selective loss of sensory feedback under pathological conditions. In order to meet the biomechanical requirements of stance and locomotion, it is the major task of the muscles encompassing the ankle, knee, and hip joints to provide adequate forces for appropriate joint stiffness. Hovvever, postural control is not only relevant to avoid loss of balance but also to provide a basis for the execution of other movements. Specifically, under dynamic conditions, when rapid movement changes are important and when disturbances from external sources (such as opponents in various sports disciplines) have to be compensated, a sound control of posture is highly relevant to allow the execution of goal-directed actions. It has been shown that training of balance has a major impact to reduce incidence rates of joint injuries. Especially, sprain injuries at the ankle joint as well as cruciate ligament ruprures at the knee joint can effectively be reduced when subjects perform balance training in parallel or additive to their normal athletic training. Thus, training of balance control seems to be beneficial to improve motor control in general so that intra- and intermuscular coordination avoids the occurrence of injuries in demanding situations in which the organism is prone to overload.
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