TABLE 1.

Neuromuscular control of postural stability and functional movement and/or athlete performance.

Authors	Study design	Participants	Main variables	Main findings	Postural stability control and athlete performance
Relationship between postural stability and functional movement and/or athletic performance
Ball et al., 2003	20 shots under competition conditions	6 elite shooters	AMTI LG6-4 force plate for measuring body sway parameters; SCATT shooting analysis system for measuring aim point fluctuation and shooting performance	Body sway is related to performance in shooters; Body sway is related to aim point fluctuation in shooters; As body sway increases, performance decreases and aim point fluctuation increases for most relationships	Body sway and aim point fluctuation are essential in elite rifle shooting; Highly individual-specific are performance errors
Behm et al., 2005	Relationships between hockey skating speed and specific performance measures	30 competitive junior and secondary school hockey players	Off-ice measures including squat jump, drop jump, a 40-yd sprint, 1 RM leg press, flexibility, and balance ratio; Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the dominant vastus lateralis and biceps femoris while skating, performing a change-of-direction drill, stopping, and turning	There are significant correlations between sprint and balance tests and the skating performance; There are significant correlations between balance and players under the age of 19 years but not those over 19 years old	Significant correlations with balance suggest that stability may be associated with skating speed in younger players; Low correlations with drop jumps suggest that short contact time stretch-shortening activities is not an essential factor; EMG activities illustrate very high activation levels associated with maximum skating speed
Mononen et al., 2007	30 shots in the standing position at a distance of 10 m from the target	58 right-hand male conscripts from the Finnish Air Force Communications School	Postural balance and rifle stability assessed in terms of anteroposterior and mediolateral sway velocity of the CoP movement, and horizontal and vertical deviation of the aiming point	Shooting accuracy is related to postural balance and rifle stability, but only at the inter-individual level; There is a correlation between shooting score and behavioral performance variables; Postural balance is related to the shooting accuracy both directly and indirectly through rifle stability	High postural balance and minimal movement of the gun barrel are essential determinants of successful shooting performance among novice shooters
Edıs et al., 2016	Relationships between postural control variables and technical performance in different small-sided games (SSGs) - 1:1, 2:2 and 3:3	16 trained male amateur soccer players	Measuring of postural sway in anterior–posterior and medial–lateral directions during one-legged and both-legged quiet-stance using a Tekscan HR Mat™	There is a relationship between postural control and soccer-specific technical variables in 1:1, 2:2 and 3:3 SSGs	Higher postural control levels are essential variables that affect success in technical skills under rival pressure and suddenly changing conditions
Ihalainen et al., 2016a	A simulated air rifle shooting competition series	40 international- and national-level shooters	Optoelectronic device for measuring of shooting score and aiming point trajectory variables; Force platform for measuring of postural balance variables	Stability of hold, cleanness of triggering, timing of triggering and aiming accuracy are predictors of shooting performance, accounting for 81% of the variance in a shooting score; Direct effect of postural balance on performance is small, accounting for <1% of the variance in a shooting score; Indirect effects could be greater through a more stable holding ability that correlate with postural balance	Aiming accuracy, cleanness of triggering, and timing of triggering contribute to shooting score in elite-level air rifle shooters
Ihalainen et al., 2016b	Simulated series of air-rifle shooting-competition in three consecutive seasons	17 elite shooters	Optoelectronic shooting device for measuring of shooting score and aiming-point-trajectory variables; Force platform for measuring of postural-balance variables	Seasonal mean test results in stability of hold and cleanness of triggering are related to competition performances; Changes in stability of hold and cleanness of triggering are related to changes in performances; Cleanness of triggering is related to postural balance in shooting direction, whereas stability of hold is related to balance in cross-shooting direction	Stability of hold, cleanness of triggering, and postural balance affect performance in both training and competition situations in athletes at the elite level
Verhoeven and Newell, 2016	50 basketball free-throws with both their dominant and non-dominant hand	25 male college students with a range of skill levels	The free-throw shot recorded at 120 Hz through 8 VICON Bonita Optical motion capture cameras	Trial-to-trial variance in release parameters as well as postural stability of the shooter, synchronization of postural movement and ball release are strong predictors of performance, with non-elite shooters having a higher mean and variability of CoM speed at the time of ball release; The synchronization between the time of peak CoM and the time of ball release increases as a function of skill level and hand dominance, with the better performers releasing the ball more closely to the time of CoM peak height	The control of the trial-to-trial variability along the solution manifold of release parameters, as well as the coordination of postural control and ball release properties are important for shooting success changes as a function of skill level
Edıs et al., 2017	Relationships between parameters designating postural control levels and running speeds in SSG	16 youth soccer players	Measuring of postural sway in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions during one and both leg stance positions	There is a significant relationship between the running speeds of 0–6, 6–10 and 10–16 km.h–1 in 2 vs. 2 and 3 vs. 3 games	Combining practices that are designed to train balance with football specific exercises in a single training session can significantly contribute to athlete performance
Spratford and Campbell, 2017	The effect of postural stability pre- and post-arrow release, arrow length, flight time, draw force and clicker reaction time on scoring outcomes and the performance	39 recurve archers of an elite-level (23 male and 16 female) from four different countries prior to competition at a World Cup event	The CoP measurements 1 s prior to arrow release and 0.5 s post-arrow release using an AMTI force platform (1000 Hz); High-speed footage (200 Hz) for calculation of arrow flight time and flight score	Maximum sway speed, draw force and clicker reaction time are variables that predict performance of the shot; Higher bow draw force, reduced clicker reaction time and postural sway speed post-arrow release are predictors of higher scoring shots	The clicker time, draw force and mainly maximum sway speed post-arrow release play an important role in the scoring outcomes in elite-level recurve archery
Ihalainen et al., 2018	Factors determining performance in biathlon standing shooting at rest as well as after intense exercise	9 junior 8 national team biathletes	40 resting shots (REST) and 2 × 5 shots simulating the competition (LOAD) after 5 min of roller skiing at 95% of peak heart rate; Postural balance, aiming point trajectory and hit percentage measured from each shot	Cleanness of triggering (ATV) and vertical stability of hold (DevY) are the most important components affecting shooting performance both in REST and in LOAD; Postural balance, especially in shooting direction, is related to DevY and ATV	Cleanness of triggering and vertical holding ability are key factors in biathlon standing shooting performance; Postural balance especially in shooting direction is related to these shooting technical components; Athletes may be able to reduce the movement of the aiming point in triggering phase and in the holding phase by improving their postural stability
Caballero et al., 2021	Relationships between balance and tennis performance using linear and non-linear parameters through (1) the comparison of tennis players of different levels of expertise and ages and (2) the analysis of the association of balance and tennis serving speed and accuracy	106 recreational and expert male tennis players	Temporal dynamics of postural control during a balance task on an unstable surface analyzed through the mean velocity and the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFAV) of CoP	Traditional variables measuring balance performance only show differences according to age but not to sport performance; CoP show a reduction of auto-correlated variability with age in expert players; CoP dynamics is related to age and discriminates sport expertise	Sport experience induces balance adaptations that is characterized by a higher ability to perform postural adjustments; The lack of correlations indicates that balance measured with scattering variables under non-specific conditions is not a determinant of tennis serve performance
Lang and Zhou, 2021	60 shots under test conditions	12 elite athletes belonging to national team	Shooting score for indicating of performance; Footscan 1.0 force platform for measuring of postural balance variables; SCATT MX-02 optoelectronic training device for measuring of aiming technique parameters	Postural balance is negatively correlated with shooting score and aiming accuracy; Postural balance is positively correlated with the stability of hold and stability of triggering; There is a significant correlation between postural balance and performance, aiming accuracy and stability of hold for shooters; Postural balance is related to the stability of triggering for shooters; Postural balance is not significant with aiming time on an intra- and inter-individual basis	Postural balance is very important in aiming technique and shooting performance among elite rifle shooters
Opala-Berdzik et al., 2021	Differences in postural steadiness among young gymnasts practicing different disciplines, and their relation to the duration of their training experience, age, and their anthropometric characteristics	10 female artistic gymnasts, 10 female acrobatic gymnasts, and 10 female non-athletes	60-s quiet standing trials on a force platform with the eyes open and closed; Postural sway represented by directional components of CoP mean velocity	There are no differences in anterior-posterior (A-P) and medial-lateral (M-L) CoP mean velocities between the acrobatic and artistic gymnasts; The age, body height, body mass, duration of training experience, and maturity offset are negatively correlated with the A-P CoP mean velocity under eyes-open conditions in the artistic gymnasts; The body mass and BMI percentiles are negatively correlated with A-P and M-L CoP mean velocities under both visual conditions in the acrobatic gymnasts; The non-athletes’ CoP mean velocities are non-significantly correlated with their age and anthropometric measures under both visual conditions	The artistic gymnasts’ longer training experience, greater age, body height, body mass, and biological maturity are associated with better anterior-posterior postural steadiness when vision is available; The acrobatic gymnasts’ greater body mass and BMI percentiles are associated with better overall postural steadiness regardless of visual conditions; There are relationships between postural steadiness and discipline-specific training experience and anthropometric characteristics
Sarro et al., 2021	The relationship between bow stability and postural control in recurve archery according to shooting performance	8 archers who participated in national-level competitions, and trained four times a week	6 shot of arrows at a 13-m distant target; 3-dimensional position of one marker attached to the bow and the CoP position of the archer measured during the aiming phase, representing bow and archer displacement, respectively	Length of the CoP trajectory (DCoP), CoP displacement in the direction across the target (CoPY), and length of the bow trajectory (Dbow) are higher in the lowest than the highest scoring shot; There is a significant correlation between CoPX and vertical displacement of the bow (DZ) during the highest scoring shot, and between CoP and bow displacement in the direction towards/away from the target (CoPX and DX)	Synchronization between body and bow sway may influence the accuracy of the shot, suggesting that combined balance and bow stability training exercises would be beneficial to improve archery performance
Effect of sport-specific training on functional movement and/or athletic performance
Larue et al., 1989	The stability of body-gun up to the firing of a shot when shooting in standing position	2 novices and 2 experts in rifle shooting, 2 novices and 2 experts in biathlon	Electromyographic activity of the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius and deltoid muscles; Rifle oscillation and CoP displacements	Expert biathletes use a different strategy than expert rifle shooters; No significant pattern emerges from tests with novice rifle shooters	Rifle shooters and biathletes adapt characteristics of their disciplines
Aalto et al., 1990	A simulated race	10 competition shooters	Force platform for measuring postural stability with and without competition clothing	Stability is significantly better in shooters than in untrained controls without supportive clothing; The Romberg quotient is higher in shooters than in controls, suggesting that they use an increased amount of vestibular and proprioceptive cues to stabilize their posture	Assiduous training aimed to improve balance contributes to good postural stability in shooters
Era et al., 1996	Posture control while aiming 7.5 s preceding the shot	National top-level, national and amateur rifle shooters	Speed and amplitude of the center of forces (CoF) movement	Top-level male shooters stabilize their posture better than top-level female and national level male shooters, who are more stable than naive shooters; Experienced shooters stabilize their posture better during the last seconds preceding the shot, whereas there are no differences when the successive windows are compared with each other in naive shooters; Naive shooters have more pronounced CoF movement in the less successful trials; Not-efficient whole-body posture stabilization is not a reason for a poor result in top-level shooters	Postural control is better in trained athletes who can improve their stability during the last seconds preceding the shot; A good body stabilization is the prerequisite for good shooting performance
Bringoux et al., 2000	How motor skills experts requiring a good postural control perceive their body orientation with few gravity based sensory cues	5 expert gymnasts (4 males and 1 female) and 5 non-gymnast subjects (3 males and 2 females)	The body tilt when pitching at 0.05 deg.s–1 in conditions of body restriction (strapped and body cast altering the somatosensory cues); The Subjective Postural Vertical (SPV) starting from different angles of pitch tilt	There is a larger body tilt when totally restrained in the body cast in controls than in experts; Controls exhibit significant errors of SPV judgmentwhereas the experts are very precise	More informative are somatosensory than otolithic cues for the body orientation perception; The efficiency of otolithic and/or interoceptive inputs can be improved through a specific training to compensate for the lack of somatosensory cues
Asseman et al., 2004	Comparing the level of performance and postural control of elite gymnasts in postures specifically trained or not	15 elite gymnasts	Surface and mean velocity of the CoP motions	The subject’s level of postural performance and control in one condition is not correlated to the corresponded level in another condition; Postural ability of elite gymnasts in the handstand is not transferable to upright standing postures	Body movements and muscular force regulation to maintain balance are specific to the task characteristics; Postural performance and control in gymnastics’ skills are not transferred or generalized to more usual upright stances; The level of athlete in this activity does not implicate a corresponding level in usual postures
Asseman et al., 2008	A comparison of body sway in bipedal and unipedal with eyes open and eyes closed	Two groups of 13 subjects: male elite gymnasts of international level and portsmen of regional level involved in different activities	Center of gravity motion computed from CoP motion, estimating postural control	The two groups differ significantly in the unipedal posture and with eyes open; Removal of vision affects similarly both groups	Gymnastics expertise improves postural performances in situations for which their practise is related to (i.e., unipedal with eyes open)
Croix et al., 2010	The effect of somatosensory and visual information on handstand performance; The link of general perceptual characteristics of gymnasts with their handstand performances	17 gymnasts: an expert group (6 women and 2 men), and a non-expert group (7 women and 2 men)	A handstand on a force platform in 4 conditions: open or closed eyes on a firm or foam support; The surface area covered by the CoP trajectory	Experts have significantly better postural performance during the handstand than nonexperts, whatever the visual condition, nonexperts are unable to maintain the handstand without vision, whatever the support, and the CoP surface is significantly greater on the foam surface than on the firm surface for both experts and nonexperts and, only for experts, whatever the visual condition; Experts are less field dependent than nonexperts, and the rod-and-frame test results are positively correlated with postural performance	Expert gymnasts use the remaining sensory modalities efficiently when vision is removed; Gymnastics training improves the ability to change the frame of reference
Butler et al., 2016	Differences in dynamic balance across competition levels in baseball players	90 professional (PRO), 78 collegiate (COL), and 88 high school (HS) baseball players	Lower Quarter Y-Balance Test	The PRO players exhibit greater posteromedial reach, posterolateral reach, and composite score than HS and COL groups; HS baseball players exhibit increased anterior reach compared with the COL and PRO cohorts; There are no significant differences in reach asymmetry among groups	Baseball players of different competition level differ in lower extremity dynamic balance performance
Omorczyk et al., 2018	Relationships between stability indices registered in two positions	46 athletes (23 juniors and 23 seniors) practicing gymnastics at various levels of advancement	Standing and handstand; Posturograph CQ-Stab 2P	CoP area, mean CoP amplitude, mean CoP displacement of the feet/hands in M-L direction and maximal CoP displacement of the feet/hands in M-L direction in both standing position and handstand is significantly lower in seniors; The statokinesiogram path length, both total and in A-P and M-L directions in the standing position is significantly lower in seniors	Ability to control the position of the body in both positions is better in seniors than in juniors; Stability variables in standing position significantly correlate with those in handstand in seniors but not in juniors
Jadczak et al., 2019a	Body balance control and recovery strategies in static and dynamic conditions	Professional and junior elite soccer players: 52 in PRO, 55 in U-21, 47 in U-19 group	Body balance control measured using a Delos Postural Proprioceptive System	Static and dynamic balance varies among players in different playing positions; Significantly higher differences in the static test with eyes closed are in central midfielders than goalkeepers; There is a difference in the dynamic postural priority test in favor of central midfielders relative to external defenders, central defenders, external midfielders and forward; The difference is greater in non-dominant than dominant leg	The higher the sport level of football players (PRO), the better their balance, which may contribute to more effective performance of actions related to the game and the prevention of injuries
Jadczak et al., 2019b	A comparison of balance profiles in elite soccer players across different field positions	101 elite professional soccer players (10 goalkeepers, 15 central defenders, 15 external defenders, 23 central midfielders, 15 external midfielders, 23 forwards)	Delos Postural System Test using the standard protocol (standing on a stable platform and on an unstable base unilaterally on non-dominant and dominant leg with eyes open and eyes closed)	Central midfielders have significantly higher differences than goalkeepers in the static test with eyes closed; There is a difference in favor of central midfielders relative to external defenders, central defenders, external midfielders and forwards in the dynamic postural priority test; There is a significantly greater difference in non-dominant compared to dominant leg in the dynamic postural priority test	Static balance performance and dynamic postural priority varies with playing position in elite soccer players; Midfield players have better postural priority than players in other positions; Professional soccer players present greater balance postural priority on the non-dominant leg
Marcolin et al., 2019	The effect of training on postural control in sport-specific and simple tasks	Eight female advanced-level gymnasts (ALG) and seven female basic-level gymnasts (BLG)	Bipedal standing (B) and single-leg back scale (BS) before and after two gymnastic elements (rondade plus flic-flac)	Better postural control in the B position in BLG, whereas in the BS position in ALG; CoP parameters increase after the rondade plus flic-flac in both BLG and ALG; Better performance on balance time-dependent response after the rondade plus flic-flac in BS in ALG	Postural control during the simple task (B) is not affected by expertise level; The sport-specific task (BS) is more selective in representing the level of expertise in young gymnasts
Munzert et al., 2019	Expertise-specific differences in postural tasks of various difficulty	12 intermediate non-professional and 13 professional dancers	Five dynamic dance-like and Six static everyday postural tasks	There is an expert advantage on sway area for dance-like but not for static everyday postural tasks; This effect is observed for the root mean square (RMS) velocity and RMS amplitude of the difference signal between CoP and CoG line location	The expert advantage is task-specific and provide new insights into the specificity of postural performance in experts
Caballero et al., 2020	The relationship between team-handball performance and balance ability according to expertise and age, applying a non-linear approach to balance assessment	114 male team-handball players	The CoP during a balance task; Sport performance measured by the speed and accuracy in throwing	There is a faster but not more accurate throw in expert than recreational players; Balance performance is better for 18+ than U12 players, whereas there are no differences according to their skill level; CoP velocity is slower during the balance task and moves are less irregular in players who throw with less accuracy; CoP movements are more irregular and less auto-correlated in players who throw faster	Balance performance is better in experienced team-handball players, and this is related to the maturation of the motor system more than to sport performance level; There is an exploratory behavior during balance in expert players, exhibiting more motion adjustments to reduce motor output error; A non-linear assessment reveals functional variability of balance as an intrinsic characteristic of individuals’ motor control according to skill level and age
Andreeva et al., 2021	Postural stability in athletes of various sports	936 athletes of different sports and performance level	The CoP sway area (AS) and velocity (VCP) during bipedal stance with eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) on a stabiloplatform (50 Hz)	VCP-EO increases in shooters, footbal players, boxers, cross-country skiers, gymnasts, runers, team sport players, wrestlers, tennis players, alpine skiers, rowers, speed skaters, and figure skaters compared to controls	Practicing sport is associated with increased postural stability in bipedal stance