Introduction: Alpine skiing is a sport with high demands on physical fitness of the lower extremities. Identifying asymmetries between legs is important for performance and injury prevention. Limb asymmetries greater than 10% may indicate a higher injury risk (Abrams et al., 2014). The aim of this study was to analyze the limb symmetry index (LSI) in Austrian youth ski racers and its implication for testing the lower limb dominance. Methods: Sixty Austrian youth ski racers (39 males, 21 females; age: 12.5 ± 1.2 years; body mass: 43.5 ± 8.7 kg, body height: 153.5 ± 8.7 cm) performed 3 different one-leg tests: stability test (ST), speedy jump test (SJT) (Hildebrandt et al., 2015) and YBalance test (Y-BT) (Smith et al., 2015). The LSI was calculated for each test (LSI = dominant/non-dominant x 100). LSI results were categorized in 4 ranges: within 10% (1st), 15% (2nd), 20% (3rd) and above 20% (4th). Additionally, 3 tests were performed to identify the subjective dominant leg. The normal distribution was assessed using Shapiro-Wilk. ANOVA with repeated measurements (Bonferroni correction) was performed. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: No significant differences were found in the LSI between the 3 one-leg tests (p>0.05). At least 90.0% of the subjects were in the 1st range (SJT and Y-BT). For ST, 53.3% of participants were in the 1st, 18.3% in the 2nd, 13.3% in the 3rd and 15% in the 4th range. According to the 3 subjective tests for leg dominance, for 92% the right leg was the subjective dominant leg. When comparing the results of the 3 subjective dominant leg tests to the LSI test results, the subjective tests identified the dominant leg correctly only in 55% (ST), 63.3% (SJT) and 55% (Y-BT) of the subjects respectively. Discussion: Austrian youth ski racers do not have limb asymmetries in most tests. The asymmetry range was within 10% in the SJT and the Y-BT, which indicates a lower rate of injury risk (Abrams et al., 2014). Therefore, it can be concluded that the injury due to lower limb asymmetry of these ski racers is low. However, in the ST, only 53.3% participants were in the 1st range. Additionally, it could be shown that the subjective tests for identifying the dominant leg of Austrian youth ski racers were not precise, since only 55-63% were identified correctly. LSI tests should be included in the test battery of youth ski racers to evaluate leg dominance and asymmetries.
© Copyright 2016 21st Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Vienna, 6. -9. July 2016. Julkaistu Tekijä University of Vienna. Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään. / Kääntänyt https://www.DeepL.com/Translator