Postural analysis of adolescent young athletes in different sports branches

The effects of posture on athletic performance have been the focus of attention of many researchers and the importance of body posture in achieving success has become undeniable. This study aimed to perform the postural evaluation of adolescent youth athletes who are trained in basketball, soccer, volleyball, and swimming branches. A total of 88 adolescent athletes (32 boys and 56 girls) with an average age of ±12.37 years, an average height of ±1.58 cm, an average body weight of ±48.2 kg, an average BMI of ±18.19 and an average training age of ±2.06 years from football, volleyball, and swimming branches actively active in Manisa and Bursa provinces participated in the study. Posture analysis of the athletes was performed using the Apecs-AI Posture Evaluation and Correction System® mobile posture application. The data obtained from the athletes were evaluated with the NewYork Posture Assessment Test (NYPD). The data obtained from the study were analyzed using the SPSS 22.0 package program. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used for independent samples. According to the results of the analysis, there was a significant difference between training age and NYPD scores according to branches (p<.05). Significance was found between NYPD and body axis scores in volleyball and soccer athletes (p<.05). There was no difference between NYPD and other variables in swimming and basketball. As a result, it is thought that the effect of the training age variable on posture structures differs specifically according to the branches, and posture is negatively affected as the training age increases in volleyball and soccer players.