Only the stable survive: role of balance task difficulty on dynamic postural control in young athletes and non-athletes

The lower dropouts in soccer players compared to swimmers and non-athletes suggest sport-specific benefits in postural control for balance tasks with increasing difficulty level. However, this benefit is not superior in soccer players with more compared to less training experience and for the dominant than the non-dominant limb. These findings indicate that soccer players exhibit better postural control with both the dominant and non-dominant leg compared to swimmers and untrained individuals, which is maintained even with increasing balance task difficulty.