Force plate-based balance training intervention improves change-of-direction performance in collegiate soccer athletes

Postural stability contributes to athletic performance by enhancing body control, coordination, and movement efficiency. The extent to which postural stability translates to complex athletic skills such as agility remains unclear. Additionally, common assessment methods of postural stability are subjective and may introduce administrator bias. This study employed an objective measure of postural stability—the Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc (AMTI) Force Platform—alongside a three-week balance training intervention to evaluate improvements in athletic performance. Twenty collegiate soccer players (age: 20.22 ± 1.19 years; playing experience: 14.8 ± 2.76 years) were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 10) or a control group (n = 10). The experimental group completed balance training six days per week for three weeks, while the control group received no training. Both groups completed the 505 Agility Test and the Agility T-Test before and after the intervention period. The experimental group showed significant improvements in 505 Agility Test scores for right-directional turns (t(18) = 2.677, p = .015) and in Agility T-Test performance for right-directional pivots (F(2, 18) = 12.264, p = 0.002, ηp 2 = 0.412). Following the intervention, the experimental group completed the 505 Agility Test significantly faster than the control group (F(2, 18) = 4.626, p = 0.045, ηp 2 = 0.204). The experimental group's performance on the balance task also improved across the intervention. These findings support balance interventions using the AMTI Force Platform as effective training modalities for improving change-of-direction performance for soccer athletes and highlight its utility as an objective tool for quantifying postural stability.