sports

1 Posts
 
Posted - 07/18/2006 :  17:07:51  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
As an athlete involved in football and basketball, how important is core stability with participation in sport? Our trainer has been having us do more things for strengthening our back and abs.

R Edge

6 Posts
 
Posted - 07/20/2006 :  16:48:00  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Core stability is extremely important with participation in sports. Your core is your source of stability and power. A weak core can result in decrease balance and less than optimal performance. Sports like football and basketball requires a strong core so that you can maintain your balance and avoid being pushed around which could result in injury. Your trainer appears to be on the right track. Hopefully he or she is incorporating functional/sports related training with your workout as well. This will maximize your sports performance.

grpt

15 Posts
 
Posted - 07/21/2006 :  09:21:40  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
From my experience core stability is important for athletic performance as well. However, the literature is controversial in regards to this. A article by Damien Howell, MS, PT, OCS reviews the literature in regards to this issue: http://www.damienhowellpt.com/pdf/core%20strength.pdf#search='core%20stability' . Although he finds controversy with the literature, he believes intuitively that core strength should improve athletic performance and prevent injury. I think as PT's we all agree that it is important for training to simulate the sport and task at hand as well.