Comparison of explosive strength and static balance between young female volleyball and ballet dancer athletes

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences in explosive strength and static balance between young female athletes of volleyball and ballet dance. We hypothesis that the explosive strength values are high and not significantly different both in volleyball players (VP) and ballet dancers (BD), while static balance values are significantly higher in ballet dancers. Methods: The standing broad jump test and the flamingo balance test are tests of The Eurofit Physical Fitness Test Battery assessing, respectively, explosive leg power and static balance. The two tests were administrated to a total of 34 female athletes aged between 10 and 13 (M=11.9; SD=0.96) divided into two groups based on the sport practiced: the VP (n=19) and the BD (n=15). There were not significant differences in age between the two groups. Results: The results showed that the explosive strength values are high in both groups, if we consider the range of percentiles by age. VP: M=1.49, SD=0.21; BD: M=1.13, SD=0.18. There were not significant differences between the two groups (p=0.89). Static balance values were significantly higher (p<0.001) in BD (M=14.20, SD=8.24) than in VP (M=18.53, SD=5.29), with a quite large effect size (Cohen's d=0.62). Conclusions: The results confirm existing studies in the literature (Miller et al, 2017; Crotts et al, 1996). The explosive strength and power are well developed in both the two groups of athletes, while balance has is more developed in BD.