The Effect of Neuromuscular Training on Ankle Function for Basketball Playerwith Chronic Ankle Instability

The purpose of this study is to verify the effect of 6-weeks of neuromuscular training on ankle joint function and provide useful information on the prevention of chronic ankle instability(CAI) and improvement of performance for university basketball players. A total of 30 university basketball players who are enrolled in Henan Institute of Science and Technology university were divided into 3 groups based on the CAI standards provided by the International Ankle Consortium: CAI-EG(experimental group, n=10), CAI-CG(control group, n=10), and H-CG(healthy control group, n=10). The neuromuscular training was applied to both CAI-EG and H-CG, and the physical training was applied to only CAI-CG for 6 weeks. Ankle joint function was measured before and after 6-weeks training program application. The Ankle joint function was measured by lower extremity muscle reaction time and performing three types of hop tests. The results of this study showed that the reaction time of the tibialis anterior muscle and peroneus longus muscle of the CAI-EG decreased after application of the program compared to before application(respectively, t=4.194, p=.002; t=3.035, p=.014). As a result of confirming the difference in three types of hop tests, the side hop test record decreased after the program application in all three groups compared to before the application(respectively, t=2.297, p=.047; Z=-2.803, p=.005; t=2.598, p=.029), and the figure-of-8 hop test record also decreased after the program application in all three groups compared to before the application (respectively, t=3.859, p=.004; t=2.638, p=.027; Z=-2.803, p=.005). Square hop test record was decreased after program application in the CAI-EG and CAI-CG compared to before application(respectively, t=2.876, p=.018; t=3.012, p=.015), and it was confirmed that the side hop test record after program application was higher in the CAI-CG than in the H-CG(F=8.116, p=.002). The results showed the effect of neuromuscular training on improving ankle joint function of university basketball players with CAI. Therefore, the neuromuscular training may be a useful program for college basketball players with CAI. Further studies that represent a situation similar to an actual basketball game will provide useful information for preventing CAI and improving performance of college basketball players.