Effect of dynamic balance on mental body rotation performance in badminton vs. volleyball players

Abstract

Abstract The present study aims to compare the mental rotation performance between two non-contact sports (i.e., badminton and volleyball) in different upright conditions (i.e., with and without dynamic balance). Thirty-five sports and physical education students voluntarily participated in the experiment, including fourteen specialists in badminton and twenty-one specialists in volleyball. The experiment involved a mental body rotation task with or without balance exercises on wobble board. Badminton players outperformed volleyball players in the mental rotation tasks regardless of balance. More interestingly, the results revealed an overall decrease in reaction times when participants performed balance exercises simultaneously to mental rotation. Our findings suggest that introducing dynamic balance on wobble board has immediate beneficial effects on the mental rotation performance of badminton and volleyball players. These findings are discussed in relation to sport specificities and cognitive processing framework.