Difference in Functional Performance on the Upper-Quarter Y-Balance Test Between High School Baseball Players and Wrestlers.

CONTEXT: The Upper Quarter Y-Balance Test (YBT-UQ) is a unique movement test where individuals perform at the limits of their stability, requiring the coordination of balance, proprioception, range of motion, and stabilization. It is not yet clear if performance on the YBT-UQ differs between sports with dissimilar emphasis on upper-extremity performance.

OBJECTIVE: To compare performance on the YBT-UQ between wrestlers, whose sport requires some degree of closed-chain activity, and baseball players, whose sport is primarily open kinetic chain in nature.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional.

SETTING: High school preparticipation physical assessment.

PARTICIPANTS: 24 healthy high school male wrestlers (mean age 16.12 ± 1.24 y) and 24 healthy high school male baseball players (mean age 15.79 ± 1.25 y).

INTERVENTIONS: All subjects performed the YBT-UQ, which requires reaching in 3 directions while maintaining a push-up position.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The variables of interest include the maximum reach in each direction, as well as the composite score. In addition, asymmetries between limbs for each reach direction were compared.

RESULTS: Wrestlers performed significantly better than baseball players in the medial direction, inferolateral direction, and in composite scores. In the medial direction, wrestlers exhibited greater scores (P < .01) on both left and right limbs, 10.5 ± 10.2%LL and 9.95 ± 10.2%LL, respectively. Significant differences (P < .01) were also observed in the inferolateral direction, with a difference of 11.3 ± 12.0%LL on the left and 8.7 ± 11.0%LL on the right. Composite scores were higher (P < .01) for the wrestlers, with a difference of 7.0% on the left and 7.1% on the right.

CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that wrestlers perform better on the YBT-UQ than baseball players. The findings may suggest sport-specific normative data for the YBT-UQ in high school athletes.