The effect of lower inter-limb asymmetries on athletic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Kai T Fox, Liam T Pearson and Kirsty M Hicks

PLOS ONE, 2023, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: Inter-limb asymmetry refers to an imbalance in performance between the left and right limbs. Discrepancies throughout asymmetry research does not allow practitioners to confidently understand the effect of inter-limb asymmetries on athletic performance. Therefore, this review summarized the current literature using a meta-analytic approach, conforming to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses guidelines to identify the association between inter-limb asymmetry and athletic performance. A literature search using PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus databases yielded 11-studies assessing the effect of inter-limb asymmetries, measured via unilateral jump performance, on bilateral jump, change of direction (COD) and sprint performance in adult sports players. The quality of evidence was assessed via a modified Downs and Black checklist and in compliance with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment Development and Evaluation. Correlation coefficients were transformed via Fishers z (Zr), meta-analysed and then re-converted to correlation coefficients. Egger’s regression presented no significant risk of bias. Vertical jump performance was not significantly affected by asymmetry (Zr = 0.053, r = 0.05; P = 0.874), whereas COD and sprint both presented significant weak associations (COD, Zr = 0.243, r = 0.24; Sprint, Zr = 0.203, r = 0.2; P

Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0286942 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 86942&type=printable (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0286942

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286942

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().