The Effect of Aquatic Exercise with Buoyancy Belt on Ankle Stability and High Jump Performance Among University’s Female Recreational Netball Players

Water-based exercise, due to its non-weight bearing nature is considered to be a safe and effective alternative exercise to increase cardiorespiratory and strength. Due to the buoyancy of water, compressive joint forces are lower and as a consequence of reducing risk of injury that can provide a better exercise environment. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of aquatic exercise-performed either with and without a buoyancy belt on ankle stability and high jump performance among UPSI female recreational netball players. A total of 20 recreational netball players (19–25 years old) voluntarily participated in this study. They were divided randomly into two group which were the non-buoyancy belt group (NBBG; n = 10; 21.90 ± 1.10 years; 49.30 ± 3.65 kg; 154.10 ± 4.38 cm; BMI: 20.75 ± 0.90 kg/m2) and buoyancy belt group (BBG; n = 10; 22.70 ± 0.48 years; 50.60 ± 6.60 kg; 157.10 ± 3.45 cm; BMI: 20.47 ± 2.28 kg/m2). Both groups carried out the intervention Aquatic Exercise (AE) for six weeks (3 sessions weekly) for 60 min per session. The ankle stability was measured by Postural Sway (C90 Area) 30 s Romberg test on BT4 and high jump performance was assessed using the Sargent Jump test before and after the intervention exercise program. Descriptive analysis and paired samples t-test were conducted. For the ankle stability, results showed that there was significant decrease from pre (224.45 ± 77.65) to post (154.51 ± 53.06) test, p < .001 on the non-buoyancy belt group in the open eyes condition. Besides, there was significant decrease from pre (225.05 ± 99.98) to post (188.84 ± 83.71) test, p = .003 on the buoyancy belt group in the closed eyes condition. Furthermore, for the jump performance, results revealed that there was significant improvement from pre to post test, p < .001 on the both groups. These findings may assist practitioners in planning effective interventions to improve ankle stability and high jump performance in order to reduce the risk of injury.