Effects of goalball on balance: a systematic review

Goalball has been highlighted as a reference disabled sport from educational levels to its participation in the Paralympic Games, where the effects of this sport on balance and its relevance have been investigated. The aim of the systematic review was to systematically review those studies that evaluated the effects of goalball on balance in goalball athletes. A systematic review of PubMed and FECYT (Web of Sciences, CCC, DIIDW, KJD, MEDLINE, RSCI, and SCIELO) was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The articles were included if they met the following inclusion criteria: (i) participants were goalball players; (ii) athletes playing goalball; (iii) outcomes were related to balance; and, (iv) original articles without language restriction. From the 85 studies initially identified, 7 were fully reviewed, and their outcome measures were extracted and analyzed. In conclusion, the levels of balance seem to be closely related to the success of competitions, leading coaches to consider its development during training sessions. In this sense, the general practice of goalball may be sufficient at children's levels, while the practice of 2 days or 5 h per week seems to be an adequate reference. However, athletes with partial levels of visual loss should not be subjected to continuous blinding during training sessions because it could lead to an accelerated reduction in balance levels.