The Effects of Thoracic Mobilization and Diaphragmatic Breathing on Postural Sway in Archers

Shooting in archery requires tremendous postural stability to minimize oscillations when the upper body area is under high muscle tension. Postural oscillations depend especially on the alignment of the target and the arrow and the center of gravity being within the base of support. In addition, it has been reported that heart rate changes and breathing patterns affect postural control and therefore performance. Increasing pulse values during shooting negatively affect shooting performance by causing increased postural oscillations and body shaking. The breathing pattern directly affects postural oscillations by affecting the heart rate.It has been reported that the diaphragm has important effects on breathing and trunk control due to its anatomical connections and that the diaphragm movement during breathing is synchronized with the stabilization function. During breathing, the diaphragm descends into the abdominal cavity, causing a positive pressure increase in the intra-abdominal region. Due to this increasing pressure, it expands the abdominal area to the limit allowed by the abdominal muscles and the abdominal wall. Then, with the eccentric contraction of the abdominal muscles, the descent of the diaphragm is blocked at a certain point and the abdominal muscles resist the movement of the diaphragm. In response to this counter-reaction, the diaphragm realizes inspiration by providing a 3-dimensional expansion by opening the lower ribs to the posterolateral. It has been reported that the stabilization effect of the diaphragm is the result of its contraction especially towards these sides, therefore a good level of thoracic mobilization will increase the lateral contraction capacity of the diaphragm. This is ultimately associated with a stronger stabilization effect. On the other hand, impairment of synchronization may result in spinal segments being under excessive stress and reducing stability. Studies in patients and healthy individuals have shown that diaphrag