Somatotype and Static Balance Ability in Healthy Young Adults: A Pilot Study Using a Nintendo Wii Balance Board

Introduction: Postural control is a crucial ability for producing functional movement, and it has been shown to help with both injury prevention and sports performance. In this context, there has been an increasing interest in the connection between balance and somatotype; however, the evidence remains inconsistent. Materials and Methods: In this study, 18 healthy and active university students took part (3 men and 3 women for each somatotype). They were asked to stand on one leg, the dominant one, for 15 seconds. During this time, the center of pressure movement was recorded through the Wii Balance Board paired with the BrainBLoX software. From these measurements, mediolateral and anteroposterior displacement variables were obtained and later analyzed using non-parametric tests. Results: Through the analysis, no statistically significant differences were found between somatotypes or genders (all p > 0.05). Descriptive medians showed slightly lower mediolateral sway ranges in endomorphs. Conclusions: Although this study, given its nature as a pilot study, did not find any significant associations between balance and somatotype, it demonstrated the viability of using low-cost tools in exploratory research. The observed trends are hypothesis-generating at best and require confirmation in larger samples.