Study Design Quasi-experimental study.

Objectives To determine the effectiveness of an 8 week core stability training program on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), Lateral step down (LSD) and Y balance test (YBT) in collegiate athletes.

Background The pre participation examination is a standard time to assess movement quality and determine musculoskeletal injury risk. However, little is known about how core stability influences functional movement patterns.

Methods and Measures One-hundred collegiate athletes completed the FMS, LSD and YBT. Participants were assigned to either the training group (60 male) or the control group (40 male). The training group was required to complete a core stability training program that met 3 times per week for 8 weeks. Two-way MANOVAs and ANOVAs were used to determine differences between groups. Pre to Post change scores for the movement quality subgroups (≤14 and>14 Total FMS score) of the experimental group were compared using independent sample t-tests.

Results Significant improvements in FMS (F (1, 98)=52.2, p=0.001), LSD (F (1, 98)=67.7, p=0.001) and YBT (F (3, 96)=25.2, p=0.001) scores were seen in the experimental group relative to the control group. Change scores indicate that larger improvements in FMS total score (t=3.7, p=0.001) and Hurdle step (t=2.7, p=0.008) were observed in athletes with poor baseline movement quality.

Conclusions Core stability training were effective at enhancing functional movement patterns and dynamic postural control in collegiate athletes and may be more effective for poor quality movers but further research is needed.