Ankle sprains are the most common injury in physically active people who practice physical activities that requires jumping, changing direction, pivoting. Practically these activities are seen in almost every sport, no matter if it is with professional or recreational purposes. A lot of individuals are at increased risk of ankle sprain. Acute ankle sprain leads to weakening of the passive and dynamic restrains, leaving the joint unprotected, possibility of reinjury, chronic instability leading to long term disability. That is why a lot of authors stopped their attention on looking for proper treatment and prevention for ankle sprain. The purpose of the present report is to summarize the effectiveness of all treatment methods and to point out the best possible way to manage ankle sprain. It is a systematic review study, based on recent literature of the given topic. The data is sorted out from different sources of information: specific books concerning ankle functional anatomy and kinesiology, physiotherapy in ankle instability rehabilitation; published articles; internet sources-pubmed, medline etc. Some researchers showed the relationship between poor ankle proprioception and balance abilities. Others assessed joint position sense to plantar flexors and the peroneal muscles activity. They all agree that proprioception training plays important role in prevention of chronic ankle instability and it is of a great importance to improve it to reduce ankle sprain accidents.

The ankle and foot complex is a body segment that undergoes a high load in rhythmic gymnasts. Constant standing on toes and repetitive movements like relevé, pirouettes, and jumps, apply acute stress on soft tissues in the area. Due to poor proprioception, incorrect performance techniques of these rigorous activities repeated many times daily by a gymnast can lead to overuse injuries. Additional factors related to these conditions are weak Posterior Tibial muscle; tight Achilles tendon or short Triceps Surae; inadequate or forced turnout, provoking increased pronation of the foot; a muscle imbalance between invertors and evertors muscles. These contributing factors could be corrected by changes in technique or the way of training. The purpose of the present report is to follow the effect of proprioceptive training on postural balance and limb functioning in elite gymnasts. Methodology. Eighteen elite gymnasts from RG club “NUANCE NSA” have been investigated. The rhythmic gymnast aged between 10-17 (mean 13.3 years) underwent two (2) months of proprioceptive program, which included specific preventive and balance exercises performed before each practice. Star Excursion Balance Test and One Leg Hop for a time were used to measure the dynamic postural balance before starting the exercise program and two (2) months after. Results. Star Excursion Balance Test showed the shortest tap distance in the anterolateral direction for both dominant and non-dominant legs. The anterior and lateral direction were as follow. The performance improved after the two (2) months of proprioceptive program, but these directions still show the shortest tap distance. One Leg Hop test did not show any significant improvement in the performance. Conclusion: The 8-week proprioceptive training positively affects postural balance in elite rhythmic gymnasts. However, the tested period is short to make deep conclusions. A further prolonged investigation is needed to summarize the preventive effect of proprioceptive training.