§ 01Functional Movement
Clinical fitness assessmentY-Balance Test
Assess dynamic balance, ankle stability, and lower limb asymmetry across three reach directions.
Equipment
Y-Balance test kit, or tape on the floor marking anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral directions.
The protocol
- 01Mark three lines on the floor at 120-degree angles from a central point: anterior, posteromedial, posterolateral.
- 02Client stands barefoot on one leg at the centre point.
- 03While maintaining balance on the stance leg, reach as far as possible with the free foot along each line.
- 04The reaching foot lightly touches the ground at the furthest point — no weight transfer.
- 05Record the reach distance in cm for each of the 3 directions.
- 06Perform 3 practice attempts, then 3 measured attempts per direction.
- 07Record the best reach distance for each direction.
- 08Repeat on the opposite leg.
- 09Calculate composite score: (anterior + posteromedial + posterolateral) / 3.
What to watch for
- Weight shifting onto the reaching foot (invalidates the trial).
- Hands coming off the hips or touching the ground.
- Stance foot shifting position.
- Anterior asymmetry >4 cm is associated with increased injury risk.
- Composite asymmetry >10% warrants investigation.
Normative scoring
Composite scores are normalised to leg length. General: composite >95% of leg length is good. Anterior L/R difference >4 cm is a risk factor. Composite asymmetry >10% is a concern.
Run it with GainPT
Run this test with branded client reports.
GainPT scores Y-Balance Test against published normative data and turns it into a clean, GainPT-branded PDF your client keeps. All 47 clinical tests, unlimited retests — free to start, no card required.