Objective To explore the influence of proprioceptive training on the balance ability, lower limb strength and map reading skills of orienteering athletes, providing a scientific basis for future training practice.

Methods 45 male orienteers were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group received 12 weeks of proprioceptive training and special physical training, and the control group received 12 weeks of special physical training and basic endurance training. Surface electromyography instrument was used to collect the contribution rate characteristics of the main muscles of the athletes' lower limbs in simulated uphill and downhill special training. Balance tester, isokinetic muscle strength test and analysis system, stopwatch, etc, were used to test athletes' balance ability, muscle strength and field map recognition ability. Different map reading abilities before and after training were compared, and static and dynamic balance ability, lower limb strength and special map reading ability under the interference of multiple factors such as vision, cognition and proprioception were analyzed.

Results After 12 weeks of intervention: ① Under static equilibrium condition, the movement distance and speed of COP in the experimental group were significantly better than those in the control group (P<0.05); ② Under the dynamic balance condition, the movement completion time and the movement distance of X-axis and Y-axis in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05); ③ The maximum strength, maximum maintenance time, average strength, maximum power and average power of the two groups were increased in different degrees, and the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05); ④ The index of dynamic map reading ability in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.05).

Conclusion 12-week proprioceptive training can effectively improve the static and dynamic balance ability of orienteers, increase their muscle strength of lower limb flexor and extensor, and improve their postural control ability and specialized technical ability in complex environments. Proprioceptive training and specialized image recognition technology training methods seem feasible.