Do rotational shear-cushioning shoes influence horizontal ground reaction forces and perceived comfort during basketball cutting maneuvers?

Wing-Kai Lam,Roy T.H Cheung,Fan Yang,Yi Qu

doi:10.7717/peerj.4086

Abstract

BackgroundCourt shoe designs predominantly focus on reducing excessive vertical ground reaction force, but shear force cushioning has received little attention in the basketball population. We aimed to examine the effect of a novel shoe-cushioning design on both resultant horizontal ground reaction forces and comfort perception during two basketball-specific cutting movements.MethodsFifteen university team basketball players performed lateral shuffling and 45-degree sidestep cutting at maximum effort in basketball shoes with and without the shear-cushioning system (SCS). Paired t-tests were used to examine the differences in kinetics and comfort perception between two shoes.ResultsSCS shoe allowed for larger rotational material deformation compared with control shoes, but no significant shoe differences were found in braking phase kinetics during both cutting movements (P = 0.35). Interestingly, a greater horizontal propulsion impulse was found with the SCS during 45-degree cutting (P < 0.05), when compared with the control. In addition, players wearing SCS shoes perceived better forefoot comfort (P = 0.012). During lateral shuffling, there were no significant differences in horizontal GRF and comfort perception between shoe conditions (P > 0.05).DiscussionThe application of a rotational shear-cushioning structure allowed for better forefoot comfort and enhanced propulsion performance in cutting, but did not influence the shear impact. Understanding horizontal ground reaction force information may be useful in designing footwear to prevent shear-related injuries in sport populations.

Highlights

IntroductionHow to cite this article Lam et al (2017), Do rotational shear-cushioning shoes influence horizontal ground reaction forces and perceived comfort during basketball cutting maneuvers?
The mechanical evaluation showed that rotational stiffness of shear-cushioning system (SCS) shoes were about 6% smaller than the control shoes, indicating that SCS shoe would allow for larger rotational material deformation
There was no significant difference in total foot contact time (Cohen’s d = 0.24; P = 0.35), horizontal ground reaction force (GRF) and impulses (Cohen’s d = 0.12 to 0.23; P > 0.34), and forefoot perception (Cohen’s d = 0.23; P = 0.31, Table 1) between test shoes

Summary

Introduction

How to cite this article Lam et al (2017), Do rotational shear-cushioning shoes influence horizontal ground reaction forces and perceived comfort during basketball cutting maneuvers? Among 11 typically tested basketball movements, cutting and shuffling movements were shown to present high horizontal ground reaction force (GRF) during the impact (McClay et al, 1994). Chan et al (2013) invented a groove-type translational shear cushioning heel design to attenuate the horizontal GRF during braking phase of walking and running Such designs cannot be directly applied to basketball shoes due to two reasons. Court shoe designs predominantly focus on reducing excessive vertical ground reaction force, but shear force cushioning has received little attention in the basketball population. We aimed to examine the effect of a novel shoe-cushioning design on both resultant horizontal ground reaction forces and comfort perception during two basketball-specific cutting movements. Understanding horizontal ground reaction force information may be useful in designing footwear to prevent shear-related injuries in sport populations

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