Plantar Pressure Evaluation during the Season in Five Basketball Movements

Catarina M Amaro,Maria A Neto,Luis Roseiro,Ana M Amaro,Maria A Castro

doi:10.3390/app10238691

Catarina M Amaro, Maria A Neto + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app10238691

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Abstract

Sports activity is extremely important in the health context, with a clear motivation for its practice. One of the sports that involve more athletes is basketball, where the human body undergoes rapid reactions, emphasizing the contact of the foot with the ground. The main goal of the present study is to evaluate the distribution of plantar pressure in five different basketball movements. Supported by a group of nine volunteer female athletes from a senior basketball team, a data acquisition protocol was defined to identify the changes that occur throughout the sports season. In this study, the maximum values of plantar pressure were evaluated for both feet. The five movements that were defined and studied are all movements that might be performed during the basketball practice period. To guarantee the necessary conditions of data reliability and repeatability, at least seven repetitions were performed for each movement, which occurred at two different moments of the sports season: at the beginning of the competition in November, and at season peak, four months later, in March. Overall, the results obtained did not present statistically significant changes between the two seasons in this study. However, a slight decrease was observed throughout the sporting season for all movements, except for the rebound, where there was a contrary evaluation. Additionally, athletes with a higher level of experience show higher values of plantar pressure than less experienced athletes.

Highlights

IntroductionSports have become important in society, and basketball is no exception
In recent years, sports have become important in society, and basketball is no exception
According to Baker et al [2], ankle injuries were one of the most frequent injuries in basketball players, and McCarthy et al [3] concluded that female athletes suffer greater rates of injury compared with male athletes

Summary

Introduction

Sports have become important in society, and basketball is no exception. Taking into consideration both the professional players and those who play for leisure, the number of basketball players in recent years has increased significantly. With this rise in popularity, competitiveness and intensity during training and games have increased, and this can mean a higher possibility of getting injured. According to Baker et al [2], ankle injuries were one of the most frequent injuries in basketball players, and McCarthy et al [3] concluded that female athletes suffer greater rates of injury compared with male athletes. Razak et al [6] concluded that plantar pressure

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