The Influence of Additional Surface on Force Platform’s Ground Reaction Force Data During Walking and Running

Abstract

This study compares the vertical ground reaction force exerted from walking and running movement on two different surfaces of a force platform. Five skilled male futsal players were recruited to perform the walking and running tasks over the force platform. In the first setting, the players moved directly in contact with the force platform’s bare surface while in the second setting, the players performed the same tasks on the force platform covered with a typical futsal pitch surface material. The force from the peak heel and peak forefoot strikes were recorded and used for further analysis. A paired t-test was conducted for comparison and the results indicated that there are no significant differences between the two force platform conditions in terms of the magnitude of peak heel strike and peak forefoot strike forces during walking and running. Results also showed that there is a significant difference (p<0.05) on the ratio of the heel and forefoot strike peak force during walking task (1.05 in force platform bare surface, 0.99 in force platform + futsal court surface). While the data obtained in this study suggests that an additional surface on the force plate has no significant effect on the magnitudes of vertical ground reaction force data, there were indeed some changes that occurred on the heel/forefoot strike force ratio in walking task. The result might suggest that an additional surface (futsal court material) on the force platform has some impacts on the movement pattern of the foot during walking task due to the different conditions of the shoe’s outsole-flooring surface interaction.