Boot Design Research Articles

The State of the Art in Preventing Equipment-Related Alpine Ski Injuries

The modern alpine binding and boot have contributed to a significant decline in lower leg injuries, particularly twist-related injuries. Improvements in boot design may be responsible for much of the decline in ankle sprains, but serious knee sprains cannot be prevented with current binding designs. Protection of the knee should be a consideration in future improvements of alpine skiing equipment.

A biomechanical approach to the design of football boots

A large proportion of all soccer injuries occur at the ankle and take the form of damage to the collateral ligaments. In order to examine the possible influence of footwear on these injuries an experimental and theoretical study was made of the effect of different types of boot on loads in the collateral ligaments during inversion and eversion. This consisted of an experimental measurement of the stiffness of different types of boot in inversion and eversion followed by analysis of a simplified model of the boot and ankle to predict the loads in the collateral ligaments. It was concluded that the old fashioned high boot was 50% stiffer than the current low boot and that it reduced consider-ably the ligamentous load. Furthermore, it was shown that, if low cut footwear was preferred for reasons of mobility, it should be as flexible as possible in the region of the ankle.

Fundamentals of design of a ski boot for prevention of injury

The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care: August 1975 - Volume 15 - Issue 8 - p 748