Abstract
The aim of the current investigation was to examine the effects of court shoes, minimalist, energy return and athletic footwear on the loads experienced by the patellar tendon during a maximal change of direction task. Ten male participants performed maximal change of direction movements in court shoes, minimalist, energy return and athletic footwear. Lower limb kinematics were collected using an 8-camera motion capture system; ground reaction forces were quantified using an embedded force platform. Patellar tendon kinetics were examined via a musculoskeletal modelling approach, and the frictional properties of the footwear were examined using ground reaction force information. The results showed that the rate at which the tendon was loaded was significantly larger in minimalist footwear (62.54BW/s) in relation to court (30.41BW/s), energy return (47.17BW/s) and athletic footwear (37.40BW/s). In addition, the coefficient of friction and rotational friction moment were found to be significantly lower in minimalist footwear (0.53 & 15.63Nm) in relation to court (0.57 & 25.04Nm), energy return (0.60 & 18.84Nm) and athletic footwear (0.62 & 19.74Nm). Therefore, the findings from the current investigation indicate that minimalist footwear may place athletes who undertake court-based activities at increased risk from patellar tendinopathy.
Recommended Citation
Sinclair J, Taylor PT. Effects of court-specific and minimalist footwear on patellar tendon loading during a maximal change of direction task. Balt J Health Phys Act. 2017;9(4):66-73. doi: 10.29359/BJHPA.09.4.06
DOI
10.29359/BJHPA.09.4.06
Creative Commons License
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