EFFECTS OF BASKETBALL SHOE ON IMPACT FORCES AND SOFT TISSUE VIBRATIONS DURING DROP JUMP AND UNEXPECTED DROP LANDING

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of footwear on impact forces and soft tissue vibrations during drop jump and unexpected drop landings. Twelve male basketball players were instructed to wear two types of shoes to execute double-leg landings in each of 6 testing conditions, i.e. 2 landing styles × 3 landing heights, from a customized platform. Joint kinematics, ground reaction force, and soft tissue vibrations of the leg were collected simultaneously. The results indicated that a shoe intervention did not influence the characteristics of the impact force and soft tissue vibrations during active drop jumps. Contrarily, for the unexpected drop landings, the basketball shoe with strong cushioning properties can substantially reduced the peak impact forces as well as decreased the impact frequency and minimized the peak transmissibility

SHOE EFFECTS ON IMPACTS AND MUSCLE RESPONSES IN LOWER EXTREMITY DURING DIFFERENT LANDING TASKS

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of basketball shoes on impact force and lower limb muscle activity during landings. Twelve male subjects were requested to wear two types of shoes to execute drop jumps and unexpected drop landings. Ground reaction forces, accelerations of the shoe heel-counter, and EMG signals of five lowerlimb muscles were collected simultaneously. During active landing, the intervention of basketball shoe did not significantly change the characteristics of impact force and muscle activity patterns. However, under the condition of related muscles were not being activated properly, the basketball shoe reduced the impacts and decreased the muscle postactivation. This potential effect of footwear may further be developed in preventing sports injury and enhancing metabolic efficiency during landings and/or when fatigued

ACUTE EFFECTS OF FOREARM KINESIO TAPING ON MUSCLE STRENGTH AND FATIGUE IN HEALTHY TENNIS PLAYERS

The aim of this study was to explore the acute effects of Kinesio taping (KT) applied over the wrist extensors and flexors on muscle strength and endurance. Fourteen participants completed 50 consecutive maximal concentric wrist extension and flexion repetitions at 60 °/s and 210 °/s in KT, placebo taping, and no taping conditions. There was no significant KT effect on the strength output (peak moment and peak / average power). KT reduced work fatigue and induced an increased regression of torque compared to no taping at 60 °/s. These findings provide preliminary evidences suggesting that KT may not be able to modulate strength production in healthy athletes immediately, but would have a significant positive effect on muscle fatigue resistance during repeated concentric muscle actions

THE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANTAR PRESSURE IN THREE TYPICAL BADMINTON FOOTWORK PATTERNS

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamic characteristics of plantar pressure in the three-badminton footwork patterns (left-forward lunging step, LFLS, right-forward lunging step, RFLS, backward revolve to jump, BRJ). Twelve elite national-level male badminton athletes were recruited while performing the three typical footwork patterns tests in a laboratory-simulated badminton court. The results of the present study demonstrate that the normalized mean peak pressures (MPP) were significantly higher under the hallux and the 1st to 2nd metatarsals than other areas in the toe-off (TO) phase when performing the three footwork patterns. In the process of touching down (TD), both LFLS and RFLS showed significantly higher loads on the rearfoot and the lateral of the foot. Thus, the badminton players should be paying attention to modulating the load strategies on the front-foot, rear-foot, and lateral of the foot regions when performing the different footwork patterns, and select the appropriate footwear that can disperse the higher loads of the target areas to avoid excessive concentration of the plantar pressures

INFLUENCE OF EXTERNALLY DAMPING ON IMPACT-INDUCED SOFT TISSUE VIBRATIONS AND MUSCLE RESPONSES IN LANDINGS

The aim of this study was to investigate the changes in activation of the musculoskeletal system in response to soft-tissue vibrations with different compression conditions (externally applied) in a drop-jump landing task. Twelve trained male participants were instructed to perform drop-jump landings from 3 heights in compression shorts (CS) and regular shorts without compression (CC). Externally induced soft-tissue vibration damping, i.e. reduced peak acceleration and increased damping coefficient, was associated with a significant decrease in muscular activity of the rectus femoris and the biceps femoris muscles during drop-jump landing from different heights. Therefore, a greater increase in the damping is associated with a greater decrease in muscle activity

IS THE HIGH-TOP SHOE MORE PROTECTIVE IN LANDING ON A TILTED SURFACE: A KINEMATIC AND ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC EVALUATION

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of high-top and low-top shoes on ankle inversion kinematics and pre-landing EMG activation of ankle evertor muscles during the landing on a combined inverted and plantarflexed surface. Thirteen male subjects were instructed to wear high-top & low-top shoes to execute self-initiated drop landings in each of the 8 landing conditions, i.e. 2 shoes × 4 surface conditions, on an inverted (or combined plantarflexed) platform. Ankle inversion kinematics and the EMG from the tibialis anterior, peroneal longus, and peroneus brevis muscles were collected simultaneously. The results indicated that shoe collar heights did not influence the ankle inversion kinematics during landing. However, wearing high-top shoes resulted in a significant posterior onset time of the tibialis anterior and peroneus brevis muscles, and lowered the pre-landing EMG activation of ankle evertor muscles prior to foot contact during landing on the inverted surface