Acute Effects of Kinesio Taping on Functional Performance in Healthy Soccer Players: A Randomized, Controlled Crossover Trial

This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of the Kinesio tape (KT) application on functional performance in healthy athletes. In this randomized, controlled crossover trial, a total of sixteen healthy soccer players (male = 14; age = 23.28 +/- 3.13 years old) were assigned randomly into either KT over quadriceps, KT over hamstring, KT over quadriceps plus hamstring, or no intervention control condition. Four conditions were applied in a crossover design through three consecutive test sessions for each condition with a washout period of 2 days between the trials. Afterwards, all participants performed a 5-min warm-up routine and four sets of 30-s static stretching exercises for the hamstring and gluteal muscles for three consecutive treatment sessions. The running, jump, and flexibility tests were used to assess the functional performance of healthy athletes. A total of sixteen participants completed the study. No significant differences in the jump, flexibility, and running tests among the conditions were reported (p > 0.05). These findings suggest that KT application has no acute effects in improving functional performance in healthy athletes. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to verify our results.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of Kinesio tape (KT) application on functional performance in healthy athletes. The results showed that KT application had no significant effects on the functional performance of healthy athletes.