Influence of midsole metatarsophalangeal stiffness on jumping and cutting movement abilities

The aim of this study was to determine whether increasing the stiffness of the shoe midsole supporting the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint could induce a better jumping and lateral cutting movement performance. Twelve young team-sports players used two different shoe models (commercialized), with different sole bending stiffnesses. Two tests were performed: a multi-directional (Multi-D) sprint test including rapid lateral braking and cutting movements, and a fatigue test including drop jumps (DJs) and countermovement jumps (CMJs) in pre- and post-fatigue conditions. A significant (p < 0.05) improvement was observed in the Multi-D test times with the stiffer midsole. Further, in fatigued conditions, the group with the stiffer midsole shoe showed a non-significant 9 per cent performance decrease in CMJs, while this decrease was higher and significant (16.1 per cent; p < 0.05) for the compliant midsole group. Compared with the stiffer midsole, the compliant midsole yielded a significant decrease in the jump performance, highlighting the fact that a higher MTP midsole stiffness helped subjects to limit the effects of fatigue on jumping performance. Therefore, a higher midsole MTP stiffness is associated with better performance in indoor-sport-specific movements including fatigued conditions, which could be explained by a preserved dynamic interaction with the ground in these specific sport situations.