Effects of a novel inclined-adaptive footwear on change-of-direction performance in male athletes

Background: Although enhancing change of direction (COD) performance is a crucial factor for improving athletic performance in many sports, few studies have explored its effective methods. Research question: This study aimed to investigate the effects of inclined-adaptive footwear (IAF) on force-time characteristics during a COD task. Methods: Thirteen male team sport athletes were randomly assigned to wear IAF or footwear without adaptive technology to perform a COD60 degrees task at their best effort. A three-dimensional force plate was used to obtain the force-time curve and related parameters at the turning step (plant foot). Results: IAF led to a significantly higher resultant ground reaction force (GRF), horizontal GRF, vertical GRF, and horizontal/vertical ratio during the braking phase, followed by a significantly shorter contact time and higher resultant horizontal GRF and vertical GRF during the propulsive phase. Significance: This indicated that a greater GRF output, redistributed GRF, and shorter contact time occurred with the IAF. Therefore, IAF has the potential to enhance COD performance for sports involving multi-directional footwork and contribute to the development of new functional footwear.

Automated summary

This study found that wearing inclined-adaptive footwear (IAF) can improve athletes' change of direction performance. Wearing IAF shoes can increase ground reaction force, shorten contact time, and redistribute the way force is applied. These findings are important for the development of new functional footwear and improving performance in sports involving multi-directional footwork.