A comparison of ground reaction force patterns of conventional running shoes and minimalistic footwear in habitually shod runners

Abstract

Considering the pressure distribution over the foot dorsum for all conditions, Area 4 is the one with higher level of pressures, followed by Area 1. Area 2 is placed in an intermediate level, while Area 3 and Area 5 are the ones with lower pressures.Maximal peaks of the average pressure curves of Area 4 are 137 kPa for first condition, 251 kPa for second condition, and 344 kPa for third condition. Discussion and conclusionAverage pressure patterns over the foot have been obtained when kicking a soccer ball under three different conditions. Five different areas of the foot dorsum have been analysed. Results of the three conditions show that the area around the navicular and cuneiform bones is the one with higher level of pressures, coherent with the high incidence of Lisfranc injuries occurring in soccer players (DeOrio et al. 2009), followed by the first metatarsal head.Although the dorsal area of the first metatarsal shank is placed between both previous areas, its measured pressure level is lower. It can be explained taking into account the morphology of the human foot. Both navicular and cuneiform, and first metatarsal head areas correspond to bone prominences, supporting consequently higher pressures than the first metatarsal shank.As was expected, results show that the higher the pressures on the foot dorsum, the higher the ball velocity and the lower the precision of the kick.This study helps to better understand the pressure dynamics of foot-ball interaction, but further studies are needed to deeper analyze the influence of shoe design on the generated pressure patterns during soccer kicking.

Effects of forefoot bending elasticity of running shoes on gait and running performance

“…In previous studies, changes have been applied to shoe materials to alter the ground reaction force patterns in human locomotion (Reenalda, Freriks, & Buurke, 2011). Several studies have also asserted that by using a certain material in shoe soles that provides the forefoot with greater bending elasticity, the dissipation of applied forces is diminished (Lin et al, 2013;Stefanyshyn & Nigg, 1998) without changing the joint angle of the lower extremity (Stefanyshyn & Nigg, 2000).…”