Influence of minimalist footwear on knee and ankle loads during the squash lunge

Abstract

Squash is associated with a high incidence of knee and ankle joint injuries. The aim of this work was to examine the effects of squash specific, running shoes and minimalist footwear on knee and ankle loads during the lunge movement in squash players. Twelve male squash players performed lunge movements whilst wearing squash specific, running shoes and minimalist footwear. The loads experienced by the knee and ankle joints were calculated. Patellofemoral forces were significantly greater in running shoes (5.10 B.W) compared to minimalist footwear (4.29 B.W). Achille tendon forces were significantly larger in the minimalist footwear (3.10 B.W) compared to the running shoes (2.64 B.W) and squash specific footwear (2.88 B.W). This shows that whilst minimalist footwear may reduce the incidence of knee pathologies in squash players corresponding increases in ankle loading may induce an injury risk at this joint.

Effects of High- And Low-Cut Footwear on the Kinetics and 3d Kinematics of Basketball Specific Motions

“…The results showed that there were no differences in impact forces but that the high-cut footwear had a higher inversion angle at footstrike. Currently there is a trend in court based sports including squash 12 , netball 13 and basketball 14 for players to select minimalist footwear in lieu of traditional sport specific shoes, although the clinical efficacy of minimalist footwear is not yet established for court specific motions.…”

“…Sinclair et al, 12 explored knee and ankle loads during the squash lunge when wearing squash specific and minimalist footwear. Their results showed that peak Achilles tendon force was significantly larger in the minimalist footwear.…”