Does the Location of Shoe Upper Support on Basketball Shoes Influence Ground Reaction Force and Ankle Mechanics during Cutting Maneuvers?

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Currently, there are various shoe lateral upper support designs (forefoot, rearfoot, forefoot-to-rearfoot) available in the market, but scientific guidelines are not well established. This study examined the location effect of lateral shoe upper supports on the ground reaction forces, as well as ankle kinematics and moments during the change of direction maneuvers using a statistical parametric mapping approach. The forefoot support shoe had a reduced eversion moment in between ~25–95% across all change of directions. The forefoot upper support shoe had increased ankle inversion between ~8–14% (complete turns) and ~96–100% of contact time (side-cuts and lateral shuffles), and increased inversion velocity in side-cuts. The rearfoot upper support shoes reduced inversion velocity in lateral shuffle compared to no support. These findings suggest that lateral upper support location on basketball shoes can influence coronal plane ankle mechanics, but not ground reaction forces. ABSTRACT: This study examined the location effect of lateral shoe upper supports on the ground reaction forces, as well as ankle kinematics and moments during the change of direction maneuvers using a statistical parametric mapping approach. University basketball athletes performed side-cuts, complete turns and lateral shuffle maneuvers with their maximum-effort in four shoe conditions with varying shoe upper support locations: full-length, forefoot, rearfoot, none (control). The statistical parametric mapping repeated measures ANOVA test was applied to compare differences between the shoe conditions, followed-up with post-hoc statistical parametric mapping paired t-tests between all shoe conditions. The coronal ankle results revealed that the forefoot support shoe had a reduced eversion moment that varied between ~25–95% across all change of directions (p < 0.05). However, the forefoot upper shoe had increased ankle inversion between ~8–14% (complete turns) and ~96–100% (side-cuts and lateral shuffles), and increased inversion velocity in side-cuts than the other shoes (p < 0.05). Compared to the control, the rearfoot support shoes reduced inversion velocity in side-cut between ~78–92% (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that a forefoot upper support induced most changes in ankle mechanics during basketball cutting maneuvers, with only inversion angle in the complete turn being influenced during the initial period where ankle injury may occur. Future research should examine if these coronal ankle mechanics influence change-of-direction performance and injury risk with regular wear.