NEW APPROACH TO ASSESS IN-VIVO REARFOOT CONTROL OF COURT FOOTWEAR DURING SIDE-STEPPING MOVES

Miniature pressure sensors and high-speed video were used to assess th e lateral support and stability of court footwear during in vivo perfo rmance of lateral side-stepping moves. Two distinct types of court foo twear construction were evaluated and were found to differ by approxim ately 100% and 200% in lateral support and stability, respectively. Th e heel control index that combined both parameters revealed difference s exceeding 425%. A comparison of shoes that differed only in one cons truction feature produced similar trends. These overall results sugges t that the combined high-speed video/pressure approach allows high dis crimination of footwear rearfoot control properties during in vivo sim ulated playing conditions. The specific experimental results suggest t hat footwear designed for court sports exhibits considerable differenc es in foot support and stability. Furthermore, it was found that some construction features could improve these properties in court footwear .