GOING BAREFOOT: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO SPORTS PERFORMANCE IN BASKETBALL?

S. Sailor¹, Z. Azeem²

Background: Basketball is considered to be mixed sports requiring aerobic and anaerobic energy production pathways. The sport typically involve high intensity activities such as jumping (for rebounds, blocks and shots), turns, dribbles, sprints, screens and low intensity activities such as walking, stopping and jogging. Previous studies have highlighted the relevance of going barefoot with the aim of promoting natural foot movements and thereby targeting natural proprioceptive abilities of the foot as a whole. Kinematic and kinetic differences between shod (with shoe) and barefoot in distance runners have been extensively studies. Apart from showing that barefoot running might be more economical compared to shod running on a treadmill and overground, limited information on the performance benefits of barefoot training have been found. The efficacy of barefoot training on improving sports performance is limited in contextual practice and implementation.

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to determine the effect of barefoot training on speed and agility performance in club level basketball players.

Methods: This was an experimental study with 20 club level basketball players with an average playing history of 6 ± 2 years with no 3-month history of lower extremity injury, with a mean age of 19.20±2.04 years were included for the study. The principal researcher performed the data analysis for dependent variables of agility and speed performance along with dynamic postural evaluation using Star Excursion Balance test (SEBT).  The co-researcher performed the data analysis and interpretation of study variables.

Results: Of 20 participants who were screened and included in the pre-training, 18 participants completed the training comprising of 10minute standardized warm-up followed by 5 sessions per week with each session lasting for about 30-45minutes for a total duration of 6 weeks. The sprint speed and agility performance across all the participants improved significantly at the end of 6 weeks of barefoot training. However, dynamic postural control on SEBT improved in specific directions only (lateral and postero- medial directions). No significant differences were found between barefoot and shod groups at the end of 6 weeks.

Conclusion(s): Barefoot training is still a novel concept of training and may need vigorous apply to understand its benefits. Through the findings of our study were non-significant in nature, it is may be concluded that barefoot training is still a work in progress in training methods.

Implications: Results of this study reflected upon the associated benefits of barefoot training over shod training. Though the study findings remain inconclusive about barefoot training being better than shod training, the natural foot contact with the ground surface and improved proprioception makes it a viable training method for sub-elite and elite sportsmen. It is imperative to ensure that a longer training duration coupled with physiological measures of sports performance may be required before implementing it as a regular training program.

Funding, acknowledgements: None

Keywords: Barefoot training, Shod training, Basketball

Topic: Sport & sports injuries

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Ashok & Rita Patel Institute of Physiotherapy, Anand, Gujarat, India

Committee: Institutional Review Board

Ethics number: ARIP/IRB/16/75