Exploring foot biomechanics using a women’s basketball team

A biomechanics study conducted by University of Rhode Island graduate and former star guard on the women’s basketball team Catherine “Dolly” Cairns was recently published. Cairns conducted the study on the basketball floor of the Ryan Center and in the advanced kinesiology labs on campus study with the help of some of her URI teammates.

Cairns’ study, “The Relationship between Foot Anthropometrics, Lower-Extremity Kinematics, and Ground Reaction Force in Elite Female Basketball Players,” was recently published in the journal Biomechanics.

The study, conducted while Cairns was a URI student with kinesiology Assistant Professor Ryan Chapman, investigated the connection between foot structure (specifically, arch height index and navicular drop, essentially a flattening of the arch) in elite female basketball players and their lower extremity movement patterns, as well as the force they generate when landing and pushing off the ground.

The overarching goal was to determine whether differences in the anatomy and function of the foot impact movement, performance, and the propensity for injury.

“We hope this type of information can give coaches, trainers, and athletes a better idea of how to evaluate, train, and keep athletes injury-free,” Chapman said.

On the court, Chapman and Cairns ran the student-athletes through typical basketball movements—running, jumping, pivoting, shooting. They attached wearable sensors to each player to measure joint angles, acceleration and velocity. The players also wore force measuring insoles in their shoes to measure how much force the foot exerts during those typical basketball movements.

Back in the kinesiology laboratory in Independence Square, the players were equipped with wearable sensors, electromyography (EMG) sensors to monitor muscle activity, and motion capture sensors to analyze their movements during similar activities. Cairns and Chapman used these sensing modalities to measure how joints moved in space, including foot mobility, and how much force was applied through the feet during different movements.

Findings of the study indicate that there in fact does seem to be a connection between how the foot arch functions and performance. Individuals with lower navicular drop values have stiffer arches, giving them a more stable platform upon which they can push laterally into the ground during side-to-side motions. This ability to push results in more side-to-side force production and an increased ability to cut and change direction, which are very common motions in basketball.

Conversely, those with a high navicular drop have more mobile, flexible feet. They produce less force in side-to-side motion, giving them less ability to push off while cutting and changing direction. While the reduced force likely decreases risk for foot injury, it may also transfer force to the knee and hip to compensate when a player makes side-to-side motions, potentially increasing injury to those areas.

“These findings may have implications for several facets of sport-specific training and performance,” Cairns concluded in her study. “For example, coaches, strength/conditioning staff, and athletic trainers can better pre-evaluate athlete foot stiffness to prepare appropriate training and injury prevention plans. This information could also be utilized to inform the development of novel interventions to improve dynamic foot function.”