Influence of the shoe upper on the ankle during cutting movements in floorball

Improvements of the shoe design to increase ankle stability have been discussed for a number of years. This accounts also for floorball where the incidence of ankle injuries is very high. The purpose of the present study was to describe the influence of the shoe upper on a typical floorball sideward cutting movement. A film analysis was conducted (200 Hz) where the achilles tendon angle beta was measured on the shoe as well as within the shoe. Subjects were twelve active floorball players who performed a defined sideward cutting movement with a low-cut and high-cut shoe as well as in the barefoot condition. The results of part 1 of the study showed the stabilizing effect of the shoe upper with respect to supination. The range of supination of the barefoot inside the shoe (between touch-down and maximum) of the low-cut shoe (23.7 degrees +/- 5.7 degrees) was decreased when using the high-cut shoe (12.3 degrees +/- 4.6 degrees). In addition, a reduced shoe sole thickness and an anisotropic shoe sole design showed reducing effects on supination. Part 2 of the study showed significant differences in supination between two different touchdown techniques. With a forefoot touchdown supination was much less (12.0 degrees +/- 4.8 degrees) than with a touchdown in the neutral position (31.7 degrees +/- 4.2 degrees; p < 0.001). Furthermore, possibilities to improve the design of future floorball shoes are discussed.