The effect of barefoot training on speed, agility, power and balance in netball players

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The running industry has seen a lot of changes over the past years. Minimalisticfootwear and barefoot training are redefining the running industry and community.These new developments have led to extensive research being conducted on theeffects of barefoot running on kinetics, kinematics, energy expenditure and theprevention of injuries. Most of the shoe manufacturers have come up with an idea tomimic barefoot running. Barefoot running has shown to increase running economyand decrease impact forces. Inconclusive evidence exists as to whether barefoottraining improves proprioception and muscle strength or reduces running-relatedinjuries.The primary aim of the study was to determine the effects of barefoot training onspeed, agility, power and balance in netball players.Twenty women netball players (age: 20 ± 2 years) volunteered for the study and wererandomly assigned to the barefoot group (n = 10) and the shod group (n = 10). Allparticipants had to attend at least 14 training sessions, where the barefoot groupgradually increased the barefoot exercise time. Speed, agility, vertical jump height,single leg stability and lower leg circumferences were measured prior to and aftercompletion of the intervention programme.At the completion of the intervention programme, participants had to give verbalfeedback regarding their subjective experience of barefoot training. Seventy percentof the barefoot participants preferred barefoot training to shod training. The speedtest showed a small improvement over 10-metres (P > 0.05), but not over 20-metres(P > 0.05).Agility had a significant improvement (0.14 seconds ± 0.10 seconds; P <0.05) on the left and right leg (0.19 seconds ± 0.07 seconds; P < 0.05) for thebarefoot group. There was also an improvement in the single leg stability with theright leg showing a significant improvement (P < 0.05) in anterior/posterior,medial/lateral and overall stability for the barefoot group. All except the leftanterior/posterior index had a small practical effect post-intervention. No significantincreases were found in the circumferences or the vertical jump height.The results show that barefoot training results in improved agility and single legstability, compared to shod training. The effect it has on the prevention of injuriescould not be determined, as the duration of the study was too short. In conclusion itcan be deduced that barefoot training has a positive effect on agility and stability,thus possibly leading to improved performance.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University