The objective of this proposal is to determine the effects of footwear stiffness on a large cohort of high school football players during a football season. The investigators expect that functional athlete groups will be developed, based on subject specific assessments (biomechanical, morphological, performance, comfort), and lead to important translational findings that may impact footwear modification and recommendation to a population of American football players. Two standard cleats will be randomized and provided during a season of high school football. Ratings of comfort, performance, and injury will be collected throughout the season.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
150
Standard moderately stiff footwear for typical high school football players will be randomly allocated to each group
Standard highly stiff footwear for typical high school football players will be randomly allocated to each group
Human Biomechanics and Physiology Laboratory
High Point, North Carolina, United States
Footwear comfort rating using a 100mm visual analog scale
Validated subjective rating of footwear comfort scale. This will be collected weekly during the football season with the average rating utilized at the end of the season. The unit of measure is a 100mm visual analog scale.
Time frame: 3 months
Injury incidence
Athletic trainer collected athletic exposures and lower extremity injuries will be collected weekly and combined to determine overall injury rates. The unit of measure is number of injuries per 1000 athletic exposures.
Time frame: 3 months
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