Use of gait sandals for measuring rearfoot and shank motion during running

Received 4 November 2009; received in revised form 18 January 2010; accepted 19 January 2010. published online 05 April 2010.

Abstract

Gait sandals may be used as an alternative to shoes in gait analysis. However, their similarity to running shoes remains unclear. This study aimed to compare rearfoot and shank kinematics between barefoot, running shoes and gait sandal conditions during running. We hypothesised that gait sandals would more closely replicate the kinematics seen when wearing running shoes than when barefoot. Rearfoot and shank kinematics were measured in 14 male participants as they ran in three footwear conditions (barefoot, gait sandals and running shoes) at 3.5m/s. Both barefoot and gait sandals resulted in greater peak rearfoot eversion compared to running shoes. Gait sandals were similar to running shoes for all other variables. These findings suggest that gait sandals can be used in place of running shoes during gait analysis to study rearfoot and shank kinematics.

Keywords: Barefoot, Running shoes, Kinematics, Coupling, Footwear

a The Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, Collegiate Crescent Campus, Sheffield S10 2BP, UK

b Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK

c Dept. of Exercise, Sport, and Leisure Studies, University of Tennessee, TN, USA

Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 0114 225 5404; fax: +44 0114 225 4341.

PII: S0966-6362(10)00030-5

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2010.01.015

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