Effects of shear reduction shoes on joint loading, ground reaction force and free moment across different cutting angles

This study examined the effects of shear reduction shoes on braking and propulsion ground reaction forces (GRFs), free moments, and joint moments when cutting towards different directions. Fifteen male university basketball players performed sidestep cutting towards 45 degrees, 90 degrees and 135 degrees directions with maximum-effort in shear reduction and control shoes. Two-way (angle x shoe) ANOVAs with repeated measures were performed to determine the interaction and main effects of cutting angle and shoe for all tested variables. Results showed that cutting angles had significant influence on most of the variables, except for the peak-free moment, peak ankle eversion moment and maximum loading rate of resultant shear GRF. The shear reduction shoes significantly delayed the timing to the first peaks of vertical and resultant shear GRFs compared with the control shoes. During propulsion, the shear reduction shoes generated smaller peak propulsion resultant shear and vertical ground reaction forces. Additionally, the shear reduction shoes did not induce distinct frontal and transverse moments at the ankle and knee joints compared with the control shoes. These results suggest that the application of shear reduction structure could be beneficial to attenuate vertical and shear impact peaks, offering additional insights to reduce shear-related injuries.