ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Higher plantar pressure on the medial side in four soccer-related movements

Pui-lam Wong¹, Karim Chamari², De Wei Mao³, Ulrik Wisløff⁴, Youlian Hong¹

¹ Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
² Unité de Recherche - Evaluation, Sport, Santé, National Centre of Medicine and Science in Sports (CNMSS), El Menzah, Tunisia
³ Shandong Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Jinan, Shandong, China
⁴ Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

Correspondence to:
P Wong
Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; delwong{at}alumni.cuhk.net

Objective: To measure the plantar pressure in four soccer-related movements in 15 male soccer players (mean (SD) age 20.9 (1.3) years, height 173 (4) cm, weight 61.7 (3.6) kg).

Design: : To record plantar pressure distribution, the players wore soccer boots with 12 circular studs and with an insole pressure recorder device equipped with 99 sensors. Plantar pressure was recorded in five successful trials in each of the four soccer-related movements: running, sideward cutting, 45° cutting and landing from a vertical jump. Each footprint was divided into 10 recorded areas for analysis.

Results: : Compared with running at 3.3 m/s, maximal speed sideward cutting and 45° cutting induced higher peak pressure (p<0.05) under the second toe, medial forefoot, medial arch and medial heel. The peak pressure of the maximal jump landing was lower under the medial forefoot and lateral forefoot as compared with running (p<0.05). The pressure–time integral showed that sideward cutting and 45° cutting induced higher pressures (p<0.05) than running for all recorded areas, except for the lateral forefoot and the lateral arch. In all the four soccer-related movements, a higher pressure was found on the medial side of the plantar surface as compared with the lateral side.

Conclusions: : These data suggest that the medial side of the plantar surface may be more prone to injuries, and that foot orthosis adoption, improved soccer boot design and specific muscle training could be considered to reduce pressure and the subsequent risk of injury.

Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; PTI, pressure–time integral

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