The influence of different soccer cleat type on kinetic, kinematic and neuromuscular ankle variables in artificial turf

Lateral ankle sprain is the most prevalent injury in soccer athletes. Enhanced by the variety of soccer cleats and by increased use of artificial turf, the interaction between the ground and the footwear has taken high importance as a lateral ankle sprain risk factor. The higher incidence of injuries in the second half of the match reflects the need of studying this interaction during tasks involving muscle fatigue. To evaluate the influence of different soccer cleats on kinetic, kinematic and neuromuscular ankle variables in artificial turf under two conditions: with and without fatigue of lateral ankle dynamic stabilizers. Study design: Experimental study within-subjects design. Twenty-four healthy athletes participated in this study. All subjects performed three sets of five medial-lateral unipodal jumps, each one with one of three models of cleats (Turf, Hard and Firm ground) on two conditions: with and without fatigue induced by the isokinetic dynamometer. The electromyographic activity of long and short peroneal heads, ground reaction forces and the movement of the rear-foot were collected and used to calculate kinematic (ankle eversion/inversion, centre of pressure displacement and velocity), kinetic (loading rate of the ground reaction forces) and neuromuscular variables (activation time of peroneal muscles). With the exception of decreased peroneal activation time with the Hard ground model (without fatigue vs. with fatigue), no statistically significant differences were identified in the ankle variables, between cleats, neither between the two evaluated conditions. In healthy soccer athletes, the contributor variables for ankle sprain were not influenced by the kind of soccer cleat in a functional test on a third generation artificial turf.