The influence of running shoe traction on performance in a short duration maximal effort running drill

When examining rotational traction, the trend that increasing traction lead to increases in injury supported previous research (Lambson et al. 1996). However it appears as though translational traction also plays a role in injury, which has not been addressed in previous studies. The interaction between the translational and rotational traction may be an important aspect and is currently being investigated further. In order to reduce non-contact lower extremity injury rates, footwear with a translational traction coefficient between 0.68 and 0.72 should be avoided. It is recommended that athletes consider selecting footwear with the lowest rotational traction values for which no detriment in performance results. Further research will focus on examining the specific mechanism by which these traction values lead to injury and determining whether using footwear with the lowest risks of injury has an effect on performance.