Alternative shoe closure designs alter biomechanical performance during agility-based movements

The objective of this research was to determine if three alternative shoe upper closures improve biomechanical performance measures relative to a standard lace closure in court-based movements. NCAA Division 1 and club-level male athletes recruited from lacrosse, soccer, tennis, and rugby performed four court-based movements: Lateral Skater Jump repeats (LSJ), Countermovement Jump repeats (CMJ), Triangle Drop Step drill (TDS), and Anterior-Posterior drill (AP). Each athlete performed the movements in four shoe upper closures: Standard Closure, Lace Replacement, Y Wrap, and Tri Strap. Ground contact time, peak eccentric rate of force development (RFD), peak concentric GRF, peak concentric COM power, eccentric work, concentric work, and movement completion time were measured. Tri Strap saw improvements in four of seven biomechanical variables during CMJ and LSJ and one variable during TDS. Lace Replacement delivered improvements in one performance measure during CMJ, LSJ, and AP, and two variables in TDS. Y Wrap improved performance in three performance measures during LSJ and impaired performance in two measures during CMJ and three measures during AP. Tri Strap provided the most consistent performance improvements across all movements. This study allowed for the mechanical properties of the shoe lower to remain consistent across designs to examine if an alternative shoe upper closure could enhance performance. Our results indicate that increased proprioception and/or mechanical properties due to the alternative closures, especially Tri Strap, improves athlete performance, which concludes that the design of the shoe upper is an essential consideration in shoe design.