The effect of basketball on the sole contact areas and maximal forces of elite basketball players

The aim of the present study is to compare the pedobarographic parameters of Contact Areas and Maximal Forces for 11 contact areas of foot-soles in elite basketball players and healthy people and to investigate the effect of basketball on the foot-sole. The study comprised of 25 professional basketball players with no foot-related complaints and the control group comprised of 25 volunteered males. EMED-SF (Novel GmbH, Germany) plantar pressure analysis system was used in the study. Any statistically significant difference between the averages of the study and the control groups was examined using non-parametrical Mann Whitney U test, and the extent of the linear relationship between the physical structure and the variables of the foot-sole was examined by calculating the Pearson (r) coefficient. A 95% reliability interval was used and the level of significance was accepted to be p 0.01 - 0.05 in measurements. Based on the results of the study, it was observed that the results of the control group were higher in comparisons of age, height, body weight, body-mass index, maximal force in the right and left foot and the contact area, and, upon examination of total results in pedobarographic records between two groups, that the results for both the contact area and the maximal force were not significant (0.01-0.05). Based on these results, it was indicated that there was a consistency between the sports done by the basketball players and the variables of the foot-sole, that the sports they were doing did not harm the foot-sole and had similarities with the results of the control group and there were changes in very few parameters. © Sila Science.