Effect Of Basketball Shoe Collar Height On Countermovement Jump Performance In Collegiate Athletes

Jump performance is a critical outcome for basketball athletes and may be impacted by numerous factors including shoewear. Collar height (i.e. high-top vs. low-top shoes) is a commonly considered performance factor by athletes, but evidence regarding the effects of high-top versus low-top basketball shoes on jump performance is inconsistent. PURPOSE: To examine the differences in jump height and lower extremity joint biomechanics between a high-top versus low-top basketball shoe in collegiate basketball players during the countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ). METHODS: Twenty Division III collegiate basketball players (age: 20.1 ± 1.7 years, height: 1.82 ± 0.08 m, mass: 79.8 ± 8.8 kg, sex: 13 males, 7 females) were tested during a single laboratory session in standardized shoes that only differed in their collar height. Participants completed five successful maximum CMVJ trials on a force plate in two different conditions (high and low-top). The low-top condition was repeated twice to establish the standard error of measurement (SEM) for the outcomes of interest. 3D motion capture (36 retro-reflective markers creating 7 segments) was used to collect kinematic data. Shoe condition order was randomized. The outcomes of interest were extracted and analyzed using Visual3D and included jump height, as well as hip, knee, and ankle sagittal plane kinematics and kinetics. High-top versus low-top comparisons were made using the dependent t-test, alpha was set a priori at p < .05. RESULTS: Compared to the high-top, the low-top condition resulted in significantly higher jump heights (Mean Difference (MD) = 0.009 m, p = .016, 95% confidence interval (CI) [-0.069 to 0.087], SEM = 0.024 m), more sagittal plane ankle range of motion (ROM) (MD = 2.4°, p < .001, CI [-0.3 to 5.1], SEM = 0.9°), higher ankle peak power (MD = 36.8 W, p = .018, CI [-55.6 to 129.2], SEM = 42.0 W), more sagittal plane knee ROM (MD = 1.1°, p = .026, CI [-4.2 to 6.6], SEM = 1.5°), and higher hip peak power (MD = 25.0 W, p = .014, CI [-121.9 to 171.9], SEM = 32.6 W). Although statistically significant, the MD were smaller than the SEM for four of the five significant differences. Ankle ROM was the only variable that had a MD greater than the SEM. CONCLUSION: Compared to the low-top shoes, the high-top shoes limit sagittal plane ankle ROM, but have no negative impact on jump performance.