Playing basketball on wooden and asphalt courts: Does court surface affect foot loading?

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the influence of court surface on foot loading when executing typical basketball tasks. Thirteen male basketball players performed three basketball-related tasks: Layup, jump shot, and maximal effort sprint on wooden and asphalt courts. In-shoe plantar loading was recorded during the basketball movements and peak force (normalised to body weight) was extracted from eight-foot regions. Perceptions of discomfort at the ankle, knee, and back were surveyed using a 10-cm visual analogue scale. Landing from a layup on the wooden court resulted in elevated peak forces at the hallux (p = 0.022) and lesser toes (p = 0.007) compared with asphalt court. During the sprint acceleration step, higher peak forces were observed at the hallux (p = 0.048) and medial forefoot (p =0.010) on wooden court. No difference between court surfaces was found for perception ratings at the ankle, knee, or back. These results suggested that players can experience greater impact forces at the toes and medial forefoot when performing basketball tasks on the more compliant wooden court than asphalt courts.