Determining the sensitivity of five basketball movements to changes in the construction of basketball shoes

Basketball is a sport involving many different movements, most of which have not been well defined or quantified in terms of reliability and sensitivity to changes in footwear. To assess the functionality of basketball shoes, reliable and sensitive tests relevant to basketball are needed. Such tests do not currently exist. The purpose of this study was to validate a series of basketball specific movements for use in identifying changes to the biomechanics of basketball athletes as a result of modifications in basketball footwear. Five basketball specific movements were chosen based on the results of an in depth reliability study, and the subsequent sensitivity of these movements to three discrete changes in basketball footwear was measured. The three changes included modifications to the upper stability, shoe forefoot bending stiffness and midfoot bending stiffness. It was determined that (1) the most sensitive movement to changes in upper construction was the Zig-Zag Agility Drill, (2) the most sensitive movements to changes in forefoot bending stiffness were the Shuttle Agility Drill and the Modified V-Cut, and (3) the most sensitive movement to changes in midfoot bending stiffness was The Shuttle Agility Drill. In general, the Lay-Up was not sensitive to any changes in footwear. The Sensitivity Indices tended to correspond to statistically significant changes. However, the most reliable movements did not always correspond to the most sensitive.