Elite Tennis Players Experiencing High-Arched Supination and Cuboids Dropped Foot Syndromes in Daily Normal Gait

Abstract

Many studies have focused on the plantar pressure characteristics of specific movements and footwork in tennis. However, little research has been conducted for exploring the foot characteristics among tennis professionals' daily habitual paces. This study aims to examine the pressure profiles associated with foot posture and balance abilities of elite tennis players during normal gait to understand how foot loading patterns result from habitual paces that may be derived from intensive tennis training and competition. A cross-sectional comparative study is conducted on 95 male college elite tennis players (mean age: 20.2 ± 1.2 years) and 100 male recreational tennis players (mean age: 19.8 ± 0.9 years). Bipedal plantar pressure distributions (PPDs) associated with arch index (AI) and centers of gravity balance are explored through the plantar pressure device. The foot posture is estimated to determine the rearfoot postural alignment. During the midstance phase of walking with a normal gait, the bipedal AI values of the elite group are significantly lower, indicating that they have high-arched feet. Additionally, the elite group experienced higher PPDs at the lateral regions of their longitudinal arches and heels and relatively lower PPDs at the medial portions of both feet. Rearfoot postural alignment resonance analysis of the PPDs suggests that the elite group experienced foot supination associated with cuboid dropped. Moreover, the right foot bears heavier centers of gravity balance in the present study. The elite tennis players in the study are categorized as having high-arched supination with cuboids dropped when performing daily habitual paces. This finding warrants further investigation into the correlation between possible injuries and daily habitual paces that may result from tennis' intensive training and competition.

Keywords: arch index (AI); cuboids dropped; elite tennis players; high-arched supination; plantar pressure distributions (PPDs).

Figure 1

Footprint diagram for the five regions and the six subregions. The six subregions are numbered sequentially from 1 to 6 and their abbreviations are as follows: (1) LM, lateral metatarsal bone; (2) LLA, lateral longitudinal arch; (3) LH, lateral heel; (4) MM, medial metatarsal bone; (5) MLA, medial longitudinal arch; (6) MH, medial heel. The five regions A, B, C, D, and E correspond to the forefoot (subregions 1 and 4), midfoot (subregions 2 and 5), rearfoot (subregions 3 and 6), lateral (subregions 1, 2, and 3) and medial (subregions 4, 5, and 6) foot, respectively.

Figure 2

The footprint of each representative subject of the recreational group (a) and the elite group (b) was determined by plantar pressure homogenized results analysis. The worn-out areas of a sneaker sole (c) frequently worn by the representative subjects of the elite group. Black dash circle indicates the areas of higher pressure. Black arrow indicates the areas of worn-out sneaker sole.