Effects of tennis shoe tread patterns on plantar pressures during groundstroke shots

To compare plantar pressures on the pivot point area between wearing tennis shoes with herringbone pattern and tennis shoes with herringbone pattern with pivot point when tennis players changed direction during groundstroke shots. The participants in this study were 5 Thai male tennis players whose skill levels were 5.0 classified by National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) criteria. All the players wore 2 types of tennis shoes and performed groundstroke shots as designated patterns on the hard court surface. Peak pressures were recorded by the F-Scan insole. The results demonstrated that there was statistically significant difference in peak pressures on the pivot point area of forehand steps between wearing 2 types of shoes. All forehand steps were performed with square stance pattern. The shoe type with pivot point caused higher plantar pressures than the one without pivot point did (760.54 ± 253.17 KPa (herringbone); 866.82 ± 233.52 KPa (pivot point), p<0.05). There were no differences in peak pressures on the pivot point area between wearing the tennis shoes with herringbone pattern and the ones with herringbone pattern with pivot point when performing square stance backhand steps (117.80 ± 109.42 KPa (herringbone); 115.61 ± 82.79 KPa (pivot point)) and open stance backhand steps (502.10 ± 173.01 KPa (herringbone); 511.76 ± 174.22 KPa (pivot point)). After normalizing peak pressures with the players’ body weight, the results agreed to the results of peak pressures without normalization: forehand steps: 11.24 ± 3.35 KPa/kg (herringbone); 12.90 ± 3.39 KPa/kg (pivot point), p<0.05, square stance backhand steps: (1.72 ± 1.52 KPa/kg (herringbone); 1.63 ± 1.14 KPa/kg (pivot point), and open stance backhand steps: 7.84 ± 2.72 KPa/kg (herringbone); 8.15 ± 2.98 KPa/kg (pivot point). In conclusion, the tennis shoes with herringbone pattern with pivot point caused higher peak plantar pressures on the pivot point area when performing forehand steps.