Author(s): Andrew Hatchett, Charles Allen and Marzania Smith

Abstract:
The aim of this research was to determine the influence a shoe insert with a textured, thermos-plastic heel has on running gait. Sixteen (16) participants completed a three-stage protocol to assess step length, contact time and gait imbalance in barefoot, shod and shod with insert conditions. Results indicated significant correlations between the barefoot condition and shod with the insert condition for contact time (r=0.773, p=0.015), imbalance (r=0.838, p=0.005) and step length (r=1.000, p=0.000). Further analysis revealed no significant difference between the barefoot and shod with the insert conditions for contact time, imbalance and step length. Based upon these results, running with a textured, thermos-plastic insert may influence a runner’s gait to more resemble that of a barefoot condition.

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