Shod landing provides enhanced energy dissipation at the knee joint relative to barefoot landing from different heights

Athletic shoes can directly provide shock absorption at the foot due to its cushioning properties, however it remains unclear how these shoes may affect the level of energy dissipation contributed by the knee joint. This study sought to investigate biomechanical differences, in terms of knee kinematics, kinetics and energetics, between barefoot and shod landing from different heights. Twelve healthy male recreational athletes were recruited and instructed to perform double-leg landing from 0.3-m and 0.6-m heights in barefoot and shod conditions. The shoe model tested was Brooks Maximus II. Markers were placed on the subjects based on the Plug-in Gait Marker Set. Force-plates and motion-capture system were used to capture ground reaction force (GRF) and kinematics data respectively. 2 × 2-ANOVA (barefoot/shod condition × landing height) was performed to examine differences in knee kinematics, kinetics and energetics between barefoot and shod conditions from different landing heights. Peak GRF was not significantly different (p = 0.732–0.824) between barefoot and shod conditions for both landing heights. Knee range-of-motion, flexion angular velocity, external knee flexion moment, and joint power and work were higher during shod landing (p < 0.001 to p = 0.007), compared to barefoot landing for both landing heights. No significant interactions (p = 0.073–0.933) were found between landing height and barefoot/shod condition for the tested parameters. While the increase in landing height can elevate knee energetics independent of barefoot/shod conditions, we have also shown that the shod condition was able to augment the level of energy dissipation contributed by the knee joint, via the knee extensors, regardless of the tested landing heights.