A new study conducted by sport scientists at Stellenbosch University suggests that practicing barefoot could help prevent Netball injuries.
Before we get into the study, you’re probably saying to yourself, “What the heck is Netball?” I said the same thing when I got a Google Alert about the study. You can check out the video below for an in-depth explanation of the game, but in its simplest terms, Netball is similar to the American version of Basketball, only without dribbling or a backboard to aid in shot accuracy. A player can only pivot when they receive the ball, so if you combine the movements of Ultimate Frisbee with the idea of putting a ball through a hoop like in Basketball, you’ve got Netball.
Now, onto the study. For their research, the sport scientists tracked female Netball players over an eight-week period to see how barefoot training impacted their stability, agility, speed and injury potential.
Dr. Ranel Venter, one of the researchers who worked on the study, said the Netball players in the barefoot group showed significant improvements across the board compared to those who trained in sport shoes.
“We had netball players from the university and we had a control group, which both did the same exercises. The one group did all the activities with their usual netball shoes and the other group did the same activities but barefoot and then we had an eight week intervention,” said Venter. “When we retested them again we found that the barefoot group, ankle stability was significantly better, so if you move sideways, that how most of the ankle injuries occur and sprains and those kind of things, so the ankles are more stable in the sideways motion and forward and backwards motion, and then they were more agile, the agility was more better and there was a greater improvement in 10 meter sprinting than shoe training.”
Researchers are keen on figuring out how to limit foot injuries during Netball matches, as ankle injuries are the most common injuries, followed by knee injuries.
“Shoes don’t have enough toe space, the big toes play a big role in terms of running and jumping, so being barefoot and doing barefoot activities, walking around barefoot, playing a bit barefoot can strengthen your feet,” said Venter. “So for people working with team sport, be it rugby, hockey, netball, volley ball, as part of an active cool down, they should take off their shoes and do some running. Just go barefoot a bit and it should strengthen your muscles and your feet and it will assist with stability, agility and speed.”
Dr. Silverman comments
I love Dr. Venter’s perspective on barefoot training. It’s the same message I’ve been preaching for years now. We don’t come out of the womb wearing shoes, so we shouldn’t fear going barefoot in the right settings.
Related source: SABCNews.com
