The effects of minimalist footwear on stability, change of direction, and power production: a randomized crossover trial.

Prior research indicates that minimalist footwear (MFW) enhances foot
strength. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of MFW on
lacrosse athletes’ ability to stabilize, change direction, and produce force. It
was hypothesized that that athletes wearing MFW will have an enhanced
ability to stabilize, change direction, and produce force. Eighteen male athletes participated in a randomized crossover design, alternating between
MFW and regular shoes (RS). The protocol included a warm-up, limits of stability assessment, pro-agility test, modified T-Test, vertical jump, and maximal velocity trap-bar deadlift. A paired-sample t-test was used. For the limits
of stability assessment significant differences were found for time, forward,
and forward left. Minimalist footwear performed better for time (p = 0.04, ES
= 0.60) and forward left (p = 0.02, ES = 0.58), whereas RS performed better for
forward (p = 0.03, ES = 0.56). The vertical jump peak force showed significant
differences in trial one (p = 0.05, ES = 0.53) and trial two (p = 0.04, ES = 0.57)
for the right foot with MFW producing more force in both trials. No significant
differences were found in the pro agility, modified T-test , or the maximal
velocity deadlift. Although, for the maximal velocity deadlift, the MFW group
produced more force and had a quicker time to peak force from both the right
and left leg during both trials compared to the RS group. In conclusion, the
differences in peak force during the vertical jump and the maximal velocity
deadlift, but no differences in the pro agility and modified T-test, indicate
that the effects of MFW may be more prominent during activities that require
force production and not a change of direction.