Supination control increases performance in sideward cutting movements in tennis.

The objective of this study was to explore the effects of tennis shoe characteristics on performance during sideward cutting movements followed by direction changes. Five tennis players (age = 21.5 +/- 0.8 years, mass = 75.2 +/- 2.8 kg, and height = 1.78 +/- 0.05 m) participated in the study and 10 tennis shoes were tested. Several footwear mechanical parameters were analyzed: Shore A hardness, longitudinal and transverse flexibility, midsole height at heel, presence of heel counters, and weight. A force plate was used to measure the kinetic variables, and two video cameras were used to perform a three-dimensional photogrammetric analysis. Results revealed that subject-footwear interaction …