Background: Assessing basketball shoe comfort and fit as personal protection equipment (PPE) at the collegiate level is unique. Objective: The purpose of Part II in this pilot study was to examine the effect of shoe design on the perception of comfort and fit after performing an acute series of jumps in elite male and female National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 basketball student-athletes. Method: A total of sixteen basketball student-athletes (six males, ten females) performed two rounds of acute series of four styled basketball jumps on two ForceDecks™ Force Platforms while trying to maximize jump height by tapping Vertec™ Jump Vanes. The male student-athletes selected the Adidas™ Harden Vol. 3 and the Adidas™ SM Pro basketball shoes. The female student-athletes selected the Adidas Harden Vol. 3 and the Adidas Captain Marvel basketball shoes. Upon completion of each round of jumps, the studentathlete recorded their perception of comfort on a 110mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and fit on a seven-point Likert rating scale based against their most comfortable basketball shoes ever worn. Results: Results of this pilot study reported, on average, the male student-athletes preferred comfort and fit of the Adidas SM Pro basketball shoes and the female student-athletes preferred the Adidas Harden Vol. 3 basketball shoe, though differences were non-significant at p > 0.05. Conclusion: The use of a human factors assessment tool to evaluate basketball shoe comfort and fit and the influence of rated comfort and fit parameters on basketball jumping performance proved viable.
Keywords:
Basketball; Shoes; Comfort; Fit; Jump; Scales