Date of Award

Fall 2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Rehabilitation Sciences

Program/Concentration

Kinesiology and Rehabilitation

Committee Director

Daniel Russell

Committee Member

Steven Morrison

Committee Member

Hunter Bennett

Committee Member

Ryan McCann

Abstract

Ankle sprains are the most common injury in sport and exercise performance, which makes the utilization of ankle taping a common procedure to both prevent potential sprain, as well as protect against reinjury. However, unilateral ankle taping may have unintended consequences on the mechanics of the ankle and other joints of both legs. The aim of this dissertation was to determine the effects of ankle taping on lower body kinetics and kinematics, stiffness, and coordination during a bilateral landing task.

Twelve female participants completed a total of 90 drop landings across two visits, randomized from landing platforms of 30, 45, and 60 cm while the dominant ankle was taped, and not taped on separate visits, before and after exercise. The three aims of this study are to address traditional landing biomechanics, lower-body, limb, and joint stiffness, and coordination and coordination variability.

Taping the dominant ankle reduced plantarflexion at contact and increased loading rate; however, the only effects of tape on joint moments were a decreased dominant knee peak flexion moment and an increased non-dominant ankle peak dorsiflexion moment. Exercise mitigated the effect of the tape on the non-dominant ankle but increased the peak hip flexion moment of the non-dominant leg, whether the ankle was taped or not.

Lower-body stiffness was not changed with platform height or the addition of unilateral ankle taping, suggesting a preferred lower-body stiffness for landing. Although, as height increased dominant limb stiffness decreased while non-dominant limb stiffness increased, potentially increasing risk for injury from the asymmetry. Taping the dominant ankle resulted in increased ipsilateral ankle and hip stiffness, but not in the knee, which might be a protective behavior for the knee, but increases the risk for injury in the ankle and hip.

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DOI

10.25777/f3vw-sz92

ISBN

9798381446838

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