Honors Theses
Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Electrical Engineering
First Advisor
Dwight Waddell
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The sport of golf is increasingly popular within the United States, with an estimated 35 million participants worldwide. To be successful, the golf swing, regarded as a difficult biomechanical motion to accomplish, needs to be accurate and powerful. A proper swing incorporates a weight shift from the rear foot to the leading foot, which indicates that balance is crucial to maintain. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of golf-specific footwear on static balance over an extended duration in order to relate it to golf performance. Twelve recreationally trained males (age: 23.4±2.2 years; height: 181.5±9.0cm; mass 95.8±18.6 kg) with no history of injuries or disorders participated in the study. The study lasted about four days, which included a familiarization day, and experimental days lasting around four hours each. Static balance was assessed by equilibrium scores using the NeuroCom Equitest Sensory Organizational Test (EO, EC, EOSRV, EOSRP). The conditions were counterbalanced prior to the start of the experimental days, which included a dress shoe style (DS), a minimalist shoe style (MIN), and a tennis shoe style (TS), with a barefoot condition (BF) as the control variable. A predetermined alpha level of 0.05 was used, and results were analyzed using a 4x5 repeated measures ANOVA [4 footwear conditions (BF, DS, MIN, TS) x 5 measurement times (pre, 60, 120, 180, 240)]. There was a significant interaction, within the EC condition, detected at the three-hour mark, where the DS condition indicated an impairment in balance control compared to the BF condition. However, there was no indication of significance among the golf-specific footwear. This expresses the fact that may have the ability to choose golf-specific footwear according to preference without worrying about static balance detriments.
Recommended Citation
McGee, Alice, "The Effect on Postural Balance as a Result of Different Types of Golf-Specific Footwear Over an Extended Duration" (2017). Honors Theses. 35.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/35
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