The impact of self-lacing technology on in-vivo foot containment during dynamic cutting

The objective of this study was to assess the impact of a self-lacing footwear system with three conditions of increasing lace tension (compared to a control basketball shoe) on foot containment by measuring foot-shoe motion during cutting using high speed stereo radiography (HSSR). Two shoes were evaluated; a standard laced basketball shoe (Control) compared with a motorized self-lacing shoe (Nike Adapt BB). HSSR demonstrated that a novel motorized self-lacing system significantly reduced foot-shoe motion relative to Control by an average of 65.7% (p< 0.0001). The Adapt BB fit system provides athletes a choice of containment: going from loose to tight fit reduced in-shoe motion by 39.3%. By reducing the sliding of the foot within the shoe, improvements in foot containment have implications for improved athletic performance and potential reductions in injury.