The sole arch indices of adolescent basketball players.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to find out the difference between sole arch indices of adolescent basketball players and an age matched non-athletic group.


METHODS
This study was carried out in the Sports Education, Health and Research Center, Ankara, Turkey, between November 1998 and December 1998. In junior (16-18 years) categories 48 male basketball players and 45 age matched controls were included in the study. Body mass index and podoscopic sole images of subjects were recorded, and the arch index was calculated for each group.


RESULTS
The sole arch index has no difference between basketball players and controls. The right foot arch index of the control group was 59.62 +/- 23.26 and 56.74 +/- 17.21 in players (p=0.497). The left foot arch index was 54.54 +/- 23.72 in control groups and 55.13 +/- 17.33 in players (p=0.890). There was a significant negative correlation between sole arch index and training age in basketball players (r=-0.3312 for right sole arch index, p value is less than 0.05; r=-0.3056 for left sole arch index, p less than 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
These results have shown that basketball might result in specific adaptation on sole arches of adolescent players.
Department of Sports Medicine, Hacettepe University, D Kati 06100 Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey. taydog@hacettepe.edu.tr
Sedat T
ST
Aydog
Haydar A
HA
Demirel
Onur
O
Tetik
Ece
E
Aydog
Zafer
Z
Hascelik
Mahmut N
MN
Doral
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000293:Adolescent; D000886:Anthropometry; D001490:Basketball / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005528:Foot / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011336:Probability; D012016:Reference Values; D014421:Turkey