title: Increased Athletic Performance in Lighter Basketball Shoes: Shoe or Psychology Effect?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of shoe mass on performance in basketball-specific movements and how this affects changes if an athlete is aware or not of the shoe's mass relative to other shoes.
  
  
  METHODS
  In an experimental design, 22 male participants were assigned to 2 groups. In the "aware" group, differences in the mass of the shoes were disclosed, while participants in the other group were blinded to the mass of shoes. For both groups lateral shuffle-cut and vertical-jump performances were quantified in 3 different basketball-shoe conditions (light, 352 ± 18.4 g; medium, 510 ± 17 g; heavy, 637 ± 17.7 g). A mixed ANOVA compared mean shuffle-cut and vertical-jump performances across shoes and groups. For blinded participants, perceived shoe-weight ratings were collected and compared across shoe conditions using a Friedman 2-way ANOVA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the aware group, performance in the light shoes was significantly increased by 2% (vertical jump 2%, P < .001; shuffle cut 2.1%, P < .001) compared with the heavy shoes. In the blind group, participants were unable to perceive the shoe-weight variation between conditions, and there were no significant differences in vertical-jump and shuffle-cut performance across shoes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Differences in performance of the aware participants were most likely due to psychological effects such as positive and negative expectancies toward the light and heavy shoes, respectively. These results underline the importance for coaches and shoe manufacturers to communicate the performance-enhancing benefits of products or other interventions to athletes to optimize their performance outcome.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, AB, Canada.
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: Matthieu B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Trudeau
authors.forename: Sandro R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Nigg
authors.forename: Benno M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Nigg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001490:Basketball / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010465:Perception; D059385:Plyometric Exercise / Q000523:psychology; D012775:Shoes; D019876:Sports Equipment; D013996:Time and Motion Studies