The Role of Footwear on Kinematics and Plantar Foot Pressure in Fencing

The sport of fencing involves asymmetric motions, large forces, and rapid changes in momentum. Today’s fencing shoes are designed to facilitate footwork but they provide little plantar force dissipation. Plantar foot pressures and kinematics were measured in 13 fencers. The study compared fencing shoes to a standard court shoe. The court shoe resulted in a significant reduction in plantar pressures during the fencing lunge, advance-lunge, and fleche. However, most fencers preferred the fencing shoe for fencing. The court shoe tended to alter fencing kinematics, generally though not significantly decreasing the velocity of the front foot and the weapon hand, and increasing the range of motion and overall travel of the weapon hand. This effect on fencing mechanics may stem from the design of the court shoe, or from an accommodation effect.