Influence of taping induced ankle inversion restriction on lower limb kinematics and kinetics during landing

Background Lateral ankle sprains (LAS) are common sports-related injuries, and taping is widely used for prevention. However, restricting ankle motion with taping may alter lower-extremity biomechanics and impact attenuation during landing. The effects of different levels of inversion restraint on these characteristics remain unclear. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of different levels of ankle inversion restraint provided by stirrup taping on lower-extremity kinematics, kinetics, and impact attenuation characteristics during single-leg landing. Methods Twenty-five healthy adults performed a forward single-leg landing from a 30-cm platform under three conditions: no taping (control), stirrup taping applied with 20 N of tension (20 N), and stirrup taping applied with 100 N of tension (100 N). Ankle, knee, and hip joint angles, joint moments, mediolateral center of pressure (COP) position, peak vertical ground reaction force (Fz max ), time to Fz max , and loading rate were analyzed and compared among the three conditions. Results The ankle inversion angle at initial contact (IC) was significantly lower in the 100 N condition than in the 20 N condition. The COP at IC and the maximum medial COP position were significantly more medial in the 100 N condition than in both the control and 20 N conditions. In addition, the knee varus moment was significantly lower in the 100 N condition than in the control condition, whereas the hip adduction moment was significantly lower in the 100 N condition than in both the control condition and 20 N condition. Furthermore, the time to Fz max was significantly shorter and the loading rate was significantly higher in both the 20 N condition and 100 N conditions than in the control condition. Conclusions The 100 N condition suppressed ankle inversion at IC and provided greater inversion restraint than the 20 N condition but also affected knee and hip kinematics and kinetics and may have altered impact attenuation characteristics. The 20 N condition did not provide the same degree of inversion restraint but may also have altered impact attenuation characteristics. These findings highlight the importance of selecting an appropriate taping tension considering its effects on ankle inversion restraint, lower-extremity kinematics and kinetics, and impact attenuation characteristics during landing.