The Effects of Footwear and Barefoot Conditions on Slackline Performance in Single-Leg Stands

Abstract

Slacklining is a dynamic balance activity performed on a narrow webbing tensioned between two points with applications in leisure and rehabilitation. Most studies examine if slackline training improves balance in non-task-specific areas (Donath et al., 2013; Fernández-Rio et al., 2019; Giboin et al., 2018). However, few studies examine conditions affecting balance during slacklining. This study investigated balance performance when wearing athletic shoes compared to barefoot during single-leg standing on a slackline. Participants included eleven healthy young adults performing three trials of single-leg standing of up to 30 seconds barefoot and with athletic shoes on a 10 ft free-standing slackline. Balance time and kinematic data from reflective markers on the wrists, shoulders, heels, toes, and sacrum were collected using a 12-camera Qualisys Motion Capture System. There was a significant increase in balance time in the barefoot condition compared to the athletic shoes condition (p=0.020). Additionally, the 50th percentile velocity of the balancing foot on the slackline was significantly lower in the barefoot condition (p=0.045). These results suggest that slacklining while barefoot improves performance by increasing the stability of the balancing foot. Future studies should examine slackline balance while barefoot versus wearing athletic shoes in tasks of greater difficulty such as walking.