Comparative biomechanical analysis of volleyball court shoes during sport-specific tasks in competitive adolescent female volleyball players

Introduction High-level volleyball requires efficient movement patterns, force attenuation, and rapid, multidirectional movements. While players may exhibit inherent biomechanical risk factors, investigating how footwear affects female athletes' movement is essential for developing a comprehensive understanding of determinants contributing to injury risk. The purpose of this study was to identify biomechanical differences associated with three volleyball court shoes. Methods Twenty-nine healthy female volleyball players (15.52 ± 1.47 years, 168.72 ± 5.72 cm, 62.44 ± 7.71 kg) completed a countermovement jump (CMJ) and three-step approach in a motion capture laboratory using a markerless motion capture system and embedded force plates under three shoe conditions. Peak lower-extremity joint angles were calculated and extracted across the landing phase. Results RIP-IT shoes elicited the least dorsiflexion and the greatest knee flexion and external rotation. Mizuno shoes were associated with greater contributors to dynamic knee valgus during the CMJ ( p ≤ 0.013). Adidas shoes limited ankle inversion ROM compared to RIP-IT ( p = 0.005) and ankle internal rotation compared to RIP-IT and Mizuno ( p ≤ 0.015) during the CMJ. Discussion Biomechanical risk factor associations differed across shoe conditions, with RIP-IT shoes limiting shock absorption strategies, Mizuno shoes increasing contributors to dynamic knee valgus, and Adidas shoes limiting ankle ROM. These results demonstrate that different volleyball shoes influence lower extremity kinematics and joint loading, with the most pronounced differences observed at the ankle and compensatory changes at the knee and hip, highlighting how footwear can measurably alter movement strategies during sport-specific tasks.