The effects of bilateral ankle bracing and sex on swing block jump height, agility, and sport related anxiety in volleyball players

Abstract

Ankle braces are commonly worn in the athletic community both as a method of rehabilitation after sustaining an ankle injury, and prophylactically to prevent an injury. Within court sports such as volleyball, athletes are at a heightened risk of sustaining common and reoccurring ankle injuries. Research on how ankle braces affect athletic performance variables such as vertical jump height and agility speed has mixed results, with some studies reporting no change in performance, while others reporting reductions in performance. With studies citing factors such as ankle range of motion, muscle activation, and changes in lower body kinematics as the cause for changes in athletic performance, more research is needed to fully understand this relationship between bracing and performance. Additionally, differences between sexes has been proposed on some of these identified factors. Also, it has been shown that after sustaining an injury, athletes generally experience higher levels of anxiety when returning to sport participation, with female athletes showing even greater levels of anxiety than males. It has also been suggested that while using supportive ankle devices, such as athletic tape or ankle braces, during rehabilitation, athletes then depend on these devices for psychological support even after their injury has fully healed. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of bilateral soft-shell ankle bracing and sex on swing block vertical jump height, normalized ground reaction force (GRF) in the Z-plane, agility time, and measures of sport related anxiety as measured by the Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (SAS-2). [...]