The effect of braces on restricting weight-bearing ankle inversion in elite netballers

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Standard 02-Air stirrup brace and the McDavid brace are effective in restricting ankle inversion when measured in weight-bearing (WB) before and after exercise in elite netballers. A sample of 18 female active players in elite netball league in South Australia with no history of lower extremity injury or surgery was used. Ten female volunteers took part in reliability trial without the exercise program. After an initial 10 min of warm-up on a stationary bicycle, the FootTrak (T.M.) a commercially available motion analysis system was used to measure the angle of calcaneal inversion in the frontal plane, prior and following application of the braces, following a functional exercise protocol and without any brace. An ANOVA indicated that the two braces significantly restricted ankle inversion in WB both before and following exercise. In addition, no significant differences were found between the actions of the two braces over the time measurement periods. As well, no significant difference was found between the measurements of ankle inversion in WB without braces, indicating that the true effectiveness of the braces was tested and that the maximal end range of ankle inversion was reproducible by the subjects over the time measurement periods. We therefore concluded that the effect of braces on restricting ankle inversion in WB is significant both prior to and following functional exercise.