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Updated: Mar 9, 2026
Evaluating Postural Control and Lower-extremity Muscle Activation in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability
Published on: September 18, 2020
Evaluating Postural Control and Ankle Laxity Between Taping and High-Top Cleats in High School Football Players
Context:
Lateral ankle sprains are the most common injuries in high school sports. While ankle taping is a preferred method of external prophylactic support, its restrictive properties decline during exercise. The Under Armour® Highlight cleat is marketed on the premise that it provides added support without the need for additional ankle taping.
Objective:
To determine if differences in ankle joint laxity and postural control exist between football players wearing the Under Armour® Highlight cleat (Under Armour Inc, Baltimore, MD) as compared to a low/mid-top cleat with ankle tape.
Design:
Crossover trial.
Setting:
Athletic training room and football practice field sideline.
Patients:
32 interscholastic football players (15.8 ± 1.0 y; 178.9 ± 7.4 cm; 87.1 ± 21.4 kg).
Interventions:
Ankle laxity was assessed using an instrumented ankle arthrometer (Blue Bay Research Inc, Milton, FL), while postural control testing was performed on the Tekscan MobileMat™ Balanced Error Scoring System (BESS; South Boston, MA). The 2 treatments included Under Armour® Highlight cleats and a low/mid-top cleat with ankle tape applied to the nondominant ankle only. Measurements were taken before and immediately after practice.
Main Outcome Measures:
The independent variable was treatment (Highlight vs low/mid-top cleat with ankle tape). Dependent variables included ankle arthrometry measures of anterior displacement (mm), inversion/eversion rotation (deg), and the modified BESS error scores. A linear mixed-effects model was used for analysis.
Results:
The low/mid-top cleat with tape condition had significantly higher inversion range-of-motion (ROM) and inversion/eversion rotation postexercise when compared to the Highlight cleat (P < 0.05).
Conclusions:
The results of this study provide some evidence that the Under Armour® Highlight cleat restricts ankle ROM following a training session better than the taped low/mid-top cleat. Further study is warranted to determine if this high-top style of football cleat can reduce the incidence of ankle sprains and how it might compare to spat taping.
