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Category

Athletics

Document Type

Paper

Abstract

The aim of this work was to quantify the effect of adding carbon fiber plates in the midsole of spike shoes (i.e., "super spikes") on 40-m sprint performance. Eight female national level athletes completed four 40-m sprints using two different types of footwear (i.e., traditional spikes and “super spikes”). The main results showed an improvement of 0.6% in performance when the athletes wore "super spikes" (i.e., 0.031 s in 0-40 m), mainly in the flying phase (i.e., 0.026 s in the 20-40 m), which could be due to an increase in leg and vertical stiffness (i.e., greater in the "super spikes") and a reduction in the ground contact time (i.e., less time with “super spikes”). Also, this improvement seems to be related to the sprinter’s performance level. In conclusion, wearing "super spikes" has a positive effect on 40-m sprint performance compared to conventional spikes.

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