Introduction: Research in court sports shows that factors which aid in extrinsic shock absorption, that is, flooring and footwear, can help reduce lower extremity injuries. However, since students and performers of ballet or most styles of contemporary dance cannot depend upon footwear, the only extrinsic factor to help them with shock absorption is flooring.
Methods: We investigated whether doing sauté on a low stiffness dance floor produced a difference in EMG output of the vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius, of soleus compared to a high stiffness floor.