The Effects of Ankle Taping on Measures of Ground Reaction Forces and Jump Height During a Sport-Specific Vertical Jump in Youth Basketball Players.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ankle taping using zinc oxide tape versus no tape to measure ground reaction forces (GRF) and vertical jump height during a sport-specific vertical jump test in youth basketball players. Participants were recruited through purposive sampling and completed a basketball specific vertical jump test with and without zinc oxide tape. Mean sway velocity, 95% ellipse area, and path length were measured using the AMTI© force platform and vertical jump height using a Vertec© device. A paired t-test with a significance level of < .05 was used for analysis. 23 individuals participated (11 females, 12 males; aged = 15.22 years; height = 171.43 cm; mass = 64.72 kg). There was a statistically significant decrease in jump height with tape ( = 57.33 cm) compared to without tape ( = 58.84 cm), 95% CI [2.74, 0.28], (20) = -2.56, < .05, = .56; statistically significant decrease in 95% ellipse area with tape ( = 2.64 cm.cm) compared to without tape ( = 3.30 cm.cm), 95% CI [0.50, 0.02], (22) = -2.26, < .05, = .47; statistically significant decrease in sway velocity with tape ( = 2.82 m/sec) compared to without tape ( = 4.08 m/sec), 95% CI [7.47, 0.27], (22) = -2.22, < .05, = .46; and a statistically significant decrease in path length with tape ( = 120.93 cm) compared to without tape ( = 170.10 cm), 95% CI [37.37, 1.33], (22) = -2.23, < .05, = .46, with a medium effect size for all variables. The application of taping the ankles resulted in increased ankle stability at landing, however, basketball jumping performance may be negatively affected as taping resulted in a decreased vertical jump height.