How Much Do We Know About Foot Pronation in Judokas?

Background: Regular evaluation of foot posture should be performed to determine whether foot-level interventions are necessary because changes in foot posture may contribute to lower-limb overuse injuries. This pilot study aims to test the level of pronation in judokas.

Methods: A total of 61 judokas from Slovakia and the Czech Republic participated in the study, including 36 members of the youth team. Based on sex, the sample was composed of 42 males and 19 females with a mean ± SD age of 16.82 ± 2.41 years. Pronation was measured by the navicular drop test on the foot.

Results: According to the data, the mean ± SD pronation in males was 0.86 ± 0.34 cm on the right foot and 0.89 ± 0.34 cm on the left foot. The mean ± SD navicular drop measurement for the right foot was 0.874 ± 0.20 cm and 0.878 ± 0.23 for the left foot. No correlation between pronation and age (r = 0.29), height (r = 0.04), body mass index (r = 0.02), or years of judo training (r = 0.22) was found.

Conclusions: This study of judoka pronation values is the first of its kind, providing novel insights into the biomechanics of judo athletes. The findings indicate that sex and age do not significantly influence pronation, suggesting that training and technique may play a more critical role in movement patterns.