Ankle active range of motion as an essential factor of footwork technique in the prevention of overuse injuries in flamenco dancers

Flamenco dance is a performing art which is based on footwork technique where the foot and ankle play an important role. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of ankle active range of motion on external load and its efficacy as a predictor during a flamenco footwork technique, with consideration of accelerometer positions and dance proficiency. Twelve flamenco dancers composed of 6 professional and 6 amateurs participated voluntarily in this study for whom no significant differences were detected regarding age, mass or height. Participants completed a 15-second Zap-3 footwork test at a speed of 160 bpm (beats per minute), 180 bpm and as fast as they could. Triaxial accelerometers were positioned at the dominant ankle, 5th lumbar vertebrae and 7th cervical vertebrae to calculate accumulated PlayerLoad and uniaxial PlayerLoad of the3 planes (anteroposterior, mediolateral and vertical) for each speed level. Percentage contributions were also calculated. The effect of dorsiflexion on the external load of the dominant ankle of both professional and amateur dancers existed only in the anteroposterior axis while dorsiflexion was related to the external load at the 7th cervical vertebrae and only amateurs were affected. Plantarflexion only affected the uniaxial contribution of the vertical-axis of professional dancers. These programs would be applied to develop a technique feedback system for the flamenco dancer to follow their own model with respect to the ideal. This would allow intervention in the prevention of overuse injuries in flamenco dance artists.