Flip-flop study leaves footprints worldwide
July 2008
The ACSM's recap of its annual meeting, held in May in Indianapolis, noted that the organization set a record for the number of news stories generated by its conference. A survey of 70,000 online media sources found 543 national stories were generated by the conference, nearly 100 more than the total from the ACSM's 2007 meeting in New Orleans.
The publicity spike can be attributed, in part, to researchers in the AU College of Education's Department of Kinesiology, who recruited 39 college-age men and women for a study of thong-style flip-flops and found that the footwear can result in sore feet, ankles and legs. The research team, led by biomechanics doctoral student Justin Shroyer, presented its findings at the ACSM meeting in Indianapolis. Their study became the most heavily-publicized story to develop from the ACSM meeting with such print, online and broadcast outlets as The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Jerusalem Post, The Brunei Times, The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), USA Today, The Honolulu Advertiser, Newsweek, "Good Morning America,'' Canada.com and MSNBC providing coverage. Shroyer also participated in interviews with radio talk shows in Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada.
Shroyer's team, which operated under the direction of Dr. Wendi Weimar, associate professor of biomechanics and director of the Biomechanics Laboratory, had study participants walk a platform in thong-style flip-flops and then traditional athletic shoes. The platform measured vertical force as the walkers' feet hit the ground, while stride length and limb angles were recorded on video. The researchers found that flip-flop wearers took shorter steps and that their heels hit the ground with less vertical force than when they wore athletic shoes.
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annual meeting.