Background: In years 2011-2014, 8.6 million sports-related injuries were reported each year and falls have been identified as a main cause. Purpose: To determine the impact of foot type, quadriceps angle, and Vibram™ footwear on postural stability. Methods: Twentyour males (age 21.38±2.50yr; height 1.74±0.06m; mass 71.24±10.37kg) were categorized as pronated, supinated, and neutral feet using FPI and bilateral quadriceps angles were measured. Participants were tested on barefoot, Vibram™ Bikila and Vibram™ Trek (VT), on stable/unstable, bilateral/unilateral, eyes open/closed conditions. Sway variables were analyzed using 3(foot type) × 3(footwear) repeated measures ANOVA. Pearson product correlation was performed for quadriceps angle with sway variables. Results: Footwear main effect significance was evident in all conditions except stable unilateral eyes open condition, with lower values for barefoot followed by VT. Conclusion: Static balance in BF is superior to shod conditions in all situations except the extremely challenging condition, in which VT showed greater balance.

As an investigation of the evolution of the minimalist shoes, the purpose of this thesis was to examine popularity trends of the rise and fall of the minimalist movement. By evaluating the history and research behind the designs of the minimalist shoes, this thesis viewed the peak in popularity when minimalist shoes first made their debut. Initially, footwear sales skyrocketed upon its introduction. Its popularity grew due the prospective effects of improving athletic performance and the possibility of decreasing the prevalence of running-related injuries. To understand the sales trends of the footwear industry, various shoe examples from the different categories of footwear padding were also examined. Hence, after learning more about each type of footwear, it is crucial to understand how to transition safely and without injury. Injury prevalence has been suggested to be associated with the change in biomechanics involved with changing a runner’s footwear. Through the review of research literature on the subject, 33 sources of peerreviewed studies, found via Google Scholar or EBSCOHost using select key word searches, were taken into account. After reviewing the results and conclusions, a common finding suggest that more research is needed to come to clear consensus. There is not enough evidence to suggest that the use of minimalist shoes either lowered the risk of injury or improved performance. Hence, the decline of minimalist movement may have been due to the unfulfilled benefits that were proposed. After consumers did not reap the benefits of transitioning to minimalist shoes, sales trends continued to fall.