Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33468002›Full record

ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2021

The extensibility of the plantar fascia influences the windlass mechanism during human running.

Lauren Welte, Luke A Kelly, Sarah E Kessler, Daniel E Lieberman, Susan E D'Andrea, Glen A Lichtwark, Michael J Rainbow

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06637592 (Effects of Windlass Versus Calcaneal Taping on Pain, Flexibility and Lower Extremity Function in Football Player With Plantar Fasciitis.), which is not on this map. Cited by 35 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06637592 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Effects of Windlass Versus Calcaneal Taping on Pain, Flexibility and Lower Extremity Function in Football Player With Plantar Fasciitis.

TypeinterventionalSponsorRiphah International UniversityRan2024 to 2025Enrolled34ConditionsFootball PlayersArmsCalcaneal taping, Windlass taping
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
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  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Morphological analysis of the windlass mechanism during running.Journal of physical therapy science · 2025
    Article
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  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
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  18. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Lauren WelteDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Luke A KellySchool of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Sarah E KesslerSchool of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Daniel E LiebermanDepartment of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Susan E D'AndreaDepartment of Kinesiology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA.
Glen A LichtwarkSchool of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Michael J RainbowDepartment of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The arch of the human foot is unique among hominins as it is compliant at ground contact but sufficiently stiff to enable push-off. These behaviours are partly facilitated by the ligamentous plantar fascia whose role is central to two mechanisms. The ideal windlass mechanism assumes that the plantar fascia has a nearly constant length to directly couple toe dorsiflexion with a change in arch shape. However, the plantar fascia also stretches and then shortens throughout gait as the arch-spring stores and releases elastic energy. We aimed to understand how the extensible plantar fascia could behave as an ideal windlass when it has been shown to strain throughout gait, potentially compromising the one-to-one coupling between toe arc length and arch length. We measured foot bone motion and plantar fascia elongation using high-speed X-ray during running. We discovered that toe plantarflexion delays plantar fascia stretching at foot strike, which probably modifies the distribution of the load through other arch tissues. Through a pure windlass effect in propulsion, a quasi-isometric plantar fascia's shortening is delayed to later in stance. The plantar fascia then shortens concurrently to the windlass mechanism, likely enhancing arch recoil at push-off.

Indexed as

FasciaRunningBiomechanical PhenomenaFootGaitHumansarch-springbiplanar videoradiographyfoot arch biomechanicsplantar fasciarunningwindlass mechanism

Identifiers

PMID33468002
PMCPMC7893268

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.