Effect of Open and Closed Kinetic Chain Exercises on the Staheli Index of the Foot in Adolescent Boys

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Non-Profit University of North. Amol. Iran

10.22038/jpsr.2026.88446.2706

Abstract

Purpose:
Flexible flat foot is common in children. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of four weeks of open and closed kinetic chain exercises on Staheli index (SI) of 13-17-year-old students in City of Babol.
Methods:
This semi-experimental study utilized a pre-test/post-test design. The statistical population of the present study comprised all male students aged 13–17 years with flatfoot in the city of Babol, who were selected from three schools under the supervision of the Ministry of Education (N = 235). From this population, 30 eligible participants were selected using G*Power software and randomly assigned to two groups via simple random sampling. Both groups performed their respective kinetic chain exercises for four weeks (three sessions per week, 60 minutes per session) according to their specific program. For statistical analysis, covariance analysis (for between-group comparisons) and paired t-test (for within-group comparisons) were employed. All analyses were performed using SPSS version 26 at a significance level of α = 0.05.
Results:
The statistical results of the present study showed that after four weeks of closed and open kinetic chain exercises, the SI decreased, indicating an improvement in foot posture (closed chain group: P=0.001; open chain group: P=0.002). Furthermore, in between-group comparison, the closed kinetic chain exercise group demonstrated a better performance (F=4.24, P=0.049) with a medium effect size (0.13) compared to the open kinetic chain exercise group.
Conclusion:
Overall, the findings indicate that both OKC and CKC exercises effectively improved SI in students with this condition. However, CKC exercises demonstrated superior performance compared to OKC exercises and are recommended for corrective trainers to enhance foot structure and function.

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