Editorial: Advancing biomechanics: enhancing sports performance, mitigating injury risks, and optimizing athlete rehabilitation, volume II

The second volume of this Research Topic extends the empirical and methodological scope established in Volume I, assembling 15 contributions that address three convergent imperatives in contemporary applied biomechanics: optimizing the mechanical efficiency of athletic footwear and locomotion, advancing sport-specific neuromuscular diagnostics and training, and quantifying injury-risk mechanisms across diverse movement contexts. The collection spans original investigations, a systematic review with meta-analysis, narrative and scoping reviews, and a case report, representing 77 authors and generating more than 49,000 combined views and downloads at time of publication. The instrumentation represented across these articles, from multi-camera optical capture systems and force platforms to surface electromyography (EMG), musculoskeletal (MSK) modeling, and machine learning (ML) classifiers, reflects the accelerating transition of biomechanical inquiry from controlled laboratory settings toward ecologically valid, data-intensive field applications.Five contributions examine the mechanical interface between footwear design, foot strike pattern, and lower-limb loading, with direct implications for running performance and overuse injury prevention. Horiguchi et al. investigated the independent and interactive effects of insole material (EVA versus Sorbothane) and foot strike pattern on shock attenuation during constant-speed running in nine male participants. Peak and loading rate of the vertical ground reaction force (GRF) were higher in the rearfoot strike condition regardless of insole type, and Sorbothane reduced the GRF loading rate selectively under rearfoot conditions; the foot strike pattern thus exerted a stronger influence on impact characteristics than insole material.