Tape is commonly used as a performance aide in the athletic population. Kinesio tape has gained significant popularity in recent years, but there is a lack of scientific evidence on its efficacy. The current study aimed to determine if an application of kinesio tape, placebo tape, or no tape were effective measures in aiding single leg balance. Thirty (15 males and 15 females) division II athletes (age: 21±2 years; height: 69±7 inches; weight 191.5±71.5 pounds) were recruited to participate in this study. The volunteers participated in men's soccer, women's soccer, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, football, women's track and field, men's track and field, women· s basketball, men· s basketball softball, baseball and women· s volleyball. Participants were randomly assigned to a starting group (control, kinesio tape, or placebo tape) and all participants completed all three conditions. Kinesio tape, placebo tape, or no tape was applied to the participants. Single leg Balance Error Scoring System (BESS) testing was performed by the participants on their dominant leg in each testing condition. Total BESS scores were collected by combining the total amount of errors from the firm and foam single leg conditions. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was run on the data. There were significant differences (p<0.05) between the control group (M = 3.4, SD = 1.92) and both the kinesio tape (M = 6.43, SD = 2.05) and placebo groups (M = 6.47. SD = 2.18), but no significant differences between the kinesio tape and placebo tape groups. The results of the current study suggest that kinesio tape and placebo tape, on division II athletes, are not effective measures in aiding single leg balance. In fact, they appear to worsen balance compared to the no tape condition.
