Choosing the right sport shoes
— photo: AFP
Activity specific: A shoe to play tennis in, needs to have enough stability to hold up to the demands of tennis.
“There are hundreds of athletic shoes you can choose from. It’s very important to choose the correct shoe for the activity or sport you participate in because it can help you perform better and help keep you injury free,” says University of Michigan MedSport Athletic Training Clinical Specialist Vahan Agbabian.
However, choosing the appropriate shoe isn’t an easy task due to the hundreds of shoes available.
The prescription for a correct athletic shoe includes knowing your foot type, knowing your mobility and flexibility levels and knowing what activity you want to purchase the shoe for.
Agbabian stresses the importance of choosing the correct shoe based on your foot type.
Not only is structure of the shoe important, but so is flexibility of the person’s feet and flexibility of the shoe. Athletic shoes must be flexible or your foot will fight them as it rolls through each step, leading to shin splints.
Twist and bend
Twist them and they should twist. Bend them and they should bend at the ball of the foot, not in the middle of the arch.
Set them down and poke the toe — it should rock as the toe should be slightly off the ground. If it passes these tests, it might be the correct pair.
“If you have a higher arched foot, a higher arch shoe will probably feel more comfortable. For example, a Nike brand has a type of shock system and your heel is propped up with this device and with the heel propped up it matches a high arch foot type,” says Agbabian.
Agbabian warns that “the type of shoe you choose should match your activity level.” For example, if someone is trying to find a shoe to play tennis in, it needs to have enough stability to hold up to the demands of tennis.
You wouldn’t want to play tennis in running shoes, Agbabian says, because they don’t provide the stability you need.
Most variability
Running shoes aren’t designed for that kind of stability. “Probably the one shoe style that allows you the most variability is a cross training shoe ,” explains Agbabian.
A cross training shoe is a style that carries characteristics of different types of shoes, according to a University of Michigan press release.
The most common problem that the researchers see with people who have been wearing improper or incorrect shoes is blisters. “If their foot type really doesn’t match the correct shoe then injury is likely to occur, such as ankle sprains and chronic pains that eventually travel up the leg,” Agbabian says.
Quick tips
He suggests changing running and walking shoes every 500 to 600 miles and court shoes such as basketball shoes after every season played.
The U-M team offers these quick tips that everyone should follow in order to find the “right” pair of athletic shoes:
Shop for shoes in the afternoon, when your feet are at maximum size (they swell during the day). Check for space at the end of your longest toe. — Our Bureau
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