Author: Nancy MA Sep 24th
Have you ever noticed that different kinds of sports shoes have very different sole patterns and structures? For example, skateboard shoes have general flat soles, and running shoes’sole patterns are the same as the direction of the foot. Tennis shoes have horizontal patterns on their soles. Most people may choose shoes that are fashion and have a good appearance. It is important to choose the right shoes for different sports to protect you in sports activities.
There are several kinds of soles that are widely used in sport’s shoes. One of the most common sole patterns is a simple geometric image, such as circles. These kinds of soles are usually used in tennis shoes and basketball shoes since the small circles are like small disks that ensure the shoe has a better grip on the ground. A study shows that the user’s performance is likely to be enhanced because they have a greater feeling of security while performing the sporting activity.
New Balance is the first company that introducing this design into running shoes.
Another kind is sole has multi-directional lines or waves. They are widely used in running and tennis training to alleviate the stress and impact onto knees and ankles.
This is a pair of classic Nike Cortez shoes with wave patterns in shoe soles.
Nowadays, many shoe factories choose not to fill every part of the soles with lines since most people barely use the middle part of the soles. Therefore, usually there are more waves or lines at the top and end of the soles, but not in the middle part.
This pair of converse shoes is a good example of different lines and waves distributing in the shoe sole.
The third kind of soles is filled with 100% rubber. This is perfect for indoor sports such as basketball or badminton since rubber is a relatively light material and suitable for jumping higher or moving faster. Rubber is a wear-resistant material since it is a polymer. It is not easy to be damaged by rock or sand while climbing mountains or attending other high-intensity sports. The hardness of rubber can be changed by changing temperature or other factors during manufacturing. Since natural rubber is soft and can be easily bent at an angle of approximately 15° to a line normal to the longitudinal axis of the foot. The addition of sulfur or other covalent linkages between rubber chains increases the hardness of rubber and fit other sports.
This is the structure of natural rubber.
This is an example of industrial rubber.
Your feet are more important than you think. Everything from balance, stability, movement and musculoskeletal alignment begins with the feet. Therefore, it is important to choose the right shoes for yourself.
Nancy Ma
