Effects of outsole shoe patterns on athletic performance

Abstract

The focus of this study was to investigate the effects that different basketball shoe outsole tread patterns have on the amount of slip and therefore the performance of the individual while undergoing normal basketball transitions. Tread grooves and therefore patterns must exist on the outsole of a basketball shoe because the chances of contamination and for practical durability. With the existence of so many basketball shoes with varying tread patterns and characteristics it presents the question of whether or not varying patterns affect traction, slip, and therefore athletic performance. This study evaluated the amount of slips of two pairs of basketball shoes with human participants running basketball drills on a hardwood basketball floor at Wartburg College. The results indicated that one shoe with a much more unique tread pattern performed better with fewer slips, and fewer severe slips, especially when considering lateral movements than the other shoe which had a tread pattern with similar tread characteristics to many other currently available market shoes.

Sexual Dimorphism and Bilateral Asymmetric Variability in Percutaneous Foot Anthropometry of Adolescent Nigerian Schoolchildren in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria

“…While oldest studies on the growing foot and lower limb considered the diversity in the morphological and evolutionary patterns of development as well as their clinical implications [6][7], more recent studies on foot anthropometry have enabled clearer understanding of the prevalence of age-old clinical disorders such as the flat-foot [8][9][10] and the arched-foot [11][12][13] and other forms of foot postural disorders [14] The garment industry, through its drive for better understanding of shoe-fitting and sizing accounts for a significant portion of research documentation [15][16][17], while a growing interest in the correlation of foot dimensions with athletic performance has increased demand for original data from many regions [18][19][20][21][22]. Increased demand for local or regional foot anthropometric data also arises from their wider applications for sexual dimorphism and stature determination of personal identification of individuals in forensic anthropology.…”