3 ms·

But you then increase the weight of the shoe. Which affects running and, more importantly, jumping.

klyrs 3y ago
I refuse to believe that a 200+lb athlete's jumping is significantly impacted by a few ounces of extra weight in their shoe. I could believe that rigidity in fabric around the ankle has an impact.
- InitialLastName 3y ago
  Jumping, maybe not; for running, the shoe is a weight at the end of an arm that needs to be accelerated consistently. Even if it's mostly psychological, you can absolutely feel the difference with a lighter shoe.
- jackmott42 3y ago
  There is a well understood relationship between running economy and small changes in shoe weight which lead to important changes. So even if shoe weight had no important impact on jumping performance it will save significant energy over the course of a game to shave even grams off of a shoe. The reason for this is running involves accelerating the foot, then decelerating it, over and over, and the shoe is at the end of that pendulum motion. Not to mention lifting it against gravity as well.
- MisterBastahrd 3y ago
  When you're running over 2 miles a game, ounces count. Every step you take is you lifting that extra weight in the shoe. Let's say you're 6'3" and you run 2.54 miles a game at a jogging pace. That's 4559 steps. If your shoe weighs 2.5 ounces more, then you've lifted over 700 additional pounds by the end of a game. All additional weight is going to take its toll.
  - klyrs 3y ago
    Yeah I can see the argument for running getting a person tired. But in jumping, all the force is exerted before one's feet leave the ground. The jumper is a 200lb weight imbued with a certain amount of kinetic energy, subject to deceleration proportional to its weight. An ounce is about .03% of the total deceleration. I maintain that the weight will not produce a significant impact on the trajectory of a jump.
  - dogma1138 3y ago
    Maybe, however it’s still likely marginal they aren’t running a marathon and overall the additional protection from injury likely outweighs any impact on performance. One can make this argument about boxing too, gloves are heavy and and also cause more long term concussion related injuries because they allow you to hit harder however in the short term a boxer can have far more matches because they don’t risk breaking their hands as much as in bare knuckles or wrapped knuckles boxing. Athletics at this point is so well researched that if different shoes would be better they would’ve changed them already. There are no specific regulations for court shoes in basketball as far as I can tell. If low top shoes would be better some team somewhere would’ve tried to use them and if they indeed presented an advantage everyone would’ve adopted them by now.
    - MisterBastahrd 3y ago
      Your analogies don't make much sense. On one hand, yes, marathoners would benefit from lighter gear. On the other, they rarely change direction and so their lower extremities don't have to fight against the added weight. Boxing is a punching sport. Boxing gloves are heavier than MMA gloves because boxers throw far more punches than other combat sports and need more hand protection. There's tens of millions of dollars being invested on a yearly basis into research regarding shoe construction. Teams don't make decisions about shoes for players. Players and trainers make those decisions.

I refuse to believe that a 200+lb athlete's jumping is significantly impacted by a few ounces of extra weight in their shoe. I could believe that rigidity in fabric around the ankle has an impact.

InitialLastName 3y ago
Jumping, maybe not; for running, the shoe is a weight at the end of an arm that needs to be accelerated consistently. Even if it's mostly psychological, you can absolutely feel the difference with a lighter shoe.
jackmott42 3y ago
There is a well understood relationship between running economy and small changes in shoe weight which lead to important changes. So even if shoe weight had no important impact on jumping performance it will save significant energy over the course of a game to shave even grams off of a shoe. The reason for this is running involves accelerating the foot, then decelerating it, over and over, and the shoe is at the end of that pendulum motion. Not to mention lifting it against gravity as well.
MisterBastahrd 3y ago
When you're running over 2 miles a game, ounces count. Every step you take is you lifting that extra weight in the shoe. Let's say you're 6'3" and you run 2.54 miles a game at a jogging pace. That's 4559 steps. If your shoe weighs 2.5 ounces more, then you've lifted over 700 additional pounds by the end of a game. All additional weight is going to take its toll.
- klyrs 3y ago
  Yeah I can see the argument for running getting a person tired. But in jumping, all the force is exerted before one's feet leave the ground. The jumper is a 200lb weight imbued with a certain amount of kinetic energy, subject to deceleration proportional to its weight. An ounce is about .03% of the total deceleration. I maintain that the weight will not produce a significant impact on the trajectory of a jump.
- dogma1138 3y ago
  Maybe, however it’s still likely marginal they aren’t running a marathon and overall the additional protection from injury likely outweighs any impact on performance. One can make this argument about boxing too, gloves are heavy and and also cause more long term concussion related injuries because they allow you to hit harder however in the short term a boxer can have far more matches because they don’t risk breaking their hands as much as in bare knuckles or wrapped knuckles boxing. Athletics at this point is so well researched that if different shoes would be better they would’ve changed them already. There are no specific regulations for court shoes in basketball as far as I can tell. If low top shoes would be better some team somewhere would’ve tried to use them and if they indeed presented an advantage everyone would’ve adopted them by now.
  - MisterBastahrd 3y ago
    Your analogies don't make much sense. On one hand, yes, marathoners would benefit from lighter gear. On the other, they rarely change direction and so their lower extremities don't have to fight against the added weight. Boxing is a punching sport. Boxing gloves are heavier than MMA gloves because boxers throw far more punches than other combat sports and need more hand protection. There's tens of millions of dollars being invested on a yearly basis into research regarding shoe construction. Teams don't make decisions about shoes for players. Players and trainers make those decisions.