Shoesare doing a great job to support and protect our feet. They function so wellthat they even start to take over our feet. Under the protection and restriction created by shoes, our feet becomeso fragile and weak that they lose their strength and we can’t even run barefoot in nature environment. So the question arises: do we really want thesekinds of shoes? Doesn’t this compromise the spirit of athleticism?
With this in mind I envision a shoe that supports but does not limit,restrain, over-protect, and weaken the feet, a shoe that doesn’t usurp feet’sfunctionality, but rather one that allow them to grow and reach their fullpotential.
Such a shoe needs to be very flexible and allowcomplete freedom of movement. Currently most shoes are pretty rigid: the solesare flat and hard. The foot is fixed in the shoe. It cannot move and acts as ifit has no toes. This is the same as putting our hands and arm in plaster castall the time: in order to protect, we actually cripple ourselves. So by making ashoe really flexible and totally fit on the foot, the foot will be able to useits own muscle and strengthen itself over time. As NIKE’s design director TobieHatfield said: the best prevention to injury is strength. Based on this thought,I’ve come up with some shoe ideas:
With this in mind I envision a shoe that supports but does not limit,restrain, over-protect, and weaken the feet, a shoe that doesn’t usurp feet’sfunctionality, but rather one that allow them to grow and reach their fullpotential.
Such a shoe needs to be very flexible and allowcomplete freedom of movement. Currently most shoes are pretty rigid: the solesare flat and hard. The foot is fixed in the shoe. It cannot move and acts as ifit has no toes. This is the same as putting our hands and arm in plaster castall the time: in order to protect, we actually cripple ourselves. So by making ashoe really flexible and totally fit on the foot, the foot will be able to useits own muscle and strengthen itself over time. As NIKE’s design director TobieHatfield said: the best prevention to injury is strength. Based on this thought,I’ve come up with some shoe ideas:
The sole of this shoe consists of threeparts:
1. Flexible front pad withgrooves: it is very flexible, especially at the toe joints for free movement offront part of the foot.
2. Elastic arch bridge structure:it actively pushes up to fit the foot arch. It does not contact the ground andserves as a cushion for landing and a spring for jumping and running.
3. Air cushion.
Then a mid-footstrip and a heel strip are wrapped from the arch bridge to foot, holding theshoe to the foot tightly. And furthermore part 1 and 3 are pulled up byFlywire, providing more strength and fitting while minimizing the weight. Thusthe shoe wraps very tightly around the foot and can move and curve with thefoot very freely, just like a second skin.
1. Flexible front pad withgrooves: it is very flexible, especially at the toe joints for free movement offront part of the foot.
2. Elastic arch bridge structure:it actively pushes up to fit the foot arch. It does not contact the ground andserves as a cushion for landing and a spring for jumping and running.
3. Air cushion.
Then a mid-footstrip and a heel strip are wrapped from the arch bridge to foot, holding theshoe to the foot tightly. And furthermore part 1 and 3 are pulled up byFlywire, providing more strength and fitting while minimizing the weight. Thusthe shoe wraps very tightly around the foot and can move and curve with thefoot very freely, just like a second skin.
Here is anexterior design sketch I made for this structure:
Topview
Here is another idea to help strengthen thefoot:
We can see the difference between a human footand an animal’s. The heel of a leopard (world’s best sprinter, top speed 115km/h) does not contact the ground. It is strong enough to support its weightand it acts like a spring, which is a great help during running or jumpingbecause kinetic energy is conserved as potential energy in the “spring” when itsfoot hits the ground, then released when the foot goes off. Humans, on theother hand, have weak tendons and our heels need to contact the ground all thetime to support our weight. When we run, each time our heels hit the ground,all the kinetic energy is lost. Worse, it dissipates as shock that do a lot ofdamage to our heels and knees. Thus comes the need for artificial cushioning, whilein fact our heel can do a better job. In fact, track sprinters are trained tosprint with only the front sole (so their heels does not touch the ground) toget this benefit. We can only do this in a short time because our heels are notstrong enough. I designed this practice shoe with a sole that encourages heellifting which will strengthen our heels over time.
We can see the difference between a human footand an animal’s. The heel of a leopard (world’s best sprinter, top speed 115km/h) does not contact the ground. It is strong enough to support its weightand it acts like a spring, which is a great help during running or jumpingbecause kinetic energy is conserved as potential energy in the “spring” when itsfoot hits the ground, then released when the foot goes off. Humans, on theother hand, have weak tendons and our heels need to contact the ground all thetime to support our weight. When we run, each time our heels hit the ground,all the kinetic energy is lost. Worse, it dissipates as shock that do a lot ofdamage to our heels and knees. Thus comes the need for artificial cushioning, whilein fact our heel can do a better job. In fact, track sprinters are trained tosprint with only the front sole (so their heels does not touch the ground) toget this benefit. We can only do this in a short time because our heels are notstrong enough. I designed this practice shoe with a sole that encourages heellifting which will strengthen our heels over time.
The last idea is for basketball shoes, andit addresses a very common but severe problem in this sports: inversion injury.
From the simple analysis on the left we can see that thick soles increase the moment arm for bending moment and worsen the injury. So many shoes have adapted a high top design, only to make them heavier and more restrictive and thus further weaken the angle. Soccer cleats all have low top design, yet players are just fine because they have a strong angle.
Thick soles also raise the body’s center of mass and from basic dynamics we know it undermines all aspects of movement: stability, grip, and agility.
My solution to this problem is a thinner sole and sole protrusion on the outside. The protrusion does not touch the ground usually so it does not slow the player. But during a sharp turn, high pressure will deform the sole and it will be in full contact, thus increasing the grip. It also makes it harder to turn over and cause inversion.
From the simple analysis on the left we can see that thick soles increase the moment arm for bending moment and worsen the injury. So many shoes have adapted a high top design, only to make them heavier and more restrictive and thus further weaken the angle. Soccer cleats all have low top design, yet players are just fine because they have a strong angle.
Thick soles also raise the body’s center of mass and from basic dynamics we know it undermines all aspects of movement: stability, grip, and agility.
My solution to this problem is a thinner sole and sole protrusion on the outside. The protrusion does not touch the ground usually so it does not slow the player. But during a sharp turn, high pressure will deform the sole and it will be in full contact, thus increasing the grip. It also makes it harder to turn over and cause inversion.
