I am not an avid basketballer (neither actively nor passively) … but I recently have seen a lot of footage (ha!), where baskeballers use low cut sneakers/trainers.
why? … a fad, a fashon statement? or “better solution”?
any thoughts?
In short, high tops don’t seem to prevent ankle strain, and in fact can weaken the ankle.
My husband has found that sneaker-like objects labeled as “court shoes” can be quite comfortable for his purposes, and those are of the lower-height variety. To me, the name kind of implies athletic use, such as basketball courts.
Wondering if that’s what we’re seeing in this photo.
FWIW there’s not much evidence in … heh … support … of ankle compression sleeves for injury prevention or performance enhancement either. The actual physical support is basically nonexistent. I was once taught that they do work … by giving propioceptive feedback and self correction. The best use is for those with previous injury.
High tops have always been a fashion choice. With a bit of peer influence.
Moved from IMHO to the Game Room.
I think Kobe Bryant led the trend back in 2008 with the Zoom Kobe IV. His thinking (or Nike’s thinking – but I wouldn’t be surprised it if was his thinking, since he was raised in Italy and wasn’t dumb) was that if soccer players didn’t need high-top shoes with all the starting/stopping/cutting they do, why should basketball players? I was hoping to find a better cite than this SI listicle (scroll to the 9th shoe), but this might suffice.