When you walk into a sports apparel store, you’re likely to find dozens of different shoe types, each labelled for a different type of sports. If you’ve ever wondered why you need one shoe for running, another for basketball, and a completely different one for football, you’re not alone. Here’s everything you need to know about the different types of sports footwear.
Athletic Shoes For Mixed Fitness Programs
Before we get into the reasons different activities require different shoes, we’re going to point out that there is such a thing as cross training shoes. As in, shoes that are suitable for a variety of athletic purposes. Because they are designed for multiple types of activity they may be more expensive. If you’ve ever wondered, “Are nobull shoes worth the money?”, well – they are. Simply because they are covering all the things you might need for a program like CrossFit.
What Is The Difference Between Athletic Shoe Types?
Take one look at soccer shoes, tennis shoes, and basketball shoes – and the difference is apparent. But it’s not merely aesthetics. Each shoe has specific designed features that serve several purposes:
Protecting Against Common Injuries In A Specific Sport
Every athletic activity comes with the probability of injury, and because the movements of each activity differ vastly – the injuries aren’t the same. So, shoes take into account the type of injury and try to protect against it. For example, basketball shoes have high tops because the game involves a lot of fast turns that cause ankle injury – supposedly the high tops protect against ankle injuries.
Handling Different Terrain
Running on a football (or soccer) field is not the same as running on a basketball court because the ground is different. This is why soccer players have special cleats for rainy weather when the ground is muddier. The same concept is applied in all athletic footwear, albeit without such a drastic difference in the soles of the shoes.
Basic Features Of Most Athletic Footwear
There is a stark difference between ordinary shoes (dress shoes, casual footwear, etc.) and athletic footwear. Sports shoes all have a few basic features in common, Namely, they provide some level of cushion for the soles of the feet, and they have more traction than dress shoes to prevent the wearer from slipping.
For light sports activities you may get away with any type of generic sneakers without considering a specific sports activity to focus on. However, if you’re serious about advancing your activity in one type of athletic activity then you are better off buying shoes designed for that activity. That is, for running a mile everyday, you can get away with most types of athletic footwear so long as it feels comfortable. Yes, you can go running with basketball shoes. But if you’re training for a marathon, or want to improve your running in any way – then getting dedicated running shoes is going to make a big difference. So, if you’re planning any intense athletic activity, visit a sportswear store and get appropriate footwear to protect yourself from injury.