My nephew John is a smart high schooler who reached out with an interesting video he found.
I read: Watch “Meet the Star Quarterback Who NEVER TIED His Shoes” on YouTube
I love feet so I was intrigued. John is a Carolina Panthers fan and I was expecting a video putting down the Super Bowl Champion LII Philadelphia Eagles…but it was a real link:
The following is our text discussion about the video but I wanted to share because it encapsulates my feelings on the barefoot fad. John’s replies are in italics
“Hey, John,
Are you talking about the concept of midfoot strike. Cause I can give you a quick explanation and I have sat in one hour lectures about the topic. I may have also caught a brief nap during said lectures”
Lol, I just thought the topic was interesting. The whole idea behind it was somewhat plausible and I might have to start not tying my shoes for basketball now
Barefoot running was a fad maybe 5-10 years ago and people loved it. Yes depending on your religious beliefs, we did in my opinion evolve. When we were in Africa chasing down gazelles we were barefoot but as we modernized the Sahara was replaced by concrete.
So we needed shoes to absorb the impact. That’s what shoes do.
The mechanics of midfoot strike versus heel strike is another issue. Some of the faster dudes I ran against in college never hit their heel to the ground. But they were going to fast and basically skipping a step. The heel is there to absorb shock and transfer weight along the gait cycle.
Midfoot and barefoot running are great for podiatry because people get hurt.
As for your basketball shoes I would worry about rolling your ankles.
You want to strengthen those foot muscles due select exercises barefoot on trusted ground like the football field.
Good god John. I think you just helped me write my next blog for barking Dogs.
Share your thoughts on the Barefoot empire!
The Barefoot “Revolution” or just not tying your shoes
About Author
Leave a Comment