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I don't think we know as much about footwear, as we think we do. There are exceptions out there of course, one was a student I went through with, that worked in a multi-national footwear chain for years. His strength was quickly filtering out the rhetoric, and being able to recall (and rate) most features in most shoes, in models both old and new.
Ask 100 physical therapists and 100 podiatrists to recommend a running shoe, and you can bet London-to-a-brick that the predictable answer will be "Asics" (70%?) and Brooks (20%?). Hell, even dunlop volleys get a mention over the 3-stripes.
Why is this so?
Are all Asics shoes that much better? Do we just regurgitate what we heard (for 2 hours) at university? Do Asics pour more money in to sports medicine by way of sponsorship.
Do Adidas' biomech team consist only of reflexologists that laugh at windlass and other pivotal podiatry theory?
(And no Simon, I don't have anything to do with Adidas.)
When it comes to footwear advice from musculo-skeletal professionals (including myself), the bulk of us are 'more tip and less iceberg'.
Yes they do; Adidas sponsor the Australasian Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine; and I just met up with their head of R & D from Germany a few weeks back.
I can't explain why they do not appear on the verbal "recommended" list in Australia (not sure about elsewhere)
Quote:
When it comes to footwear advice from musculo-skeletal professionals (including myself), the bulk of us are 'more tip and less iceberg'
...its is being worked on.
__________________ Craig Payne
__________________________________________________ ___________________________________ Follow me on Twitter | Run Junkie God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things - right now I am so far behind, I will never die.
Yes they do; Adidas sponsor the Australasian Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine; and I just met up with their head of R & D from Germany a few weeks back.
I can't explain why they do not appear on the verbal "recommended" list in Australia (not sure about elsewhere) ...its is being worked on.
I recommend shoes which fit, feel comfortable and offer suitable control for the individual concerned and meet the needs of the running performed (offroad, trail, road, racing)- Adidas, Asics, Brooks, Saucony, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike, Inov8, Walsh etc. Traditionally, Adidas are good for narrower feet, rarely good for wide feet. I still find this applies, despite claims that they now use a broader last.
My beef against Adidas- too narrow for my feet and tend to smell a bit like cats piss when worn for any period (or is that just me?). Both these facts apply to Puma shoes too- what is it with German shoes? I'm pretty sure the companies Puma and Adidas were founded bythe dassler brothers- Adi Dassler and his less famous brother: ??? Dassler.
P.S. Is windlass and "pivotal theory" (whatever that is) the centre of the podiatric universe in Australia?
P.P.S. perhaps the demise of Adidas as a favoured brand has something to do with the brand names use as an acronym to things we used to think up at school in the late 70's-early 80's. Two of which I recall were:
After Dinner I Did A Sh!t
All Day I Dream About Sex
Juvenile, but true and we were juveniles then anyway.
Simon you mention addidas being narrow and i am wondering what your thoughts are with regards to many of the other makes you have named. The reason for this is over the last few years technology within the trainers has become a battle ground between companies by using there own named systems asics trusstick system for example which i think narrows the midfoot. I have been having a few new patients not injured before who have bought these types of trainers and are injured within weeks of buying them.Also more difficult to fit orthoses in them
Simon you mention addidas being narrow and i am wondering what your thoughts are with regards to many of the other makes you have named. The reason for this is over the last few years technology within the trainers has become a battle ground between companies by using there own named systems asics trusstick system for example which i think narrows the midfoot. I have been having a few new patients not injured before who have bought these types of trainers and are injured within weeks of buying them.Also more difficult to fit orthoses in them
chris
Personally, I like the Asics nimbus as a structured neutral shoe which incorporates the space trustic design and have not experienced the problems you recount. If you want an asics shoe to fit orthoses within try the "foundation"- I think that's what it is called- supposed to be "designed" for orthoses insertion. When I refer to Adidas being narrow I'm really talking forefoot- not great if you have hallux valgus.
When I'm making devices for runners, I always take a template from the sock-liner of the shoe because I tend to make full length devices to replace the sock liner for dedicated running orthoses. It also allows me to trim any 3/4 length orthoses to ensure good fit.
I find that many patients still buy trainers at random- had one today, very experienced runner who won the 800m at the veterans world champs last time around. Asked about his shoes and he said "to be honest I got them because I liked the colour" I suspect that thi, in part, accounts for the prevalence of running injuries remaining relatively unchanged despite the developments in running shoe technology.
Wen recommending any shoe I do propose the costumer one model (with similar features), of every brand we carry, then with my assistance we narrow the 7 or 8 models to 2 or 3, the brand usually it's not a factor (only if the customer has any preference or if he/she needs different Widths, BTW according to my data about 36% do need)
Do you know that in Poland Adidas was a common name for all sport shoes? It worked that way bye the time communism collapsed. Even now, it's sometimes faster to say: "did you take your adidas" instead of "did you take your running shoes"
:)
I tend to agree with Simon in that Adidas tend to accomodate the narrower foot, although the adidas shoes definately makes it onto my recommedation list. As of recent, in my personal opinion, they have made some quality training shoes, and some real quality racers (adizero range).
As a neutral runner, I've found the latest AdiStar Cushion to have some good forefoot cushioning for the solid foot path that we have around our river torrens here in Adelaide. I've found, working in our proudly SA owned sports footwear retailer, the Podiatrist here in Adelaide have not forgotten Adidas, and are actually quite high on the recommendation list.
Interesting thread. In the days when I was a kid, I did a course in handbag making at Cordwainers college in London, *which explains why I am writing this in Milan and planning on going to Mipel in 3 weeks. I did listen in on a few lectures, 'Adidas' was the generic name for sports shoes then. My Aussie friends all called the shoes
AH DEE DAHS.
I should have taken the shoe making course. Damm. Another false step in life. Carole
Just another story regarding Adidas.
I was on the medical team at the Knights of Columbus Track meet in 1987 in Cleveland. The Soviet team's luggage got misplaced, and so were their athletic shoes. The other athletes loaned shoes to the Soviet athletes, but there was a major problem. The Soviet team was under contract to wear only Adidas, and they would rather compete barefoot than wear other brands. I pulled out my 1" tape and we put stripes on all the shoes, and colored them in.
Do Adidas still make shoes?
I pulled out my 1" tape and we put stripes on all the shoes, and colored them in. 
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