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Shoe basics

Impressive materials and manufacturing gives the manufacturers enormous potential but it is my observation that they have no reliable advice on the requirements of a sports shoe and it appears to be a competition between the manufacturers in making the most impressive sounding shoe.

These shoes are totally unsuitable for the purpose for which they are sold.

The 'wet foot test' features in some sports medicine texts and in most running shoe manufacturers information where they attempt to categorise you and direct you to a certain shoe.

Pressure plate readouts and the wet foot test indicates that a person may have a flat foot, a moderate arch or a high arch but does not give useful information at all as it is not an indicator of foot alignment.  Even high arch people have problems from the incorrect way their inherited alignment causes them to strike the ground. It is the built in individual function we have that causes wear and injury and it cannot be classified and used to tell us to buy a type of running shoe. It is another example of the many useless myths that are out there.

Please note; Pronation is rolling in at the forefoot, not a flat foot (collapsed arch structure), they are entirely different although often seen in combination.