If you’re new to the topic of insoles, you may not yet realize that there are insoles for sports. These are insoles very specifically designed to meet the needs of the foot during those sports.
Let’s take basketball, for example. The foot has to put up with a lot of abuse during basketball. The muscles of the foot are constantly on alert during a basketball game because they don’t know whether you are going to quickly stop or keep running. In a split second you could immediately stop running after sprinting down the basketball court. That’s a lot of demand on the small muscles of the foot, and if you have any type of foot imperfection such as flat feet, bunions, heel spur, etc., then it’s likely you will experience foot fatigue far earlier than someone without these disorders.
With basketball, there’s a lot of jumping as well. Every time you come down from a jump and land on your heel, there’s a strong impact and a lot of compression forces on the heel and rest of the foot, too. Insoles for basketball would thus have to take all this into consideration and provide extra cushioning especially in the heel of the foot. There would have to be excellent arch support for the medial longitudinal arch of the foot because you will need it. Without the arch support, the arch could collapse and the muscles that support it could get fatigued. This eventually leads to further foot disorders.
You can now understand that insoles for sports vary in how they are made. Since foot Orthotic and insoles companies already are well-briefed on the ergonomics and biomechanics of the foot, they all understand what is needed when creating insoles for different sports. How they accomplish the fulfillment of those needs is what is different between them.
There are insoles for cycling, insoles for walking, running, sprinting, tennis, racquetball, hockey, ice skating, and skiing. Of course, we can’t forget insoles for snowboarding, hiking, backpacking, football, soccer, and rugby. Even golfers have their own needs for insoles.
This is definitely something you want to pay attention to when purchasing insoles. Often, companies will combine requirements of certain sport insoles together so they can make the insoles a little more versatile. Read in the descriptions of the insoles for sports whether or not the company has done this. For example, you might see that the insoles are suitable for hiking and backpacking and also for work and industrial purposes. You might also see that the insoles for basketball and running are also suitable for casual and dress shoes.
One last example is of insoles for running and walking may also be suitable for boots. It’s a good thing that companies are combining efforts because when they do, they give you the opportunity to take the insole from one pair of shoes and use them in another. This saves on cost.
For more info, check out our great selection of insoles at TheInsoleStore.com!