I’m a big fan of Ben Patrick, who is known as the “Knees Over Toes Guy” and can be found on social media platforms and podcasts. Ben did a video where he wore his “Xero” brand shoes to play basketball. Xero branded shoes are considered “minimalist” shoes and have practically no padding.
I already wear Xero shoes as my everyday shoe. As such I’ve adjusted my stride to a more natural one as opposed to slamming my heel into the ground first as most traditional shoes practially force us to do.
I’ve turned many ankles in traditional basketball shoes so I figured why not try wearing my Xero shoes to play basketball? The results have been amazing. My feet feel great after I play, whereas they used to hurt for a few days after playing. I’ve never once turned my ankles since switching to Xero shoes.
If anyone is looking to try this I would recommend getting acclimated to your Xero shoes first with everyday wear. I wore Xero shoes everyday for over a year before trying my basketball experiment.
You might think I’m crazy, as most of the guys I play pick-up basketball with have told me! But let me ask you a question:
Would you play basketball if your shoes had 10 inch platforms and if so why not?
Of course you would not. Because you’d be unstable. And if you stepped even a little piece of that platform on another player’s foot you’d topple over. The same thing happens if your platform is only 1 inch thick, just to less of a degree. It stands to reason that having no platform would be the most stable shoe possible.
Also, if you don’t land perfectly on your platform it’s possible that your ankle will get turned and again the same thing is possible all the way down to where you have zero platform.
It is my supposition that popular modern footwear in general but especially basketball shoes are actually hurting our athletes.