Barefoot basketball training without the associated risk of injury

Designed by Louis Smith

During basketball activities, players’ feet are over stressed due to the design of their shoes. Competitive basketball has a high impact on the body due to rapid direction changes which can lead to forces on the lower limbs of up to 6x body weight. This leads to common injuries such as ankle sprains, stress fractures and other overuse injuries in the foot and ankle. Most current solutions are remedial, clunky and encourage player dependency. The only effective pre-emptive method of stopping these injuries is strengthening the foot and ankle to resist them which is time consuming and laborious.

Revo is a basketball shoe designed specifically for training with minimal features to mimic barefoot shoes. Without the synthetic support they are used to, players will develop game specific strength in their feet and ankles during their training sessions. However, without any support from their shoes, players would be liable to a sudden injury. Therefore, Revo incorporates a dynamic impact resistance system. Using a CFRP shank and strain rate dependant pads the system is designed to kick in when the foot needs support during high impact lateral movements, sort of like a seatbelt for your foot.

Designed by

  Louis Smith | MEng