Comment by ortusdux | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ortusdux | Hacker News Reader

This study was reciently highlighted in the Esquire story "The Rise and Fall of the High-Top Sneaker"

https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a55587/high-top-s...

"In 2008, Kobe Bryant, already in the league 12 years, decided for the fourth shoe in his Nike Zoom Kobe line, he wanted something different. "We got around to his next shoe, just talking future ideas and concepts, and he point-blank said, 'I want the lowest, lightest-weight basketball shoe ever,'" said Eric Avar, one of Nike's superstar sneaker designers, in a video interview. "'I want to prove to people that you can wear a low-top basketball shoe.'"

"The official story, which feels sort of like a calm monologue in an ad, is that Kobe, though he attended high school just outside of Philadelphia, was mostly raised in Italy, and was passionate about soccer. Kobe noticed that soccer players, aside from the jumping unique to basketball, play in a fairly similar way to basketball players: lots of quick changes in direction, a lot of cutting, variation between sprinting and slower speeds, a need to suddenly spring in one direction or another. And when was the last time you saw a high-top soccer cleat? Is it possible that high-tops aren't necessary for basketball, either?"

> And when was the last time you saw a high-top soccer cleat?

Interestingly (?) early football boots were very much ankle-length [1], and this style continued well into the 1950's [2].

[1] https://www.footy-boots.com/football-boots-history/

[2] https://www.kraveantiques.co.uk/products/Nailed-Stud-Footbal...

Decades of high-tops and we didn't need them, just goes to show these sneaker companies really have no idea what's best for the customer, as long as they sell.

Same with nutrition industry. Decades of saying eggs are bad for your cholesterol, but no science to back it up.

More plates more dates got his labs done and then went on a diet that was high in eggs and noticed within a month that his cholesterol jumped significantly. I believe it is genetic

> And when was the last time you saw a high-top soccer cleat?

Uh, last night, in our men's league? Just about every vendor of soccer boots has high-top variants of all their major models, it's up to player preference.

EG: https://www.nike.com/w/soccer-high-top-shoes-1gdj0z6lqy0zy7o...

They're more like socks or an elastic collar that merge into the tongue/upper. Some say that the slight compression makes them feel better supported, but like elastic kinesio tape on the skin, it's not a mechanical prohibition, more psychological. Some say they're better at keeping you from getting stripped out of the shoe if someone steps on your foot, can't really deny that. And some say they avoid awkward bounces when the ball hits high on the instep near the sharp cut-off between instead of tapering in, but you already have a malleolus andd shin guard; maybe don't kick the ball there?

It's definitely not a mechanical prevention of ankle flex like ski boot or calf-height hiking boot.

I wouldn't call any of those high tops.

Like you say, they're more like a sock lining that sticks out. High tops are when the main shoe material extends upwards for "ankle support", like you described in your last sentence.

My daughter swears by the Zoom Mercurials, both the turf and grass versions. She says they're the most comfortable soccer boots she's ever worn and she feels like she can run faster in them - so yeah, it's a psychological thing, not an ankle protection thing.

NFL cleats seem to vary between sneaker and high-top forms.

In my experience, the high-top add protection from being stepped on by other players who are wearing cleats. Useful for people who are pushing each other (NFL linemen, rugby scrums). Not for protection against ankle twists.

that is a great point!

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