 | | | | | | | | | | |  |  | | | | Science: Football boots to be fitted with suspension">Archive of stories pre April 2007 | | | | | | | 
Archive of stories pre April 2007 | News submitted by: MIB
British designers have come up with a football boot with a stud suspension system they say could extend the careers of players.
The boot, developed by Generics in Cambridge, has springy studs that act like a car's suspension system.
The studs press into the boot on flexible plates, absorbing energy and reducing pressure on the foot at that point, New Scientist magazine reports.
In conventional six-studded boots, the stud pattern focuses pressure on particular areas of the sole of the foot. Some of the pressure points coincide with the position of key joints.
Mark Lake, an expert in footwear biomechanics at John Moores University in Liverpool and an advisor to the Football Association, who has tested the boot, said: "Many professional footballers have foot pain in areas where studs are located, like under the big toe and under the ball of the foot."
After a while, the repetitive trauma could cause joints to lose mobility, potentially cutting short a player's career.
Tests showed that the studs on the new boots reduced pressure on parts of the sole by up to 30% when used on slightly hard soil surfaces.
Generics say they are currently talking to potential manufacturers.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_780241.html?menu=news.scienceanddiscovery
|
| | | | | | | |
| |
blocks-left.jpg
blocks-left.jpg
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
Article Rating |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Average Score: 4.5
Votes: 2
|
|
|
| |
|
blocks-left.jpg
|
Online Stats: 
