Abstract

This book is organized into four major parts. PART 1 unfolds the commercial story of sports shoes, including their history, their rise in popularity and the roles played by marketing and advertising. Part 2 tells how the shoes themselves are made, from first tentative conceptions to their actual emergence from the manufacturing factory. The design and production of specialized footwear is truly at the heart of this new industry, yet its relationship with traditional shoemaking remains close. Part 3 concerns the basic movements of the lower anatomy and how these affect footwear. Perhaps no other single area of shoemaking has shown progress as great as that made in the biomechanics laboratories. As a result, we understand much more now than ever before about how shoe design relates to performance, the playing surface and potential injuries. Part 4 provides a comprehensive sport-by-sport analysis of specialized shoes and how each is designed specifically for its own sport. Klappentext (gekuerzt)