Yesterday, I was talking to a friend who works as a footwear designer with a major sports house. He told me a few amusing things about his profession. What particularly interested me was the problems that he and his colleagues face with designing Javelin shoes. This is what he said:

In the sporting world, fitness comes at a premium. As a result, sports shoe designers often have a difficult job to put up with. The bio-mechanics involved are simply too tiring. We have to constantly redesign the shoes based on the deficiencies in the prevalent style.

The javelin shoes in current practice are found to exert a lot of pressure on the feet and legs of athletes. So a stronger and longer-lasting material is often used to overcome this. But because of the pressure on the feet and legs, some additional support becomes crucial. Hence, it becomes necessary to have a shoe with a different design.

This new shoe will usually look more like a boot, with protection around the ankle. Extra strapping around the foot will also be sometimes provided to minimize the movement of the foot within the shoe. I am sure this new design would be very comfortable for javelin throwers.

And I always thought that designing shoes was a piece of cake! Were you thinking the same thing?