The shift towards pinless spike shoes presents an opportunity for sprinters to improve performance and reduce injury risk. Embracing innovation in footwear technology could revolutionize the sport, unlocking new levels of speed.
Every Sprinter is familiar with the hamstring soreness that follows speedwork in Spike shoes but few understand its cause the issue is that the spikes stop the foot too quickly when it hits the ground thus causing the hamstring responsible for forceful ground strike to undergo a quick stretch while intensely Contracting this combination
Of opposing forces places significant stress on the muscle resulting in microscopic damage to the muscle fibers interestingly the fastest animals also exper exp erience sudden breaking when running however they don’t face the same issues as the natural running surface allows their foot to slide slightly forward absorbing the shock in contrast
Spiked shoes disrupt this natural mechanism causing more harm than benefit to sprinters while the friction from the spikes AIDS initial acceleration as speed increases the primary force applied is downward therefore modern sprinting shoes should prioritize lightness rigidity and springiness to efficiently transfer force and Propel athletes forward rather than focusing on
Excessive friction which leads to sudden breaking upon ground contact for example in horse racing every stride of a horse is influenced by how the hoof interacts with the ground a synthetic surface with too much grip stops the foot too quickly increasing the risk of injuries to bones
And joints therefore the hoof must be allowed to slide a bit forward to allow the ground to absorb the impact forces modern race courses thus incorporate a combination of firmness cushioning rebound and grip to minimize concussion absorb shock and return energy back to the horse similar principles apply to sprinting nevertheless Elite sprinters
Still use obsolete Spike shoe technology causing their hamstrings to suffer excessive stretch this is despite the fact that a stretched muscle is a tired muscle resulting in slower finishing speeds example in the biomechanical report for the world championships in London it was found that at the instant before touchdown Christian Coleman’s
Foot moves at 5 m/ Second relative to the ground upon contact with the ground thanks to the spiked sole it comes to a sudden stop imposing tremendous strain on the hamstring this excessive stress fatigues his hamstring so severely that he is unable to generate significant force on the ground to maintain speed in
The final stages of the race as per the same report Usain Bolt’s left foot moves forward faster than his right foot in the instant before landing this results in much more stress on his left hamstring another bright example is Leila tbogo whose unique running style is characterized by explosive acceleration
And remarkable topend speed despite the visible tendency to overstride however over striding in Spike shoes takes its toll in 2023 at the world championships in Budapest he sustained a minor injury to his right hamstring during the 200 M final merely a month later at the diamond League final he crossed the
Finish line by hopping having suffered yet another injury this time to his left hamstring training without Spike shoes for several months he managed to get into great shape which manifested in February 2024 when he jogged the 400 m in 46.7 seconds wearing flats then a
Week later he put on his spikes for the first time since September running the 300 meters in 3.69 seconds to break Wade van nk’s world record this provides strong evidence that a sprinter can improve their performance without ever wearing spiked shoes unfortunately as he becomes stronger and hits the ground harder his hamstrings
Endure increased stress one solution is to adjust his running technique aiming to strike the ground closer to his Center of Mass to reduce the braking effect alternatively he could preserve his Unique Style by opting for pinless Spike shoes which enable slight forward movement of the foot during ground contact thereby alleviating unnecessary
Stress on the hamstrings the good news is that pinless Spike shoe technology is already available it shows promise offering Effectiveness comparable to traditional spiked shoes embracing such Innovations could revolutionize sprinting enhancing performance while reducing the risk of injuries given that wearing pinless Spike shoes during longer Sprints can significantly enhance
Ground Force production by alleviating excessive stress on the hamstrings we may witness notable improvements in the world records for the 200 and 400 MERS
30 Comments
Great video
I know he isn't the subject of the video, but given his 6.43 pb, what time do you think noah lyles could run at the olympics?
I tried a pair of the no spike spikes and I hated them
How do pinless spikes compare to the maxfly?
how do you know he doesn't train with spikes? most sprinters train a lot in spikes also during off season. Warholm trains in spikes every week the whole year round
Really cool video. Thank you.
“Obsolete spike-shoe technology” is crazy
I think it takes a little bit more than the right footwear to run 42.5.
Erriyon knighton don't use carbonne shoes
That's interesting, I guess no point for me to wear spikes ever then really since I just sprint for fun and health at times and wanna make it as safe as possible.
Can we get pinless spikes by just removing pins from our normal spike shoes or de we have to buy specially made pinless spikes
Great video. Just two questions.
I heard from another track coach on Youtube, that the foot should land just a bit in front of the body to load the achilles tendon before the next step. Would landing directly underneath the center of mass prohibit that?
I also heard from another youtube track coach, that hamstring ruptures happen in the late swing phase, when the hamstring needs to contract under extension. Now you told us that the breaking force of the ground causes hamstring injuries. I am totally confused.
lack of friction or grip would make it extremely difficult to accelerate out the blocks
I completely agree that "spikeless" sprinting spikes are theoretically better than spikes; however I also disagree with the mechanism described for hamstring injuries. Yes — Spikeless spikes are theoretically superior for top speed because (i) They should be lighter; and (ii) They should have less "vertical" friction on releasing from the track at the end of foot contact (i.e., the shoe is not "stuck" to the track as the runner attempts to push off). So I agree 100% with the overall conclusion that these shoes should be superior.
However, on the issue of spikes contributing to hamstring injuries — The mechanism described does not make sense. This video correctly describes how the foot is moving forward, relative to the ground, on ground contact… and therefore, "too much friction" causes the foot to jerk backward a tiny amount. But this cannot overstress the hamstrings, because the foot is being suddenly accelerated in the same direction that the hamstrings act to move the foot (which is backward relative to the hips). Thus, there is a sudden decrease in the tension on the hamstrings due to the friction with the ground on ground contact. Not an increase. If the mechanism described were to cause injury, such injuries should manifest in the anterior chain (quadriceps & quadriceps/patellar tendons), not the posterior chain.
The reason that hamstring injuries occur during the period immediately before ground contact is due to the rapid opening of the knee angle as the leg accelerates downward. The ground actually helps "prevent" injuries to the hamstrings, because the ground helps the hamstrings stop the opening of the knee angle before it reaches the end range.
Spikes may "contribute" to hamstring injuries only because they aid in increasing speed, and increased speed means an increase in the degrees per second of knee angle opening shortly before ground contact (and a concomitant increase in the eccentric forces acting on the hamstrings).
I used the ASICS and liked them. But, you can’t use them on all tracks. There needs to be some give in order to get the shoe to grip the track.
then why do middle distances runners also wear spikes (800m-1500m)? the acceleration phase has a very little importance.
would the ''spikeless spike'' be super beneficial to distance runner?
I'm gonna be honest though every single person I know, including myself hates the pinless Asics metasprints and the only person to actually run fast in them is basically only Kiryu
What's the relationship with a cheetah ?
This is CRAZY, I was wanting to make a similar video to this for my channel bc its not understood enough but you've done an EXCELLENT job explaining it here!!🤓 Beat me to it, plus you can reach way more people than me😂
What’s the name of a spikless spike
Agreed that’s why some coaches argue that athletes should work for longer wearing spikes where speed is concerned and less for distances over 150m but others argue you have to work the muscle
I always though that spikes are wrong on a dry track surface.
It's interessting that many athletes can sprint as fast and more efficient barefoot if the surface is optimal. Acceleration suffers when running barefoot but upright running is easier.
Honestly, I have the ASICS Metasprint spikes and whilst I bought into the theory of how they were designed to work, in addition to loving how light and stiff the plate is. I definitely felt I had a lack of grip in them and consequently ran slower. Albeit, my mechanics are flawed and I do tend to land slightly over my COM, which may have lead to the drop off in performance. As it is obviously harder to pull back with spikeless sprint shoes.
Blud ran like a 45 or some in some flats jogging and not running to the line easing up the last 100m
Tebogo has the greatest running form ever for a sprinter so smooth he looks like a 800m runner that runs 9.7 for 100 😂😂😂😂
Insane guy and greatest prodigy since Usain
He is very talanted and defenetly can go sub 43.
Will be interesting to see what he’ll do over the 100/200 I don’t think he will move up this early in his career due to just having run 19.5 for 209
Look into the 1968 brush spikes that Puma made for John Carlos. Interesting relevant story on minimal spike inovation (that Adidas had banned bc they suck at innovation). There's a great story on medium about them: bristles instead of standard spikes helped Carlos brake the 20 second barrier for the first time in history after running a 20.mid the day before in standard spikes. Vince Matthews and Lee evans also broke the previous 400m world record in them.
It seems having various small bristles is beneficial over standard pins, but I'm not sure what this says for your theory because they were supposedly MORE grippy than standard spikes. It could be that, even in the 200, the benefits that increased grip have in acceleration outweigh any potential nagatives of premature stopping of forward motion of the foot.
Also, if you hold that the forward slid of the foot is beneficial, the layer of separation between the spike and the footbed in super spikes provided by the layer of cushion effectively serves to allow forward slide of the foot by compressing forward while the spikes stay gripped, enabling the sprinter to get the best of both worlds.
But a shoe shouldn’t propel more force than what’s put in. That makes it illegal and we will get fake times. We will think people are getting faster when they are using technology that gives more than what the athlete is putting in
Is there no benefits to me training in spikes?
Way To Win knows what’s up. Where did you guys learn all this sprinting black magic?