My name is Rob and I am a 4th and final year student studying Design For Industry at Northumbria University, UK.
For my final major project I have chosen the subject of Sprint Spikes. The project started fairly broad, with a wide range of concept routes, however I am now about half way through the project and after a lot of research have decided to design a pair of ‘barefoot training’ spikes together with a bespoke competition spike. The training spikes I have been collaborating with a number of Podiatrists, Sports Scientists, a designer at Adidas, a designer from Prior2Lever (bespoke football boot company), Native; a London based design consultancy, and Craig Pickering on this project.
I would greatly appreciate any feedback / input / suggestions you have regarding my project.
I am currently looking for high quality footage (not youtube) of professional sprinters running the 60-100m from which I can analyze the foot strike. I have contacted the BBC who passed me onto OTAB, who passed me onto the Olympic Committee who have not replied and I do not really expect them to! Does anyone know how to get good footage, hopefully in slow motion, of athletes in the 60-100m events?
I am also interested in anyones opinion on barefoot training, as I have had mixed feedback from podiatrists etc. If you do give feedback, could you please state if you are a coach / expert / athlete so I can include it in my research,
I would try to see which company uses a harder, less deformable sole plate and which uses more movement and try to see which approach seems more reasonable. As well, see where in the 100m each might yield an advantage.
I will ask their designer, I just assumed they wouldn’t be able to send out their research material to a student.
Anyway, back to my concepts. One half of my project is being spent developing a a pair of training spikes which employ a barefoot approach, much like the Vibram FiveFingers if any of you have seen them. I look to create a pair which grip well on athletics track, possibly with small spike studs, but with a very supple outer sole, which gives greater sensory feedback to the athlete whilst they warm up, jog, and perform drills in training sessions. This approach is a hybrid between the regular running trainers worn by athletes during warm ups and training sessions and the barefoot exercises that many pro athletes do, with the aim to develop the finer muscles in the foot whilst give better ‘feel’ for the athlete regarding their running technique.
The other half of my project looks to develop a system for sponsored athletes to have bespoke pairs of spikes produced for them. This would include full biomechanical and podiatry testing and evaluation, from which a pair of custom spike plates can be created, exactly to the sprinters requirements. aspects such as rigidness, the elevation of the spike plate, can all be chosen by the athlete. The spike studs can be positioned according to the sprinters foot plant, and the upper can be custom shaped to the foot. I found that professional athletes who are sponsored by companies such as Nike and Adidas, are supplied with numerous spikes and trainers, but from a limited range of choice.
Any opinions, suggestions, questions are welcome. I will post images up of my concepts if anyone would like to know more
Mizuno has a pair of distance racing flats with small flat tipped spikes on the bottom. Maybe you could look at them for design ideas. I know I would love a pair if they didn’t cost $200us and only available in japan.
does anyone here have any preferences as to seperate toe compartments?
The Vibram Fivefinger has seperate toes which works really well at giving better feedback to the wearer, they are obviously not aimed at running or sprinting, but they have a nice all round feel which works well for more diverse activities, similar to the drills and warm up sessions performed by sprint atheletes. A half way concept would be similar to the Nike Rift.
Whats everyones feedback regarding split toes? Does the aesthetic put you off?