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shoes...boots... what do u wear and why?


Thomas English

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Shoe s are such a funny one for me. I searched tirelessly for the ideal steadicam shoe and eventually found in a basketball/nike shop what I thought was ideal. High top, trainer type sole and support, soft rubber and treads (often missing in basketball etc shoes). Put them on and at the end of the first day my feet where torn to shreds.

 

I keep buying new shoes and still keep reverting back to my new balances (similar to Erics but I bought them in thailand, i think they are an asia only model). They are getting tatty now but I am simply not comfortable in anything else.

 

I had an odd one on a shoot in Clevely (very very steep cobbled streets... and it was raining) all the production team where wearing marrells, the trainer type super tread ones that are quite fashionable and they where skating all over the wet stone. I was wearing some regular hiking boots and was rock solid. I think there is something about the rubber maybe?

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brad, im an asics guy also.. mainly because i can find them in my size locally (13). no one here in my neck of the woods has merrells (my choice) in my size and i just hate to order shoes online...

I'm either a 14 or 15 depending on the shoes, so I have the same problem Marc. When I lived in Orlando I had to mail order all of my Merrell's. There's a bit of a better choice in LA, but it's still a problem sometimes.

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One thing about New Balance shoes before we all go out and buy a pair of 907?s [which BTW I looked at yesterday at a NB store?]

 

New Balance designs their shoes to match the way you walk and run. You should use the athlete?s degree of foot pronation as well as foot size when picking out one of their shoes.

 

They have shoes for "overpronators" like the 907, but for someone like me this shoe would be bad.

I "under-pronate", which means I use more of the outside of my foot when I run and walk. With New Balance you can match your shoe type with your foot/stride.

Hew is some info:

http://newbalance.com/techcenter/yf_in_mot....enc=ISO-8859-1

 

 

Years ago when I was still doing track and field I had bought a pair of New Balances that absolutely killed my feet.

They killed me so much that the new pair of shoes were only ever used for cutting the lawn. They were worthless to me!

 

I must have had a mismatch between shoe and foot types but at the time I did not know much about New Balance?s shoes. My point is this: if you do not get the right type of New Balance shoe for you foot type, you might get the completely wrong shoe and you will be one miserable person all day.

 

 

Because I was a runner, I tend to mostly buy running shoes, but I am starting to try other styles now?

Two years ago I sprained my ankle. It was not a running or steadicam injury, but I was the loudest noise I ever heard come out of my body.

I ended up having to take some PT and that?s when I started talking shoes with the physical therapist. He recommended I NOT use running shoes for steadicam. He felt the

extra cushioning that the running shoe provided was not worth the extra risk of rolling the ankle. He told me to try using cross-trainers.

 

 

I know some of you mention Marrell?s but they make a bunch of different styles besides their famous moccasins. While I do have their moccasins, I have never used them for steadicam. I like to have a tightly laced shoe when I am in the rig.

 

I am curious if anyone is using light weight hiking boots?

In theory they make sense to me because they are made for hiking with a pack of gear over uneven terrain. That means they should offer lateral support and extra cushioning? in theory? right?

Hiking boots might not be made to take the payload of the steadicam, but I think the two activities are similar enough to consider.

rich

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I second Neal - ECCO is very comfortable and long lasting. I`m relativly new steadicam op (1,5 year in business) and when I started I just use the most comfort shoes I gotted - ECCO Flexor. The shoes are 3 years old now and still in great shape.

 

As a newbie I did a long hours days and never ever had any problems with my feet - no pain, no bubbles (don`t know the english name for those things you get on your feet if you overheat them). I`ve been using them in any temprerature from 0 to 30 C and not ever feel uncomfortable (for lower than 0C I`m using ECCO Sirius model - very hard sole but great grip on snow/mud and they keep your feet worm for a long time)

 

They are also good for those slow move shots, when you really need a flexible shoes to make your moves fluent.

 

... did I mention they look good as well :)

post-1270-1150737098_thumb.jpg

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Well for me the shoes depend on the shoot. What?s the terrain? How quiet do I need to be? Is it wet or dry? How far am I going? How much control?

I?ve got sprigged shoes for grass. I?ve got stiff boots for sand. I?ve got soft shoes for flat studio floors.

But if nothing else will do I?ve always got my Dr Martians. :)

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Here's my latest love affair.

http://www.altrec.com/shop/detail/22647/

 

Very sticky grip, extremely light weight, excellent ankle support, Gore-tex. Nike's seem to work well for me because I have a fairly narrow foot.

 

But it is not about the shoe so much as knowing what your feet are like and how your body mechanics work. How heavy are you? Lets face it. If you're 250 lbs vs 170 you will probably have quite different shoe requirements. Hi arched foot? Pronation? Knee or back issues? etc.

 

Certainly if you have a high arched foot, you should almost certainly be in a custom orthotic to support that arch especially because of the load we carry.

 

I have learned a great deal in the last couple of years due to a foot injury I sustained rock climbing. I was a distance runner for many years and have gravitated to Triathlon training. I have learned that alot of shoes actually have too much support, such that they can stop the natural motion that your foot is used to making. This can lead to tendonitis and a general weakening of the foot. Running barefoot in sand or soft ground is good PT to reverse this sort of thing.

 

The trick is to work with coaches, sports podiatrists, PT experts who know about this stuff... and some of them don't! Beware. But any thing that affects your foot will also have a knock on effect to your knees and your back.

 

I was in a running shop today, and the guy was trying to sell me the latest $170 running shoe from Asics (been running in them for 25 yrs) But if the $170 latest technology shoe is built for overpronating runners, it does me no use as a neutral pronator, and will in fact cause damage if I did listen to the guy's hard sell. Point again is to do your own research and know your own parameters.

 

Really 3 classifications to look for:

NEUTRAL support- generally high arched athletic foot. The foot strikes first on the outer heel and rolls diagonally through the foot to push off from the big toe area.

 

OVER PRONATION support - where the arch of the foot is flatter and more of the foot is in contact with the ground. The shoe will be more built up and generally have a more dense foam around the arch area of the shoe to help suppor that flatter foot.

 

UNDER PRONATION support - probably the most infrequent scenario - where you walk on the outsides of your foot and therefore need stiffer support around the outside of the sole.

 

Also I guess the old addage goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

 

The orthotic plan through the Union that Charles spoke of is true, and I use it as often as needed.

 

On the note of too much support / padding, I was talking to a producer who works with the British Army. One of the Veterans in the Airborne division was saying how nowadays all the guys were "soft", literally. All the new Paratroopers he said break their ankles and shins alot because they all wear soft shoes. He said, back in the day men were "hard" because they wore hard leather boots all the time and none of the soldiers broke their ankles and shins like they do today.

 

Makes sense. And so although those Nike Frees may be impractical on set, they might actually lend to building up the muscles and promoting stronger biomechanics in the foot and ankle, which might serve Steadicam ops well for all the weight bearing direction changing that we do. I don't have any, I think they look gay, but I am more aware these days of having the right shoe for the given activity.

 

Will

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