Why NBA & WNBA Athletes Are Switching to Barefoot Shoes w/ Xero Founder Steven Sashen

[@bball3048mm]

It's November 2024 and lately the CEO Steven Sashen has already shown the basketball sneakers by Xero Shoes. They will be released sometime in 2025. I am so stoked.

[@bball3048mm]

I am totally happy that there is a possibility there will be a barefoot/wide toe box inspired basketball sneakers.

[@terwils7492]

It is interesting as you mentioned how ingrained beliefs are about shoes. I'm involved with scouts, hiking and backpacking. I switched to barefoot shoes over 3 years ago, painfully, because I switched 100% cold turkey and it took my feet time to adapt, get strengthened and used to moving again. Afterwards though, I never had any more issues with blisters. My back issues improved, my plantar fasciitis went away, my ankle & knee issues went away. But, when I recommend barefoot shoes to other hikers and the benefits, they bring up all the reasons why not, like need ankle support, need tight supportive shoes, concern about stepping on glass, etc. A few that I have convinced to change shoes, expressed the same benefit, no blisters, feet feel great. I switched both my boys to xero shoes and they haven't had issues with blisters since. Thank you Steven for such success with great products and thank you Foot Collective for continuing to get the message out to re-educate.

[@yediydeyah78]

This was an informative and great podcast! As a minimalist footwear aficionado, I love the fact that there are brands that are sticking to the niche market of minimalst footwear, but we have reached a point where it's time to CLEAN HOUSE! The first thing we have to do as a community is obliterate the term "barefoot shoe"! 1) there's no such thing; 2) companies are using the phrase as marketing hyperbole to market footwear that are nowhere near minamlist or natural movement and have midsoles thicker than "traditional" footwear.

[@aurelgergey5470]

...got the PDF but don't get the "five F's". May explain? Thanks for the good work!

[@marcallain]

Great episode! Steven Sashen is such a talker!

[@lorenzosmerilli7276]

Please release date of the first minimalist basketball shoes! I'm going to test it as both PT professional rehabber and basketball player!

[@andrewcassels5576]

when can I get the basketball shoes?

[@bball3048mmfr]

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[@childcrone]

Speaking of great-great-grandmothers (and fathers), how about a secure, diabetes-safe & balance-conducive natural-function-friendly shoe for them? For so many of them, the weakness & deformity changes in their feet are so long-developed and probably set. Are they just dependent on the support & restrictiveness to be safe & stable on their feet?

[@paolafrancesca7082]

I loved listening to his story as an entrepreneur!! ❤ Thank you!! So much inspiration for me!! ☺️🙏🏻

[@ericmalitz]

He didn’t have a “form” problem as much as a strength problem. Constantly hear channels talk about form, rather than fixing their structural balance (weak feet, weak lower legs, weak knees, weak hips…)

[@TheFootCollective]

Thanks for the input mate - interested to hear what makes you sure that it wasn't a form issue? Can someone not have a form issue and a strength issue at the same time? And could someone not be strong and structurally balanced while also having room to improve on technique for a skill like running?

[@ericmalitz]

@@TheFootCollective ​​⁠1. Because there’s no single correct form. 2. If his form causes him pain it’s because he lacks the prerequisite strength to deal with that form. 3. Pretty much every adult human in the west who spent years in shoes, and years in seats, has multiple issues with relative weakness or tightness, from the lower legs on up the chain (as you guys knows). I can wager a guess that before he took up running, he probably a.) never once worked, say, the tibialis, b.) put on weight above the knee, or above the hips, relative to strength added below the knee (or hips) (this is especially the case for anyone that’s spent any time in modern gym culture.) On another note it shouldn’t be any mystery that any modern human in the west who takes up jogging as an adult is going to have many hurdles (no pun intended) to surmount. And, I only know of one strength system, and I’ve seen a lot, that MEASURABLY prioritizes lower leg strength, hip flexor strength and length, hamstring strength and length, and systematically considers basic joint function, and connective tissue strength, up and down the chain. That is to say, I don’t think he, nor most other joggers, would have been savvy to this system (which, again, is merely a solution to years in chairs and shoes.)

[@RainBoxRed]

@@TheFootCollectiveI think another way of looking at this is the idea that there’s no such thing as bad form so long as you can move in and out of it with control. Form is just a catch-all term that really encompasses a whole host of things like strength, flexibility, technique, proprioception, muscle memory.

[@TheFootCollective]

@@ericmalitz Definitely agree that most modern humans would benefit a lot from targeted exercises to restore natural function to those key areas, to offset the effects of decades in shoes/chairs! And that there is no one 'correct' form when it comes to running - although there are certainly more efficient and less efficient ways to run, which does come down to technique and not strength. Also in this instance, the pain he had in his left foot was from a blister which he realised was from over striding... which is a form issue, that won't go away with more strength or structural balance. Another thought for you to ponder is that Steven then went on to become a Master's All American sprinter, apparently without being savvy to this approach to strengthening 🤷‍♂ Don't get me wrong, I think ATG is a great system that is simple and scalable and would benefit most people but the reality is there are plenty of other variables that come into play when looking at human movement, performance and pain!

[@MilipTichaelPhomas]

In Italy I had an '88 gti when I borrowed a friend's tt rental; maybe I need one

[@mcnuggets8819]

Good show

[@johnankrah299]

Well done.

[@Sig_716]

Need this shoe to drop, hooping in the forza Trainer until they drop.

[@deadreckoningoutdoors]

When are they gonna make dress shoes

[@kalsal89]

Folks believe in your product will sell it for you for free for what it has done from them!! Need basketball zero shoe!!

[@pete801]

Xero shoes are bad ass. IMO they're butt ugly but god they feel good.

[@bball3048mm]

They are bad ass indeed. The design of those shoes have that "hiking" aesthetics to them which is not my cup of tea. I hope their basketball sneaker will have their own design similar to other more famous brands out there.

[@CptAngelKGaming]

@@bball3048mm It takes 1 minute to go on their website and see their vast collection of casual shoes that look just like regular shoes. "Hiking aesthetics" was the case many years ago. Barefoot shoe brands have evolved..