Barefoot NBA Players Coming Next Season?
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When I was in my twenties a bunch of us from work formed a team and played rec ball for a couple of seasons. I used to play barefoot, but after breaking my toes for the second time playing ball I gave up. Could not play in shoes, they made my ankles hurt. The way I broke my big toe twice was by someone stepping on it while I was moving in a other way.
Basketball was my number one sport to play all through High School and some college. I really don't see any pro's going barefoot. The dynamics of the game today has change drastically compared to the olden days. No matter what, over-striding is going to happen. I am actually getting back into playing basketball actually and played a few times last week, when I run in basketball I am heel striking, but so be it. I will say that if you match a professional ball player playing barefoot to one in shoes, the barefoot ball player will have the disadvantage. There will be no way the barefoot runner could keep up with the sharp lateral moves, he would get faked out way to many times. In the heat of competition no basketball player is thinking about his footwork, how he is landing, how far his legs are extending, etc. trust me on this one.
You are correct that they do not think about how they are landing and moving but this what is targeted and changed during a lot of rehabilitation programs and ACL Prevention programs. With many drills and practice you can turn the conscious into the uunconscious. Separates the novices from the advanced.
Micheal Jordan had one move where he would stop abruptly, and one leg was extremely over-extended in front of him then he would pull back with his fade away jumper. If you saw him do this it, looks like his knee would just snap and buckle, but never happened. If he had any thoughts about "playing correctly" he would never have these unique skills, or he could never execute that one move of his that was deadly. You can play "politically correct" basketball but certain unique talents to bend the legs and overplay would never be put into motion, and your game would suffer.
Shoes are tools, that is, prosthetic devices. They can extend our capabilities, though often at a cost, like long-term injuries. A lot of the cuts, stops, jumps, twists, etc. that athletes make in soccer, basketball, football, wouldn't be possible barefoot, but the athletes would probably be better off for it in the long run. So it's a trade-off: a more exciting game versus a safer game, it seems to me.
BG, I think we technically agree with each other. I support the notion that somebody like Jordan is able to execute motor skills like the one you mention above with little to no cognitive effort. I'm not arguing it being better or not for injuries. I argue that a learned or advanced skill like this is what separates the men from the boys. Imagine some 10yr old trying to emulate Jordan for the first time. It would be all mental and would be performed terribly.
Ak, I agree. That old man is me now that I am stepping foot back on the court. I definitely will be more aware of my body now, gone are the days of uninhibited hard playing. So yes I completely agree with your logic, it's the way to do it.
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