www.activeankle.com They work! When I roll my ankle bad, it's sore the next day, but I can still play. If you wear these, you will never miss more than a day or two. Never six weeks!
When you brace your ankle, you transfer the result of the stress to your knee. That is no good for athletes. ------------------ http://home.swbell.net/rkb3/hr.html = Live Rockets Chat
Worse still ... ankle braces have a strong tendency to weaken the lateral support. Basically they are designed to compensate for overstress of the tendons, but they also offer mechanical postitioning of those same tendons when not under stress. tendons need stress to remain supple and strong. Also, contrary to popular beliefs, the ankle must be able to flex "naturally" to the limits of its abilities, if it is to remain healthy. Longterm use of braces prevent this occuring. Once braces were all the rage for hockey players. Because they were more interested in flexion/extension movements and wanted to prevent lateral/medial movements of the ankles, everyone wore them. Eventually the skate itself had severely supported side pieces incorporated into the boot part. Data now shows that with longterm use the ankle got weakened to a state of "No Support" without the braces. The result was you ended up with these same athletes injuring themselves in the off-season by walking around a corner or mildly crosas flexing there feet on a pivot. Normal daily affairs. Braces are for limited use only. ------------------
Then Cato can wear one for the next 4-6 weeks? Alright no excuses for the walking injury this year. ------------------ "Everyone I know has a big but... come on Simone, let's talk about your but."
Agreed Oily Pear. I have for many years avoided ankle braces regardless of having a slight sprain or even a severe one for many of the reasons you mentioned. Plus, you heal much quicker if you allow the ankle to progress without mechanical intervention. Or at least, I healed more quickly that way. In addition, ankle braces always pissed me off because they caused me a severe lack of mobility. I have to have my ankles free, or I cannot be as effective, especially defensively. I am sure there are people that may disagree with me here, but the support you need for your ankles can be largely affected by the shoes you wear on the court. The best shoes I have ever worn were from the Adidas "Feet You Wear" technology line. Kobe wears them as do several others. The soles are rounded in the areas where rollover may occur, and contrary to what you might think, you are much less apt to turn your ankle badly as if you had typical shoes with more of a corner edge of the sole. A sole with a corner, once you roll past the edge of the corner, forces the foot more quickly and forcefully to roll, hence more damage to the ankle. Adidas also cuts down on all the padding and cushioning you see everyone going crazy for....you know, the AIR MAX shoes Nike puts out. Adidas says that the idea behind this is that the foot works well as designed, so they wanted to make the shoes more of an extension of the foot. I used to work in retail management for Footaction USA, and was involved in many tests of new basketball shoes and such. Adidas, for me, makes the best basketball shoe, period. To this day, over the course of 5 years, I have not sprained an ankle in a pair of those shoes. ------------------ There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." [This message has been edited by HOOP-T (edited November 03, 2000).]
I was sprained my ankle trying to kick cabbage's hard head. It hurt for a while, but having to admit he was right and I was wrong hurt a lot worse. Where is that guy these days? ------------------
Also, contrary to popular beliefs, the ankle must be able to flex "naturally" to the limits of its abilities, if it is to remain healthy. That's exactly what these do. You can "roll" your ankle just to point before some serious damage can occur. You get all the natural movement you need, you just can't really do much damage. Look, I've tried most braces and most suck. These are a breed apart. Just because you wear Adidas and have never landed on a guys foot doesn't mean you can't sprain your ankle in them.
I'm pretty sure this came up last year (was it you, Rocket Freak?) about the same braces. Sounded like a commercial then, as well. ------------------ EZLN
actually, i have heard pretty good things about them. i believe antonio daniels wears them. hmmm, given my ankle problems, i might try a pair....nah, we'll keep losing anyway.... ------------------ Mobley and Francis ...are not the two best players on the team. - Rockeem 11/2/2000
Rim, Excellent memory. Yes, that was me. I don't work for them though, but I will always hype a quality product. I guess people aren't as high on braces as me. I have rolled each ankle once very bad and that's all it took. I'm not into crutches and hobbling around for weeks. They also have a lifetime warranty. I have only bought one pair but they have sent me about 5 others because they wear out. OK, no more pitching.
pops, The same can be said for any brace, be it: knee brace, back brace, wrist braces, heck even weight lifting belts. Ankle braces are good things. But, they should only be worn during games or practice. Seriously, how much time out of a player's life is spent in a game or during full speed practice? There are plenty of exercises one can do to strengthen the ankles when you're not on the court. Also, braces will not stop someone from injuring an ankle, but they will lessen the severity of the injury. I've severely (I mean on crutches for a minimun of two weeks to a max of six weeks) sprained my ankles five times (Three times on left ankle, twice on right ankle). I can tell you I've never severely sprained my ankle while wearing any ankle brace. ------------------ "I have a DREAM.........his name's Hakeem." DREAMer's Rocket Page
