Featured Image: Snapped! by Becca Clark

In recent years, high-top cheer shoes have become more common. They’re a fresh, unique look for cheerleaders and can be more stylish than the typical low-top shoes.

One of the main reasons cheerleaders choose high-top shoes is for increased ankle support, which is supposed to help reduce ankle injuries and improve balance while wearing the shoe. The product description for Nfinity Titans even includes the statement “…added ankle stability that is perfect for tumbling.”

Are high-top shoes really perfect for tumbling though? Do cheerleaders need this extra stabilization in their shoes for safety?

The debate between high-top and low-top shoes is common in basketball, but hasn’t been discussed or researched much in cheerleading. For athletes to make the best choice on their footwear, they need to be aware of the pros and cons of each shoe style and how it can affect their performance.

High-Top Shoes

Pros

  • Help support ankles during sudden stops and quick changes of direction
  • Can feel more secure

Cons

  • Ankle motion is restricted, reducing mobility of the joint over time
  • Decreased and delayed activation of foot & lower leg muscles, causing ankle weakness and poor balance over time
  • Higher risk of knee injury due to the inability of the ankle to move through its full range of motion
  • Generally heavier than low-top shoes, decreasing one’s ability to be quick and agile

Low-Top Shoes

Pros

  • Allow the ankles to move through their full range of motion, which improves stability over time
  • Increased activation of foot muscles (compared to high-tops), resulting in strength and balance improvements
  • Generally lighter than high-top shoes, improving one’s ability to be quick and agile
  • Many low-top shoes are also made of thinner material (ex: Nfinity Vengeance) which more closely simulates barefoot training

Cons

  • Lack of additional ankle support
  • Can feel less secure for some people

As you can see, high-top shoes may feel more stable, but they can actually have negative effects on your joints and athletic performance.

Effects of Shoe Style on the Ankle

There are many small bones and ligaments that make up the foot and ankle. These are all supported and stabilized by muscles surrounding the joint, which means your body already has a natural system in place to provide ankle support! How nice is that.

Issues with High-Tops

Considering what was mentioned in the pros/cons list, wearing high-top shoes that restrict your ankle motion and reduce activation of those stabilizing muscles can lead to weakness and instability – 2 things that put you at high risk of injury.

Sports shoes themselves are designed to minimize certain risk factors for injury, but when it comes to reducing ankle injuries, high-tops aren’t as important as you may think. The excess support they give can transfer forces up into your knees, causing knee issues.

In other words, when the ankle that is designed to be mobile becomes less mobile, the stable joint above it (knee) has to pick up the slack and is unable to do its own job of maintaining stability. So, if you lack ankle mobility, you’ll be more susceptible to knee pain/injury.

Frequent wearing of high-tops can also create a cycle of problems:

  1. Ankle & knee pain
  2. Less range of motion in the ankle joint and surrounding tissues
  3. Higher chance of ankle fractures, sprains, etc.
  4. Ankle injuries lead to bracing the weakened ankle, which starts the cycle all over again

Benefits of Low-Tops

On the other hand, low-top shoes force the muscles of the foot and ankle to be more active. This allows the ankle to move freely, resulting in strength, balance and mobility improvements over time. In simpler terms, because you allow your ankle to function as it’s designed to, you prevent weakening of the joint.

Furthermore, some low-top cheer shoes are made of pretty thin material that offers the closest resemblance to bare feet (which has its own benefits). Barefoot training has been known to increase proprioception – your ability to be aware of your body’s position in space. This is especially helpful for tumbling.

Training without shoes also permits further activation of the foot muscles and can enhance your awareness of any imbalances in your movement.

Requirements of the Ankle in Tumbling & Stunting

Tumbling requires good ankle stability to help absorb the forces involved, as well as sufficient ankle mobility to achieve certain take-off and landing angles.

For flyers, ankle stability is important for standing on your bases’ hands. Nobody wants to hold someone with a wobbly ankle!

Which Shoes Should I Choose?

Since tumbling requires both stability and mobility, I would recommend going for lightweight low-top shoes and doing additional ankle/foot strengthening exercises so your joints are supported by their own natural stabilization system. Low-top shoes will allow tumblers to fully push through their toes while doing skills, giving them an opportunity to get the most power out of their jump/take-off and absorb their landing properly.

You may still wear high-top shoes if you prefer the feeling of them or if it’s a team requirement, but you should do lots of extra strength, balance and mobility work to ensure your ankles don’t become stiff and weak.

How Can I Prevent Ankle Injuries?

Your best bet is to have strong, mobile ankles. Focusing heavily on strength and balance training is more effective than wearing stiff shoes or using tape/braces.

Strengthening the muscles that evert the foot will be especially helpful for reducing your risk of inversion sprains.

If you’d like a list of exercises and stretches to help improve ankle stability, mobility and balance, check out my Ankle Mobility & Strength Training Program.

References:

What’s the right shoe to avoid ankle sprains? (2017, February 20). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved December 29, 2020, from https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-high-top-shoes-help-avoid-ankle-sprains/