Insoles are always hidden away inside shoes, quietly looking after our feet, and, usually when people buy shoes, they don’t care much about what kind of insole they have and what benefits they can give.

With only people wanting to increase their height or who suffer from foot problems (such as those related to diabetes, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendonitis and abnormal arch etc.) learning about insoles and having special requirements of them. 

Actually, insoles are as important as sports shoes; a good pair of sports shoes can only be regarded as perfect if a pair of good insoles is also used with them.

What counts as a good insole? What functions should they have? Several main points are listed below to help you understand：

1. Insoles can protect sports shoes:absorbing sweat and lengthening  their use life

2. Insoles can protect the feet and prevent injury：

A. Using the correct insole supports the foot and disperses sole pressure. 

• The result of a test using the same type of shoe is shown in Picture 1.The left side shows the maximum sole pressure when walking without using an insole.
• While the right side picture shows sole pressure when a VICTOR VT-XD7 insole is used.
• Using an insole clearly changes the distribution of sole pressure, sharing the pressure. 
• That is concentrated at the instep when an insole is not used around the front, middle and back of the sole.)

B. Provides extra foot impact cushioning and vibration dampening during sport

• Different vibration dampening effect depending on the material used, density, hardness and shape.

 * The red areas are where the pressure is greatest

Picture1: Sole pressure situation when not wearing an insole (left) and using a VT-XD7 insole (right)

3. Insoles can improve sports performance (special sports insoles)：
 

• Surface anti-slip fabric and design increases foot stability during sport.
• Flexible material increases the smoothness and speed of foot thrust
• Foot arch support design increases foot stability and slows the onset of foot fatigue.
• The covering design conforms with ergonomic foot shape design, increasing foot support, stability and wearing comfort during sport. 

 

   

      Anti-slip Fabric                 Arch Support                Supportive Sidewall     Ergonomic foot arc

 

Due to the importance of insoles, VICTOR has developed three insole products for professional players: VT-XD7 (the left of Picture 2) and VT-XD5 (middle) and VT-XD6 (right).

Apart from the aforementioned functions, XD7 is made using highly elastic and light materal and has a weight reducing and heat dissipating design, giving a “burden-free”wearing feel. 

XD5 has added anti-slip waves, side wall covering and arch support design; VT-XD6 is made using special durable, vibration-asbsorbing, bounce Poron material, that aborbs vibration at the heel and provides bounce at the front of the sole, increasing the sports performance of the wearer.

 

 

Picture 2 : Three VICTOR insole products

Finally, we’d like to remind players that the life of insoles is much shorter than the life of sports shoes. Using a flat and worn- out insole is equal to not using one at all, so please remember to replace old insoles when needed.This is critical to preventing foot injury!!! 

( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )