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We’re back for the 3rd Issue of the WearTesters Weekender, we’re gearing up for something special in the next weekend or two but we still have some content to share with you! Thank you to all those who have been reading and joining in the discussion in the comments section and on social media, I will continue to try and reply to as many people as possible.
To start things off, lets take a look at some of the highlight articles and reviews from this week, be sure to check them out if you missed them!
Reviews:
Under Armour Anatomix Spawn 2 Performance Review – by Nightwing2303
Because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it….
Go check it out at http://weartesters.com/armour-anatomix-spawn-2-performance-review/
Ektio Alexio Performance Review – by Nightwing2303
3rd time is the charm…so don’t sleep on Ektio!
Read more here http://weartesters.com/ektio-alexia-performance-review/
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Feature Articles:
Reebok Pump 25 Collabs Available at Packer Shoes – by Noah Goldowitz
If you’re into the Reebok Pump, or collabs as a whole, it’s worth it to check out this post if you missed it!
http://weartesters.com/reebok-pump-25-collabs-available-packer-shoes/
APL Breast Cancer Awareness Models – Available Now – by Nightwing2303
These two pinked out models are packed with technology and superb comfort, plus, your purchase will go towards a great cause!
Read more here: http://weartesters.com/apl-breast-cancer-awareness-models-available-now/
Nike Pro Combat Hyperwarm Flex – Available Now – by Hsuperman_18
This is a detailed article about Nike’s newest baselayer apparel that protects anyone from the cold. Definitely worth reading into!
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Now, to finish with two points of discussion for our readers to digest and comment on.
First, news broke today of Kevin Durant’s injury, a Jones fracture of the foot. He’s out 6-8 weeks due to the unfortunate occurrence and I’m here to tell you not to go and blame his shoes. The thing is, I probably don’t even have to say that because they were a pair of Nike’s and no one every seems to blame injuries on a players shoes if they have the swoosh on them. The thing is, it’s become a common social media and meme driven practice to blame certain players injuries on their shoes if they are wearing adidas.
So, it begs the question, if Kevin Durant had signed with Under Armour about a month or so ago, and began playing in say, the ClutchFit Drive for starters….what would the world do if he still sustained this fracture? The details aren’t all broken down for the public yet, but he could have had a pre-existing injury, an overuse problem or perhaps stepped on someones foot awkwardly and sustained a fracture. We don’t know for sure. Regardless, I couldn’t help but think, if this happened in Under Armour basketball shoes there would probably be some backlash from the consumers that still doubt the merit and relevance of the brand on the basketball court.
What do you think? One thing is for certain, everyone here at WearTesters wishes KD a speedy, effective recovery. The NBA will not be the same without his transcendent talent on display!
Second, a little anecdote from yours truly that I would like to share and discuss. About 10 weeks ago, I suffered a severe high ankle sprain during a full court run in the summer. I was on a fast break and I made a move to the left of one defender, intending to explode off and jump on the next step. However, there was another defender trailing on the side who had just placed his foot there. As a result I landed with a lot of force directly on the bridge of his foot, my foot and ankle bent inward at an alarming angle and I hopped off in tremendous pain. Now, after 4 weeks on crutches and then nearly 6 weeks of rehab work on my own, I am slowly returning to activities. I wanted to post this to see how many other readers have struggled with comebacks from very severe ankle injuries. I can run and jump, but my first step that I depend on so much is shot, and when I slash and try to finish I’m ‘seeing ghosts’ out there. Now, I have such a stronger understanding for the physical and especially mental struggle athletes face when they are trying to return from injury. I think its time to start transitioning to the classic ‘old man game’. No more full court pressing and voluntarily taking the other teams best player on defense and no more one foot step backs and drives in traffic, at least for a while.
Let’s here it from the readers that are coming back from injuries. Who’s rehabbing, readjusting, and finding their game again?
Also, for those that have suffered ankle injuries, do you rock high tops with/without a brace or low tops with a brace? I’m currently rocking the Zamst brace for high ankle sprains that is often seen on Steph Curry…a performance product review may be in the works!
Again thank you for reading, let’s hear what you have to say. I’m trying to come at readers with something different each week with the Weekender, so until next week that is all!
I’m coming back from an ankle sprain as well, I still can’t run as fast as I could when I’m 100%. It’s a constraint, in the mean time I’m practicing free throws, dribbling, etc. Don’t let it bring you down! Get better!
Same thing I’ve been doing, a lot of dribble work and refining my shooting form so I can round out my game. Thanks for reading!
I’d love to see a review on that brace. I have a horribly weak right ankle which has made me scared to take it to the rack like I used to. So I understand what you are talking about. Anyways, wishing you a speedy recovery
I’ll see what I can do, I’m wearing an ASOS brace on the other ankle so maybe I’ll do a little comparison. Appreciate the concern and the comment!
Get better and good luck. I’m just glad you went the correct route and got treatment from professionals. I severely sprained my ankle (possible fracture) many years ago. It blew up to the size of a grapefruit. It happened when I was wearing a pair of Adidas Crazy 8’s not laced properly and landed on someones foot going for a rebound. Sadly I thought I would just let my body heal itself and never saw a doctor. I then came back much earlier than I should have. Unfortunately things have never been the same. Years later I also broke bones in my foot at work when I stepped off a ladder awkwardly. Unfortunately they cut corners, had a ton of red tape, and slowed things down so that I never got the surgery/care I most likely needed. I was still feeling substantial pain for a good 2-3 years after the incident. Now I’m trying to get back playing. I’m mostly pain free in my feet (key word mostly) but my knees suck. Take care of yourself guys and dont get old. It sucks.
Get well soon KD. I actually just ordered some KD 7’s yesterday. Trying to motivate myself to get back out there doing what I love.
Even my local sports medicine professional didn’t quite know what to do with me as I seemed to have trauma in my lower ankle and up on my lower leg. I think staying entirely off my feet for a month was the right decision, but in retrospect, I should have gone to rehab…instead of taking it upon myself to do so.
I’m sorry to hear about you ailments, keep at the comeback but be easy on those knees!
I broke my foot about 1 year ago in hyperdunk 3012 and came back after about 10 weeks. Then just 3 months ago I broke my other foot in some crazy light 2’s that ripped. I wear d rose speedwraps on both ankle with high tops. I will be getting the D rose 5. I am finally getting back to form. What ankle braces should I get zamst, ace, etc? Or stick with speedwraps?
Man thats just unfortunate, sounds like you need to strengthen those feet! Maybe training and walking in minimalist footwear to get all those bones and tendons working might help.
In terms of braces, for the severity of my ankle injury, the speedwraps are not substantial enough to protect me….and that’s both mental and physically. If you don’t have a pre-existing ankle injury, they may be fine for you.
Look up studies on ankle injuries in people who don’t have a previous injury occurrence. Braces or no braces generally don’t have much affect as the first occurrence is usually an pretty nasty, accidental roll. After that, lesser rolls cause sprains so a brace is more helpful.
I suffered a severe ankle sprain in the beginning of March during warmups before a playoff game for my high school basketball team. In the months after and even this summer my ankle was more fragile than it ever has been and I definitely felt more grounded. It’s only now going into this season that I feel close to where I was. My ankle’s strength is still not at 100% but I can get up just as high as I used to and I dont’ feel like it’s a liability anymore.
That’s a rough time to get hurt man, best of luck this season! Keep strengthening your legs/ankles and I hope you have a successful run. I bet it’s a great feeling to be yourself again on the court.
P.s. I didn’t break my ankles while wearing the speedwraps.
I have had very pretty weak ankles for 7 years+ and play semi-professionally in Australia. I tried the Zamst last year but just found them 2 be far 2 restrictive and didn’t fit well in my superfly’, i’m not surprised you are wearing them with low’s.
I went back to my old faithful ASO ankle braces after a few weeks and haven’t looked back. I have worn braces for 7+ years and nothing comes close to the ASO’s for mine. They fit pretty perfect with low or mid cuts and I never have to go up a size (last season i played in the superfly’s and CP3’s) , although i do find it a little harder to get a super tight lace fit with the braces on as I usually like my laces as tight as possible but it’s not really an issue as your locked in anyway.
For the upcoming season I’m wearing the UA clutchfit drives and UA antomix low’s with the ASO’s. Haven’t had a run in either yet but the clutchfit drives do feel a lot tighter then usual when trying them on with the ASO’s, they will stretch out a little so it should be fine. I went up half a size with the anaomix low’s but they are still being shipped so haven’t tried them on yet.
I have Shotty ankles, mostly due to landing on people’s feet or copping a bump in the side/back while pulling down rebounds. I find taping is a lot more effective and less painful than braces but I know that is all personal preference, plus braces destroy the liner on your kicks.
When recovering from a bad roll (I’ve had too many to count) I opt for lows, with low to the ground cushioning and a stable base (like the Kobe’s in your pic) once rehabbed I return to something with more cushioning for landings (I jump a lot).
Try get your hands on a bosu ball to use at home/gym and try lots of barefoot dead lifts, slowly progressing up in weight and finally transitioning to single leg dead lifts with a kettle bell.
You will find if you maintain good strength and conditioning you will recover quicker when you inevitably re injure.
I never had an ankle problem before this incident so I’m new to the braces utterly destroying the liner of my shoes! haha
I figured the Kobe’s would work well because they have great traction, great lockdown, and the carbon fiber counters and shanks provide great support even when standing alone. These coupled with braces seemed like a comfortable set up.
I appreciate the suggestion of the bosu ball, it sounds like you play and use your athleticism and strength as centerpieces of your game and I am the same way. I think I’ll pick up a balance board so I can get going with one legged calf raises, squats and deadlifts with the balancing aspect. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Easy man. Pistol squats and single leg body weight dead lifts are great to do when you have a spare minute each day.
First off, speedy recovery to you sir. I think one of the problems that people who love this game so much face is that when injuries happen, we tend to speed up our recovery and sometimes it causes more problems. So hope you get that enough rest since. Also having this kind of injuries do affect our mental aspect in terms of our playing style. There was a time that I injured my finger when playing on D. I just let it heal naturally and during the time I was coming back from that injury, I had some hesitations when going on defense trying to poke away the ball since that’s the move that caused my injury. So it’s more of the mental thing and when I started feeling comfortable (accepting the fact that weird accidents can happen in games) with it, then I eventually got over that hump. The good this is we get to look at other aspects and change our playing style, playing a bit more cautious, and being able to look at the game from a different perspective.
Thank you for the well wishes and I completely agree with the idea that those that truly love the game often rush their comeback. I am trying to be patient and I’m setting rehab and conditioning timetables for myself to stay patient.
You also bring up a good point about seeing the game from different perspective. I’m working on a lot more change of speed and getting into more mid-range jumpshooting as opposed to slashing and pulling up so often. Hopefully it will pay dividends when I’m fully healthy.
I sprained both feet twice each in a span of 3 months. Then I landed on someone’s feet coming down from a rebound in y LeBron X elite. That one did me in and I still returned within a week. Needless to say I lost my explosiveness and pooped shit on the court. Like many here can attest to, let injuries heal. Or you risk shitty play for ages. I just got back into form and gladly using my speed now.
Trying to take it slow, I targeted my full return in 2 weeks after I get some more workouts and conditioning in. 12 weeks post sprain seemed safe to me. Thanks for reading!
sprains a B***H. i had all none bone injuries on my left knee but it was due to being absent minded and the jitters in judo in my first amatuer match. tore my acl, pcl, lcl, meniscus. did not get surgery, had to tape and wrap and brace it for 2 years and fought another match the year later my injury to somehow redeem myself. played basketball and got used to some hiccups on my knees buckling if landing or pivoting or merely stopping on a dime. so had to adjust my game to a grounded approach even though iwas not a flyer but my jump in my shots usually highter so i had to use more arm than legs unlike when i had or i believe i had the ray allen form. i got my knee repaired after 2years from the injury. i got my right ankle injured 4years later stepping on a ball handler on a loose ball. bummer. my ankle was so swollen it looked like a water balloon. it looked like it was ready to burst the next day. i had not had it checked. just let it heal. its a month over a year now from that time i can still feel something high above the ankle below my later side of my calf some pain. it usually feels hot. might be something detached. resting it feels like it got used to being a bit sideways or rolling outward but when i play, run, i dont feel pain or feel any weirdness on it. just when i rest and stare at it.
things i learned from injuries, learn to have a good base and foot position when pivoting and know the amount of pressure to use when pivoting. a hard heel cup in my opinion also is somewhat a factor in injuries. i injured my foot wearing my aj2010. it had a veryhard heel cup and really cups and digs in the back of my ankle, lower side of the asymetrical colar dug deep the back to the almost lateral side of my ankle. tie shoes properly. and the best lesson i learned is not to go overweight.
Sorry to hear about the injury man (and all the injuries). They can be grim. I once had a bad right ankle sprain in high school. My treatment consisted of icing and then heating, using ice and a deep-penetrating heat lamp (or sometimes icy-hot), respectively and consecutively. It worked pretty well but even with that, it took a while to heal. Patience is key.
Most importantly, I realized that if you don’t play “professionally”, it’s not worth having a “go for for broke” mentality in sports. Definitely try your best, but build an internal awareness where you can slow your roll in situations, so as to do your best to minimize injuries. At the end of the day/game, win or lose, walking off the court or field with no significant injuries is the real win. Keep at it people!
Respect for the dedication bro but take your time as many have said. I went so hard on my legs when I was younger that I’m paying for it now at just 27. I have knees that ache ever from body weight squats. Jumping can be a nightmare because I can jump fairly high for 5’6-5’7. Shins hurt from almost every leg related activity. For months at a time, when I play, you’d think I was going to war from how much I would wear on the court with regard to neoprene sleeves everywhere on my legs. LOL! Long story short, pacing myself would have been so much more beneficial. Now when I play which is rare because of my weird schedule of working nights, I have to be soooo careful. I hope that you recover fully and can enjoy the game for much longer at the level that you wish to play.
-DM
Hey I severely tore 3 ligaments in my left ankle and been trying to rehab all year, how does the brace feel? I’m still seeing ghosts as I play and ASO brace doesn’t seem to help me feel as secured as I should trying to the basketball