Have a look at these and you’ll see what i mean:

http://www.dunkthefunk.com/basketball/what-is-the-difference-between-basketball-shoes-and-normal-shoes

http://tbsportsblog.com/what-is-the-difference-between-basketball-shoes-and-normal-shoes/

http://www.jerseyfaves.com/index.php?main_page=more_news&news_id=1582

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081002210314AATNoEA

http://www.letsplaygamesnow.com/what-is-the-difference-between-basketball-shoes-and-normal-shoes

Come on, if you’ve taken the time to get yourself a domain or set up a blog account somewhere, why not come up with original content???

Your thoughts?

How to choose a traction product

Update: One company, “Fast-Brake.com”, has made some major upgrades to their white plastic base – they now have a decal on it with their company name. Their press release also announces that:

• As an upgrade, their new bases will be even stronger AND LIGHTER! If you read our previous post, the imitation Slipp-Nott bases in our opinion, were too light to begin with.
• They will be offering a new “base customization” option for teams, businesses and individuals. Which is odd since they’ve always had that on their site (though like Bigfoot and the Loch  Ness Monster, we’ve never actually seen a picture of one)
• They have also made changes to the color of the mat. It used to be white but the new color is going to be…wait for it, wait for it…WHITE!

Compare the offerings and do the math on how much a sheet is costing you and then make your decision. Our bases are made of either molded or machined ABS sheets covered by a sheet of rubber bonded to the bottom to completely protect your floor. The competition uses a die-cut plastic sheet with soft foam or a few patches of rubber stuck to the bottom. Sure cutting up patches of rubber to stick to the bottom of the base saves them money but it also makes the base lighter and more likely to lift off the floor when walked on by an athlete.

The safety and well-being of your athletes depend on the equipment they use. How and what you spend your money is up to you.

Feel free to send us links to any other comments or reviews on Slipp-Nott products.

Ok, back to Shakin’ n Bakin’!

S-N Gripp is a revolutionary solution that eliminates the adverse effects of palm perspiration, while enhancing your grip and repelling moisture. It performs like “liquid chalk” that can be applied under gloves. It is environmentally friendly, non-sticky, non-tacky, does not clog pores, and will not “cake up.” S-N Gripp is also hypoallergenic.

S-N Gripp can be used wherever wet hands are a problem, including: Archery, Badminton, Baseball, Basketball, Batons,Billiards, Mountain/Rock Climbing, Bowling, Cheerleading, Football,Golf, Gymnastics, Hockey, Lacrosse, Pole Vaulting, Polo, Racquetball, Rowing, Rugby, Softball, Squash, Table Tennis, Team Handball, Tennis, Tug-of-War, Under Gloves, Volleyball, Weight lifting…

Visit our website for a video demonstration: http://www.slipp-nott.com/S-N-Gripp.html

Feel free to email or call us at 1-800-776-6754 if you have any questions.

If you are ready to try this amazing product, pay just $5 for shipping and handling and we will ship you TWO FREE 2 oz. bottles for you to try! Offer good while supplies last.

Thank you for your continued interest in Slipp-Nott products.
With best regards from the Slipp-Nott sales team

Well yes, but courts are a special type of flooring.  Court floors are used by athletes running up and down the court as fast as they can making starts and stops to elude their defenders.  In order to do this effectively, you need TRACTION.  Traction is important not just at the beginning of the game but throughout the entire game.  For athletes to get good, consistent, predictable traction on an indoor court they need a combination of:

1. clean shoe soles that are made of “grippy” materials that have as much CLEAN surface area as possible allowing it to make contact with
2. a clean, smooth, dry, hard floor.

That may sound simple but quite a few conditions need to be met to create this perfect scenario:

• Premium athletic shoes, with good high-friction material on the soles
  

  Brand new shoes worn outside for 5 minutes

• Sufficient shoe sole surface area free of particulates to provide adequate friction to resist the athlete’s lateral (along the floor in this case) inertia
• A hard floor that is:
  • Clean (or relatively free of loose surface particulates —for example: gravel, dirt, dust, skin particles, smoke particles, etc.)
  • Dry
  • Properly finished with a high quality finish (for example: clean, synthetic floor or clean, smooth hardwood without slippery wax build up)

In many cases neither athletes, nor the coaching staff have much control over how clean the floor happens to be at game-time.  The reasons vary from inaccessibility to floor maintenance equipment, such as mops, courtcleans to just plain — “no time!”  Luckily traction can still be easily attained by combining the shoe soles and floor cleanliness, the operative word in that sentence is “combining.” Just think of the combination as a formula:

Floor cleanliness + Shoe  sole cleanliness = (varying degrees of) Traction

Better traction is what you get when you use clean shoes soles on relatively clean floors.  While you may not always be able to exercise any direct control on the floor maintenance/cleaning schedule, teams can still influence how much traction their athlete’s shoes provide them.  Take an active role in how clean the athlete’s shoe soles are throughout the game by using Slipp-Nott traction mats.

By providing Slipp-Nott traction mats on the sidelines for athletes to step on before checking into a volleyball or basketball game, teams will actually be be cleaning the floor as they clean the athletic shoe soles!  How is this possible you might be wondering?  Well, once an athlete steps onto the court with a clean, naturally sticky (squeaky) rubber sole, the athlete will have the best traction available to him on that court at that specific time.  The surface particulates will also dislodge from the floor and stick to the shoe sole, depending on how dirty the floor is and how naturally sticky the shoe soles grab the floor (or the dirt!)

In addition to improved indoor traction, you will be indirectly contributing to floor cleanliness and oddly enough become a source of passive floor surface maintenance!  In our next post “Floor Maintenance: Should Street Shoes Be Allowed or Not? Part 2,” we’ll explain why and how.  In the meantime, take a look at these images:

typical dirt and grit on athletic shoe sole

Surface of a Slipp-Nott adhesive mat showing the dirt and grit removed from shoe sole