Shoesday Tuesday:

Shoe News You Can Use: The Shank

Look at the “skeleton” in the photo on the left. Now look at the black material above the white area of the midsole (above the outsole) on the right. This is the “shank” of the shoe. The shank is the stiff area of the shoe between the heel to the transverse tarsal joint. It should correspond to the medial longitudinal arch of the foot. It is designed (along with the midsole material: see post here), to provide additional torsional rigidity to the shoe and helps to limit the amount of pronation and motion at the subtalar and mid tarsal joints. It also acts as a “plate” between the outsole and ininsole to provide protection to the foot from rocks, sticks, broken glass, shrapnel and small animals : ).

Not all shoes have a shank, so it may not always be present. We usually dissect shoes sent to us so we can see what they are all about if the manufacturer or rep is unable to provide us with an “exploded” or sectioned model. Look for our take on the new SKORA soon, complete with a dissected version!

The Gait Guys. Making sure you know what you need to so you can make more educated decisions

all material copyright 2012 The Homunculus Group/ The Gait Guys. Please ask to use our stuff. If you don’t, you have to deal with Lee. You don’t want to deal with Lee….