[KentuckyHillBilly5321]

what about an athlete who has multiple events, such as running and jumping? is there one shoe you can get that will work well for both?

Now, that is a good question.

For a high school athlete, I think that the key here would be to have 2 different pairs of shoes. Even if they are normal running shoes, you should have one pair that you do your running in and one pair that you do your jumping in.

The logic here is that running is one movement in your shoes that gives a very specific stress/wear pattern. Jumping is a completely different type of movement that can stress out shoes even more (due to the push off and impact of coming down from the jump).

For jumping--our kids are in their spikes/competition shoes 95% of the time for a very important reason: the approach. There is a definite difference between having your steps in the shoes that you compete with and a pair of training shoes that most likely weigh a LOT more. (That can really change your steps/approach).

At the very least, I would have 2 different pairs of shoes--one for jumping, one for running. And the ideal situation would be that you get to the point where you can do your jump training in your competition shoes.

I hope that helps . . . . .