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  Basketball footwear, is it a case of style over substance?


   Research School

   Applications accepted all year round  Self-Funded PhD Students Only

About the Project

The purpose of Basketball footwear is multifactorial, the underlying substance that encompasses functionality, support and comfort which directly influences a player's performance is potentially now of less importance due to the stylistic trends that have been established due to ‘signature shoes’ which are associated with successful players.

The origins of the modern training shoe and the success of certain shoes by key brands are well documented both in text and on screen. Many active basketball players can also be referred to as ‘Sneakerheads’, who are defined as individuals who collect, trade and/or admire sneakers (Matthews, Cryer-Coupet and Degirmencioglu, 2021). These individuals potentially purchase Basketball footwear not for performance or injury prevention purposes, but because they are fashionable or are from a brand that they have an allegiance too. As such, should the emphasis on footwear selection return to performance and injury prevention purposes as outlined in papers such as Brauner, Zwinzscher and Sterzing (2011), to avoid the potential of a player's talent and performance being suppressed (Demirl and Yalcin, 2020).

The scope of the opportunity is considerable, and any methodological approach would be supported be that quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods, the latter is recommended, however.

Supervisory team:

Director of Studies:

Dr Darren Cooper

Supervisors:

Dr Christopher Holland

Dr Alejandro Vaquera

Research Group:

Human Performance

Application Process:

To begin the application process please go to https://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/sport-and-exercise-science-mphilphd and click on ‘How to Apply’ in the top menu. This PhD could be caried out on a part time or full time basis so please select the relevant application link. On the application form, please make it clear that you are applying for one of our advertised projects so we can direct it straight to the relevant people. 

The Interview:

All successful applicants will be offered an interview with the proposed Supervisory Team. You will be contacted by a member of the Doctoral School Team to find a suitable date. Interviews can be conducted in person or over Microsoft Teams.

Funding your PhD:

For information about Doctoral Loans please visit: https://www.worc.ac.uk/study/fees-and-finance/doctoral-loans.aspx

During your PhD you can access the Research Student Support Scheme to support dissemination costs associated with your research, up to £500 a year.

Widening Participation:

As part of its mission statement the University is committed to widening participation for its higher degrees. Although most candidates will have an undergraduate and/or a Masters degree, the University is happy to accept applications from candidates with relevant professional qualifications and work related experience. 

For further information or an informal discussion on this project, please contact Dr Christopher Holland ()

Applications can be made at:

https://www.worcester.ac.uk/courses/sport-and-exercise-science-mphilphd

Sport & Exercise Science (33)

References

Brauner, T., Zwinzscher, M. and Sterzing, T. (2011) ‘Basketball shoes: What players wear and what they demand’, Footwear Science, 3(SUPPL.1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/19424280.2011.575845.
Demirel, S. and Yalcin, Y.G. (2020) ‘Basketball Sports Shoes Selection and Features’, The Online Journal of Recreation and Sport, Volume 9(Volume 9 Issue 4), pp. 1–7. Available at: https://doi.org/10.22282/ojrs.2020.72.
Matthews, D., Cryer-Coupet, Q. and Degirmencioglu, N. (2021) ‘I wear, therefore I am: investigating sneakerhead culture, social identity, and brand preference among men’, Fashion and Textiles, 8(1). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-020-00228-3.

Register your interest for this project