
**Heel Drop**

Heel drop (also known as heel-to-toe drop or HTT) is the difference in midsole height measured at the sole of the heel and the toe. Running shoes are designed in various drops, to suit different running styles. Shoes are typically made with heel drop ranging from from 12mm to 4mm. Zero drop shoes, as the name suggests have a drop of 0mm.

**Heel drop and Running**

* **>10mm** - Known as __high drop__ shoes, these are best suited for runners with limited ankle mobility, Achilles tendonitis issues, those who land dorsiflexed, and strike the foot on the heel.
* **10mm to 4mm** - Most shoes currently come in this range.  Encourages mid foot landing, and requires greater ankle mobility. The load is distributed through the calf and shin. 
* **&lt;4mm** - these are __low drop__ shoes, encourage forefoot to mid foot landing, and promote foot to be plantarflexed while landing.  Requires good conditioning of calf-muscles.
* **0mm** - These are __zero drop__ shoes, the off-set between heel and toe is zero. 

**Heel drop and injuries**

Scientifically there is no clear evidence linking shoe heel drop to injuries.  However, the strength limitations and mobility restrictions can determine which drop works best for runners. Shoes with higher drop are best suited for runners having frequent calf and heel injuries.  Low drop shoes work best for those who have shin issues.  

**Heel drop and Foot Strike**

* **Heel Strikers** - Heel strikers land on their heel with foot dorsiflexed. High heel drop works best for these runners as there is higher levels of cushioning at the heel. Runners wanting to switch to midfoot strike, can consider mid to low drop shoes.
* **Midfoot strikers** - Drop can be chosen based on the comfort levels. Popular trend now is to choose a drop under 10mm.  
* **Forefoot strikers** - Shoes with low heel drop works best for these runners, as the foot is plantarflexed when landing. Using a higher drop shoe for forefoot strikers, adds further stress on calf-muscles. So low-drop shoes for best.

**Searching shoes by heel drop**

While searching for shoes on shoegeeks.in, you can use the Heel drop filter to narrow down the shoes that best fits your needs.

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Heel drop of running shoes and why does it matter?

What is Heel Drop?

Infographic - What every runner needs to know when choosing shoes

Running Shoe Basics

Infographic - Which shoes are popular with runners in India?

Top Shoes in India


(Photo by John Hoey https://flic.kr/p/ngQ3fm Attribution 2.0 Generic CC BY 2.0)

By now we are in tapering mode for TMM, less than a week to the race and we are working on nutrition, hydration and thinking about post run celebration.

I personally love exploring running form, and how running can be improved through mobility, strength, technique (such as [Cadence](https://www.geeksonfeet.com/categories/cadence/)) and most importantly Shoes. You guessed right! I am a big shoe geek :-)

I have collected the shoes data from Starva of those who ran ADHM and here are some of the insights. Among the 1900 runners that I looked, only 350 of them have shared their shoe data. So please use your judgement while reading this article.

### Nike is the most popular brand and Asics is a tad bit behind

Among the brands used, Nike came out as the top brand with 27% of all runners using various shoe models of Nike. Asics caught up at 26% of runners using their shoe models. Adidas came out third with 16%. Surprising entry is French sports giant Decathlon’s brand of running shoes Kalenji and Ekiden, at fourth position with 5%. Please see the chart for full details.

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### Nike Air Zoom Pegasus is India's favorite

Of the top 5 shoe models, which make up 35% of all the shoes used in the race, Nike Air Zoom Pegasus series is runners favorite and it represented 28%. Adidas Ultra Boost at 23% and Asics Gel Kayano at 22% are second and third in popularity respectively. At 17% Asics Gel Nimbus is fourth popular. Decathlon Kalenji Kiprun is fifth popular with 10% share.

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### Top 5 Shoe Models for Nike, Asics and Adidas

| Rank | Nike             | % Share |
| ---- | ---------------- | ------- |
| 1    | Air Zoom Pegasus | 48      |
| 2    | Nike Free        | 15      |
| 3    | Air Zoom Vomero  | 11      |
| 4    | Zoom Fly         | 10      |
| 4    | Winflo           | 10      |
| 5    | VaporFly         | 7       |

| Rank | Asics       | % Share |
| ---- | ----------- | ------- |
| 1    | GEL Kayano  | 38      |
| 2    | Gel Nimbus  | 28      |
| 3    | GT 2000     | 15      |
| 4    | Gel Cumulus | 7       |
| 4    | Dynaflyte   | 7       |
| 5    | GT 1000     | 5       |

| Rank | Adidas             | % Share |
| ---- | ------------------ | ------- |
| 1    | Ultra Boost        | 63      |
| 2    | Adizero Adios      | 17      |
| 3    | Adizero Boston     | 7       |
| 4    | Solar Boost        | 4       |
| 4    | Energy Boost       | 4       |
| 4    | Adizero Takumi Sen | 4       |

### Minimalist Shoes are a Small Percentage

Minimalist shoes such as Vibrams, Merrel were worn by 3% of the runners. Among these Vibrams were the most popular with 50% share among them. Other minimalist shoes used were Luna, 361 and vivo barefoot. If Nike Free can be considered as minimalist then Minimalist shoe share goes to 11%. Nike Free will be the dominant minimalist shoe in this case.

### Are you a Strava user?

If yes, please tag shoe you used against a run. It is a great way to track your miles by a particular shoe, especially if you want to prevent injuries using the same shoes beyond certain miles. Most shoes have a life of their own between 600-1000km post which they reduce their effectiveness. Further, it is a preferred practice to let a shoe breath, so ideally one can have 2 or more pairs. This will also help one understand which shoe is more effective for intervals and which are best for long runs. You tagging shoes on Strava will also help to see insights like what I did this with this post.

**References**

- [Data that I have extracted for ADHM runners is open for further analysis.](https://geeksonfeet.com/engineering/adhmshoes/)


What are the shoes runners wearing at Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2019?

Blog

What is Heel Drop?

Running Shoe Basics

Top Shoes in India

India’s most popular running shoes - ADHM 2019 edition