If you have been paying any attention to sports over the past several months you could not have missed the explosion of brightly colored shoes worn by athletes. It used to be the occasional player (remember Billie “White Shoes” Johnson?) or team (see the Oregon Ducks) that would make a bold statement by adding some high contrast color to their apparel, not anymore. Now it seems that everyone from the super elite to the super ordinary have shoes and clothes that seem to light up the room on their own. Many top athletes are contractually obligated to wearing a particle type of clothing and/or shoe, but no athlete wants to use any form of equipment that will hurt their ability to perform. All want something that not only makes them look good but can help them perform better as well. 
But are all the bright colors just a fashion statement or is there a possible performance edge given to athletes who are willing to wear such colors such as Nike “Volt.” Even Nike is having a hard time pinning down the exact color that is described as neon yellow-green. Which is technically not a true color name (it’s not even listed in the big box of Crayola crayons) but given enough time and usage may enter into the public lexicon.
Certainly in the big money arena of athletic footwear and apparel being noticed is good. Utilizing bright colors is a cost-effective way to be noticed. Human eyes are especially suited for noticing bright colors and movement. A perfect way to have people notice a product, even if they are doing it subconsciously, is to create a product that moves fast and has more than one moving part to draw our attention in a pattern that is readily recognizable and tracked by the observer, such as running shoes. I spoke with Dr. Peter McGinnis, chair of the Biomechanics Subcommittee for USA Track and Field, and asked him if the color of an athletic shoe could, by itself, improve the speed or performance of an athlete. His immediate response was a not surprising, “No.” Ok, so you don’t run faster just because of the color of your athletic shoes, but that doesn’t mean you don’t appear to run faster.
What someone sees when they observe an athlete running at 10 m/s (about 22.5mph) is a repetitive motion that has a foot striking the ground more than 40 times in about 10 seconds. Yohan Blake, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist took 46 steps during the 9.75 seconds it took him to run 100m, meaning his feet made contact with the ground just over 4.6 times per second. To appreciate how fast that is, try counting out loud to five in 1 second! At that rate an athlete’s feet almost appear as a constant blur to the observer, similar to the cartoon depiction used to represent the RoadRunner in the old Looney Tunes cartoons. That blur is seen as a whirl of color to the person watching such a performance. It certainly conveys the impression of speed.
So maybe that’s what bright colors are good for. Maybe they make people feel they can run faster or make you think the person wearing them is running faster than you would otherwise. Could that provide a performance edge? I asked Sport Psychologist, Dr. Kate Polasek that question. She said, “Some colors can illicit different feelings and moods in people. I am not aware of any color that will improve athletic performance but if a person believes that a color makes a person faster or stronger, then they might act on that belief and perform better.” So it may be possible for someone to perform better based solely on a belief that is not scientifically supported. If that sounds strange, think of all of the superstitions that athletes cling too. Wearing “fast shoes” to win that race doesn’t seem any more unlikely than believing the reason a team is on a winning streak is because the players have decided not to shave their “lucky” beards.
Can brightly colored clothes, specifically athletic footwear improve how someone performs? It seems unlikely for the vast majority of players. Does that mean that brightly colored shoes cannot somehow contribute to the overall quality of football? The answer is again “No”. There is one aspect of the game of football where brightly colored shoes can definitely improve performance: instant replay. The high contrast between the shoe and the field boundary markers will help replay officials to clearly see where the foot is placed, making those important but tricky calls about whether a player may or may not be out of bounds, much easier to determine. Getting those calls right will not make an individual player faster or somehow improve his football skills, but it will improve the overall quality of the game making it better for players, coaches, and fans.
So keep those bright colors coming. They look good, players like them, and the flashy colors will help the officials get more calls right which makes the games more fun and exciting for everyone.
