Toe grippers

The toe gripper is the transverse elevation between the balls of the metatarsophalangeal joints and the toe berries that is present in three-dimensionally shaped footbeds of shoes or sandals .

The function of this dam-like elevation should serve to actively curl the toes during the rolling movement while running . However, this presupposes that either the sole is very flexible or (as with wooden sandals ) the foot is only held on the sole by a transverse strap above the metatarsophalangeal joints. In both cases, the toes become curved during the push-off phase .

The toe gripper thus serves more optical than functional purposes, because for a gripping movement of the toes, a recess in the area of ​​the balls and toe berries is useful, which inevitably creates a transverse elevation between the two areas. But this need not be as pronounced as, for example, with Birkenstock footbeds.