Round bottom shoe

A rocker sole or rocker bottom shoe is a style of footwear which has a thick sole with rounded heel. Such shoes ensure the wearer does not have flat footing along the proximal-distal axis of the foot. The shoes are generically known by a variety of names including round bottom and round/ed sole shoes, but also by various brand names. Tyrell & Carter identified at least six standard variations of the rocker sole shoe and named them: toe-only rocker, rocker bar, mild rocker, heel-to-toe rocker, negative heel rocker and double rocker.
The construction of most varieties of rocker sole shoes mean that the wearer's body weight is shifted behind the ankle and the wearer is required to do more work than would be required in flat-soled shoe to find their centre of gravity and remain balanced.
Rocker sole shoes were popularised for the mass market in the late 1990s and early 00s by the Swiss company, Swiss Masai, as Masai Barefoot Technology or MBT. According to Swiss Masai, the market concept originated with Karl Muller, an engineer and former athlete, who intended they would "simulate the challenge of walking barefoot on soft earth".
Other commentators associated with the sports shoe industry have suggested the therapeutic claims regarding rocker sole shoes are baseless and that benefits associated with wearing them are due to exercise itself, not the shoes.

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