Harvard Study Reveals How Basketball Shoe Soles Produce Squeaking Noise

Researchers led by Harvard materials scientist Adel Djellouli investigated the distinctive squeaking noise of basketball shoes sliding on courts. Using high-speed cameras and sensitive instruments, they found that the sound arises from rapid, repeated slip pulses in the rubber soles, creating vibrations at frequencies matching the squeak. The study, published in Nature, also noted that sole patterns help organize these pulses, distinguishing the noise from random friction sounds. This discovery advances understanding of friction phenomena beyond sports contexts.