(57) There is disclosed an athletic shoe having grooves in a ground engaging surface of a sole formed concentrically about a pivot point in the ball portion and having traction projections in the form of bris­tles or columns embedded in the bottom of the grooves. Free ends of the traction projections protrude from the ground engaging surface whereby forces on the free ends of the traction projections perpen­dicular to the grooves, as when a player is accelerating, causes the projections to bend against the side walls of the grooves which thus support the projections against further bending with the free ends of the projections protruding from the outsole to provide traction. Forces on the free ends of the projections tangentially to the grooves, as when a player pivots, cause the projections to bend into or lay down in the grooves and thus offer little or no traction. The ground engaging surface of the sole is formed of a material having a low coefficient of friction so that the sole can move or pivot relatively freely once the projections have bent into the grooves.