There are 5 types of playing surfaces in soccer, which means there are also 5 different outsoles to choose from:. I will talk about each one of them and show you some pictures of what each surface looks like.
Also, it is important that you know which pair you should use in each one and what outsoles to avoid. Firm Ground, is a playing surface of natural grass that has a hard firm base as the one you see in the picture. This is a type of playing surface that is not as professional as Soft Ground, which you will see later, but is great to playing soccer anyways.
This is easily the most common type of playing surface in soccer and the one most players will be playing at. The type of outsole you must use in this playing surface is the FG outsole. This type of outsole is so great for this surface because it penetrates the grass enough to give you the right amount of traction you need, but is not as aggressive as the soft ground outsole.
Below you can see a picture of an FG soleplate. FG outsoles area also the type of outsole that most amateur soccer players will buy and use because it is the one that can be used in most playing surfaces firm ground and artificial grass.
Although, it is recommendable to only wear it in firm ground playing surfaces if possible. Also, an outsole you should avoid using in this surface is SG. This type of cleat has metal studs that are to aggressive for this surface, which means that you can run the risk of suffering from stud pressure and stress in your lower limb joint knees, ankles, etc.
I would only recommend buying FG soleplate for this surface, a type of boot that you will find everywhere in the world. Soft Ground is the best playing surface any soccer player can play at.
This are professional soccer fields that are well mowed, watered, and well taken care overall. This surface has a soft, deep base. The grass is cut low about 2 cm long , but below the grass you can find layers of sand and gravel that provide a cushioned feel when playing in this surface. Above you can see an image of me playing in soft ground surface in a soccer camp I went in florida.
You can see that the grass looks professional and well treated. With that being said, an amateur, regular soccer player rarely gets to play in this surface at a local club.
The correct soccer cleat to buy to play exclusively in this surface is SG soleplate. As you can see in the image below, SG boots have removable screwed-in metal studs that provide a good penetration and traction in this wet playing surface. I would recommend that you buy this pair of football boots only if you are playing exclusively in this playing surface. They are dangerous to use in other surfaces, including firm ground.
If you only play in soft ground once in a while or you are playing in SG as well as FG, just buy a pair of FG boots that will work great on both soft and firm ground playing surfaces.
Artificial grass is made out of a synthetic material that simulates natural grass. These artificial grass pitches are built and installed in a specific way, that follows international standards, to mimic the feeling of playing in a natural grass field in the best way possible.
According to FIFA, it is allowed to play professional soccer games in this playing surface. However, not everything is as good as it seems. Nonetheless, Artificial Grass pitches are becoming more and more common every single day. For this reason, we need to be prepared to buy the correct soccer gear to play in this surface. Here, you can see a pair of football boots with an AG outsole.
This type of outsole is designed to play specifically on artificial grass pitches. AG is so great because it is an outsole with a lot of studs to better distribute the weight along the foot, avoiding stud pressure resulting from playing here. Also, the studs are rounded and shorter than an FG outsole, which means that they will only sit on top of the surface, without penetrating it, while keeping the amount of traction you need.
In the other hand, if you use FG boots, you might run the risk of these ones penetrating the surface and getting stuck in the pitch, resulting from a very painful injury maybe in your knees or ankle. However, brands say that you can use FG outsoles on artificial grass. In my opinion if you can get an AG pair would be a lot better. I repeat, for jesus christ, never use SG boots in artificial Grass. The answer is no, and I explain why in my article that you can read by clicking the link above.
Long story short, there are gigantic differences in terms of quality between one another. In AG it is allowed to play professional games while on turf not. Also, AG follows a maintenance routine and is constantly being modernized, while turf is a surface that is turning obsolete. With that said, there is still many people that play in this surface and are at risk if they dont choose the correct shoes. Brands make specific outsoles to play on turf as the one in the picture.
This outsoles have lots of small rubber studs that give you the traction needed in this surface. It works so well because this is a very shallow surface, that is basically just a carpet on top of cement or sand, making it very hard and rough. The rubber material helps to have a cushioned feel and improves durability in this hard, abrasive playing surface. I would recommend to only use turf outsoles for this surface. If you want, you can get advice on how to choose the best for you in my recommend turf shoes page.
Indoor is a completely different playing surface. In fact, futsal or indoor soccer is a completely different sport from soccer football. Indoor soccer is sometimes played in a wooden floor similar to the one in the NBA. Other times, is played in a normal cement floor as the one in the picture.
When we talk about indoor soccer we normally also include street soccer in this category soccer played in concrete. Meaning that a shoe for indoor is also suitable to play in the streets. In this surface, I would only recommend to use an indoor outsole. Avoid using turf outsoles in this surface too. The shoe on the right has an indoor outsole designed to play in the surface I explained above, and the one on the right is designed for a turf surface. The reason I put them together is because brands tend to make unique soccer shoes for this surfaces.
Other times, big brands like Nike and Adidas make the exact same shoe as the top end cleats used in 11 vs 11 soccer with and indoor and turf outsoles variations for 5 vs 5 soccer. However, when they do this, players that play exclusively in this surface tend to dislike this type of shoes. Which is why we see brands like Joma that are only recognized for their indoor shoes.
They think that buying a pair of indoors will work for them in both surfaces, when this is not the case. Click the link to learn about this topic. The feel of a boot is basically the sensation you feel when wearing a pair of soccer cleats. According to my experience, I divided the feels you can get from a cleat in:. Keep in mind these are just general guidelines and there might be variations between each feel. Comfort boots try to keep it simple and as far away from fancy as possible.
A comfort boot is a cleat that was specifically designed for those people that like to have a cushioned sensation in their feet. They offer a classic sensation similar to ones we had in older soccer cleats.
If you are looking for a more durable option, consider boots that weigh in above 9oz and feature a leather upper rather than synthetic. First off, we recommend checking out boots at a soccer store before buying — it offers you the ideal opportunity to really understand what the boots are about and store employees can be a very useful and knowledgeable resource for the most part!
We regularly get contacted from readers who have purchased from what looks like a legitimate source only to have a fake pair of boots show up, or in some cases no boots at all. Please read the following two incredible important posts to ensure you stay on track:. The sites we recommend checking out if you are in the market for new boots include:. You now have your new pair of boots and are ready to wear them. Taking time to break in new boots can prove invaluable for your feet and the life of the boots.
Look to wear them for one or two jogging sessions at first to loosen up any stitching and allow the soleplate to flex into a more natural position with your feet. This will also decrease the potential of blisters. Having your tried and trusted boots on hand is extremely important as you wear your new boots.
If you feel any sort of pressure or tight spot, switch out immediately. Take the opportunity to jog in them several times more and they should then be ready for game time.
If after several wears you are still feeling some discomfort, the boots are probably not the right option for you. Finally, maintenance is key to ensuring your boots live a solid life and perform with you through the good and bad days. The sign of a passionate player is the person who takes them out of there bag when they get home and offers them some personal care.
All you need to do is take them out of their boot bag and let them air dry in a nice cool area, out of direct sunlight or heat. Once they have dried out, stuff them with some newspaper and put them back in your bag for the next game.
Tags Boot Guide cleatology featured Soccer Cleats. Great post. I coach young kids and I often hear them complain about the following: — Any suggestions to players who complain about their feet or boot getting too hot especially when playing on artificial grass? Some players complain about shoes slipping, some about the sock is too hot or get too moist?
Some prefer long laces to go over the boot and some prefer short laces. When it comes to the heat, I know from experience there is nothing worse and it really can impact your game. Newer boots with thin soleplates are going to cause problems and anything with carbon fiber will really heat things up.
Look for boots with thicker insoles or boots that feature some sort of airflow technology. Don't get me started on laces! The ideal way is to take them right around the boot, and tie them above the tongue. But companies are continually shortening the laces up, which means there really aren't as many options now as of how to tie them. It's on the costly side of things, but I like to think I'm getting my money's worth with all the blisters it helps to prevent.
For boot heat, I've draped a cold rag over my boots at halftime, and it's given great relief. There's not much you can do on artificial grass other than getting your feet out of the sun for a few minutes.
If you're on artificial grass a lot try to get white or lighter colored boots, and stay away from hard rigid soleplates. In terms of the heat, on turf it's just part of the game. But definitely the lighter the color of shoe, the less hot they're going to get. For socks, I've never tried Trusox, but I've heard that they're good. However, they're a bit pricey and you have to specially cut out part of the other socks you're wearing to wear Trusox.
So, what I do is I just wear a pair of regular Nike ankle socks over my soccer socks, which works great. I always just lace my shoes up like any other shoe. These days most shoe laces aren't too long so it shouldn't be a problem. I have to say, in terms of wide feet, leather is the absolute best option.
I have super wide feet size I have found that the conical studs like the the ones on the Copa Mundial are a bit slippery on hard ground surfaces when the field is really dry, and turf shoes work better for some of my teammates. For me, blades work better than conical studs in this situation, especially if there is a mix of tall grass and dry ground. Also, for some reason, there are very limited options for AG studs available at many retailers in the US, both in shops and online.
Why is this? Turf shoes, while designed for the old fashioned Astro Turf, which is very short and firm, do not work as well on the newer AG surfaces, which is a bit longer, that we play "indoor" or "walled" soccer on which btw is not recognized by FIFA- too much similarity to Hockey perhaps?
Often the old fashioned conical studs work well on AG, and in fact many indoor soccer facilities ban the use of anything but conical, or round molded studs, or turf shoes. Furthermore, looking at Soccer. Primarily on Nike's come in AG. Another common mistake I've seen people make when it comes to getting the sizing right that are tangent of couple of these items is when a boot isn't wide enough they simply choose to go half size up and deem it "good enough".
While this may help with the width problem, this just creates a problem elsewhere in length, often times one they choose to ignore. As someone with a very slightly wide foot, I've had my share of these tempting moments Nike Vapors and Puma v1. Move on and find something else! It sucks, I know, but when it comes to actually playing, fit and comfort should trump nearly everything else. Also, when it comes to "wide feet", I feel people tend to generalize a bit too much.
There are different types of wide feet — some people are wide at the forefoot from ball of foot to other end ; some people have fallen arches and it gives them wide mid-foot; some rarely have wide heels. It's important to understand what type of feet you have when asking strangers about boot recommendations.
His shoe size is 6 — so not quite into the adult sizes. But he trains a lot, either on grass or turf. Any suggestions? I would recommend the Adidas Nitrocharge 1. Also, go for the FG version if the turf he is playing on has a deep layering to it ie. I have had a similar "problem" throughout my footballing career. Adidas Copa Mundial is the answer. A tried and proven cleat that you can work into any shape yould like. Simply ask your son to shower with the cleats on for 15 min, three days in a row and they are good to go.
Furthermore, they only get better the more he uses them. My son struggles with Severs heel pain when playing days a week. Any suggestions on what shoes have good heel support with cushion. Under Armour do a great job with their insoles and they provide plenty of cushion around the heel. You should check out something like the UA Hydrastrike.
Another tip is to look at getting boots that feature a lower stud profile, so he is closer to the foot and more stable. Some boots have longer studs and that can sometimes add extra vibration as you strike the surface.
If the cleats are slightly spaceous, i would recomend rubber heelpads can be found in most larger sportstores. It should have been "make sure you are choosing them for the right reason" or "make sure you are not choosing them for the wrong reason.
I have a pair of hg cleats and a pair of turf ones, can hg be used on artificial? I just want to be able to wear premium cleats when I play, since I can usually get them at a pretty good price. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks. This is really helpful thanks guys.
Got my new pair of boots. Really excited! And the reviews you guys do are great. Keep up the good work. I've recently started a blog of my own. Hope I can help people as much as you guys do. Thnx Hope I can he. Keep your footing on hard surfaces. Hard ground shoes are designed to give players traction and balance on surfaces where much of the grass has been worn down leaving only the rigid ground beneath it. The bottom of a hard ground cleats is covered in small, flat studs.
Unlike those of firm ground and soft ground cleats, the studs on a hard ground cleat are spread out over the entire bottom of the shoe. Hard ground cleats are not designed to dig into the ground. Rather, they offer grip to help a player balance on a solid surface. Their names may sound similar, but hard ground shoes are not appropriate for firm ground pitches. Handle yourself on turf. Many soccer leagues are starting to play on turf. Rather than studs, they may simply have a slightly elevated pattern on the bottom that allows them to offer traction on the turf.
Part 2. Strike the ball. The strike zone of a soccer cleat is the part that ideally should make contact with the ball. The strike zone or vamp of the shoe is located on the upper front part of the shoe. Look for shoes that weigh anywhere from five to eight ounces. Get comfortable. Make sure you pick shoes with comfortable insoles and midsoles in them with plenty of support for your heels.
Some soccer cleats have removable insoles. The midsoles are cushions that are built into the shoe. Play defense. If you have a defensive position, your shoes will take a lot of punishment.
Get shoes with a tough outsole that can withstand the damage. Consider getting shoes with great traction. You might also want your shoes to have a large strike zone for clearing the ball effectively.
The outsole is the bottom of the shoe that takes damage as you start and stop. Move laterally. Find shoes that can handle your back and forth motion. A sizable strike zone will also will also benefit your ability to perform kick-outs and back passes.
Part 3. Choose your favorite material. Soccer cleats can be made from a variety of different fabrics. High quality kangaroo leather cleats will mold to your feet after playing in them for a while and they are very durable.
However, they are a bit heavier than shoes made from synthetic materials. Try on shoes made from a few different materials before deciding which one you like. Some companies are developing synthetic leather strains in response to animal activists. The benefit of artificial leather is that different qualities, like water resistance, can be added to the material. Check the fit of the shoe. Given the physics of these shoes, you do not want to use these type of cleats on hard or compact ground as all the force is transferred into back into your feet instead of the soft ground in just a few points — consider this if you are buying these type of cleats for kids.
Check out the top four cleats for soft ground. Artificial turf and artificial grass fields are becoming much more common in many schools, arenas, and indoor 6v6 surfaces. You can now find two different stud patterns specifically designed for either plush artificial grass with the rubber pellets or shorter Astroturf style carpet. Many players did not like the classic style turf shoes on the newer artificial grass surfaces, citing a lack of grip. Nike was the first to address this by coming out with a specific stud pattern designed to grip artificial grass more but without the risk of injury posed by wearing longer studded firm ground boots.
Firm ground and soft ground cleats with longer studs or blades can grip too much on turf or artificial grass surfaces causing ACL or ligament injuries. For this reason, you should be cautious using a traditional firm ground or soft ground stud pattern on artificial turf. Ideally, if you play on both firm ground and turf you should own a pair for each type.
Check out the best turf soccer cleats. The studs on classic turf shoes are small and more numerous than firm ground studs. Instead of plastic, the studs and the outside of the sole are made from rubber which is much more durable on artificial surfaces. Turf can get hot and is abrasive to plastic studs, so the durable rubber studs and soleplate help to extend the life of the shoe on artificial grounds.
Artificial grass studs are longer than the rubber turf stubs but shorter than firm ground cleats. They are also hollow which allows them to cope with the little rubber pellets and prevent the shoe from getting stuck in a bad, injury-causing way. The combination of longer and shorter rounded studs are designed to grip more than artificial turf cleats giving the player a more firm ground shoe-like grip on the artificial turf. Futsal shoes are lower profile than other soccer cleats and have flat rubber soles.
They are most commonly worn for gym 5v5 or 6v6 and futsal style socce r. Indoor turf soccer shoes are artificial turf cleats. Ten to fifteen years ago, almost everyone wore flat shoes and played on carpet.
But many indoor facilities now have artificial turf or grass and most players are sporting turf soccer cleats instead of the flat, futsal style shoes. Some players like to use the flat-soled shoes on artificial turf, especially the old astro-style turf. This is perfectly fine in my opinion, however there are better choices for the newer style artificial grass.
Also keep in mind that the flat-soled style indoor shoes should not be used on wet grass or wet artificial grass as they slip easily those surfaces. Indoor shoes, i. Most of us have probably seen people sporting a pair of Adidas Sambas off the field — not surprising since they are one the most popular soccer cleats of all time. Check out th e top 4 list of the best i ndoor soccer shoes. Hard ground or multi-ground shoes feature many low profile short conical studs that are suited for playing on harder surfaces such as sunbaked dirt, or dry, low cut or worn down grass.
The numerous, shorter profile studs are more suited to hard ground because they spread the downward force out via many studs. This provides some traction and helps keep you balanced without that jarring feeling of longer cleats po unding on a hard surface. The PUMA Allround is well suited to hard ground or turf and is one of the most popular cleats in this category. This category of cleats are becoming less popular with the advent of turf and artificial grass cleats. Many people are choosing to use artificial turf or grass shoes instead of hard ground cleats.
Historically kangaroo leather has been the material of choice for all the top-end shoes. Kangaroo leather became popular for soccer shoes because it is has much higher tensile strength than cow leather, allowing the use of thinner material over the same surface area of the shoe. This results in a strong, light shoe. K-leather is also very soft, molding to the feet easily after a very short break-in period giving players a great feel for the ball.
Leather from cows will either be called half grain calfskin or full grain depending on the age of the cow when made. Cowhide leather does not have the tensile strength of kangaroo leather, so more is used in the manufacturing of the shoe.
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