History Of Soccer Shoes
Soccer shoes have come a long way since before 1954. Soccer players were wearing soccer shoes that were made from hard leather. These shoes weighed more than 500 grams. Soccer players would pray that it wouldn’t rain. If it would rain the shoes would hold water and weigh more than 1 kg. Times have changed since the good old days, With a multitude of shoes on the market, read how to find the best soccer shoes.
It All Changed In 1954
Adi Dasler in 1954 changed the world of soccer shoes (ADI DAS/ler = ADIDAS). Adi invented soccer shoes that only weighed 380 grams. Dasler invented it just for the Germans, who would win their first world cup. It took more than 6 years the first soccer shoes built without the high ankle shaft. Many years later synthetic materials were used and the weight of the shoes dropped down to 200 grams for the shoes. From that time, it became recognized that weight and traction are very important.
What Do Professional Soccer Find Important
One questionnaire was taken among 250 professional male soccer players. This questionnaire asked which soccer shoe attributes were the most important. The professional soccer players judged 11 different attributes between 1 to 6. 1 being the most important and 6 the least important. The results show that comfort and stability were seen as most important.
More recent surveys show that stability and low weight became more important. Most of the surveys show that professional soccer players don’t value protection as an important attribute.
How To Get Comfortable Soccer Shoes
Long term comfort may decrease injuries. One way in which comfort can be increased is by less pressure on the foot or more equal distribution. The problem areas during shooting, turning and sprinting are the heel area and especially the high medial forefoot area (under the big toe). Find shoes that reduce the pressure on the high medial forefoot. Before buying a soccer shoe, try the shoe first and notice if you feel any pressure on that spot.
Shoes, Types And, Surfaces
There are many types of shoes for a variety of soccer surfaces. A quick breakdown of shoes and their uses can be seen below. Overall, the larger size and fewer studs are needed for soft pitches, while the smaller size and a multitude of studs are needed on the turf surface conditions. For a well kept natural field with firm ground, you want about 11 studs between 10-12 mm studs size.
Shoes and Injuries
Although professional soccer players look for comfort and weight. The scientists are looking for injuries and performance. Most of the studies focus on traction and field surface areas. Many different studies have been conducted on different kinds of cleats that provide traction and injury incidence. The overall conclusion is that there is little to no evidence for different kind of cleats, their traction, and the risk of injury. One author noted;
Soccer Shoes And Kicking Speed
Although soccer players don’t think that shoes can increase kicking performance, there is some research that shoes can influence your shooting skills. Better traction of the non-kicking leg (better cleats for the surface) increases your kicking speed. Furthermore, lighter shoes can increase foot speed and a better range of motion with the ankle. This is further collaborated by the fact that the highest kicking speed is measured with bare feet. The table below shows kicking speed generic shoes, (Brand A AAA), Brand B BBB), each subject’s own shoe (OSC), sock without shoes (SOC) and barefoot (BAR).
Kicking With Accuracy
Shooting with bare feet is great for power, but is horrible for accuracy. The graph below shows a shooting accuracy test and found that barefoot performed the worst of all different footwear (or lack of footwear). The results showed that when footwear caused a more equal distribution on the feet, the shooting became more accurate.
As the graph above describes, both B and C performed the best. Shoe C, however, outperformed shoe B. The most likely reason why shoe C performed the best is the fact that shoe wear C caused the most equal distribution. Below you can see the difference between the second-best (B), and the best (C). Shoes C has a more equal distribution pattern. As the author noted
