Selecting Soccer Cleats Factors to Consider

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What part of soccer equipment is the most important for a soccer player?
That’s right. Soccer Cleats. It was easy. No argument here.

Now, what kind should we buy?…
…Exactly. There is no simple answer to this question.How to buy proper soccer cleats - that could be very challenging.
There are so many choices. And all this marketing nonsense out there.
That’s why my sons and I created this page. To help you make a right decision.

Just use this Free Review Guide and I can guarantee you will be very comfortable buying a new pair of soccer shoes.

What should you look for while buying soccer cleats?
Besides the price, you want to make sure they are comfortable.
But how would you know if they give you enough comfort, before you play in them at least few times?

Factors to Consider

1. Manufacturer
2. True Leather or Synthetic
3. Studs Type
4. Size
5. Where to buy

Factors to Consider

1. Manufacturer Click here to learn more.
2. True Leather or Synthetic Click here to learn more.
3. Studs Type Click here to learn more.
4. Size Click here to learn more.
5. Where to buy Click here to learn more.

I personally never played in Nike's shoes, so I can’t tell you about this brand from my experience. My sons played soccer using both brands. After trying them for a while, the younger son sticks to Nike while Pat(older) uses Adidas shoes only. They both are very happy with their selections.

Do you know why?

Their feet are build differently. Pat has a much wider foot than his brother. Adidas makes its cleats bigger in width than Nike.

Basically if you have:

* Wide foot - look for a pair of Adidas Soccer Cleats
* Skinny foot - look for a pair of Nike Soccer Cleats


It wouldn’t be fair not to mention 3 other brands, almost as good as the above two:

Diadora, Puma and Umbro

Other brands like: Kelme, Mitre, Lotto - only if you really can’t afford the brands mentioned above or if you just simply like these brands.

True or Synthetic Leather

Upper portion of every soccer shoe is made out of either true or synthetic leather.What is better?

True leather, of course.

And I recommend it to everybody who is serious about playing soccer.
True leather gives you an uncompromising feel of the ball. It molds to your feet producing great comfort. It also lasts longer than synthetic materials. And it is healthier for your feet.

Synthetic materials don’t let the feet “breathe” building up of sweat, potential blisters and feet problem in the near future.

But…(of course there is a “but”)
...True leather cleats cost more.

There are few different types of leather used to manufacture soccer cleats.
The least expensive is full grain. Sometimes full grain leather soccer shoes could cost only slightly more than “artificial”. Spending $10-20 more on much better shoes would be really worth it.
The best leather out on the market is K-Leather (Kangaroo). Though more expensive but it is softer, lighter and still durable.

If your feet are not growing like the speed of sound and your budget is not too tight, definitely consider buying soccer cleats made from K-Leather.
If only possible, avoid all non-leather soccer shoes.


New! (2006) Nike makes their top quality cleats from super lightweight synthetic material called KNG-100 (Air Zoom Total 90) and Nike-Skin (Mercurial Vapor). These soccer cleats are very expensive (actually cost more than Kangaroo leather shoes) but I guess we can treat them as an Exception to our “non-synthetic shoes” rule.

Update! - August 2008
Since the 21st century technologies are changing the world around us, it's hard not to notice the changes in soccer cleats industry. Thanks to new ways of manufacturing synthetic materials, so hated (at least by me) synthetic uppers of soccer shoes became strong 'competitors' to those made out of true leather.

Few years back almost all Nike’s leading models were constructed with synthetic material (besides Air Legend). Every other brand had a totally opposite ratio of synthetic to true leather shoes. Adidas, Puma, Diadora, Umbro had produced mostly the lower-priced models with cheap synthetic materials. The rest were leather shoes.

Now it all balanced out. Nike added more top models with leather uppers, while its competitors started manufacturing more shoes using top-graded synthetics.

Why these synthetic soccer cleats are so good, used by many professional players and…so expensive?

They are manufactured with special microfiber technology that upgrades synthetic material, usually a PU (polyurethane). It makes the PU very soft, and strong, giving it similar feel to a natural material.

The microfiber material comes in several different qualities and price levels. The better the material, the more soft it feels and also stronger it is. Super-Microfiber (eg.Teijin) is the top grade of Microfiber, with ultimate softness and performance characteristics.

Top Super-Microfiber material can be just as expensive as some leather!

No, no. I still like true leather soccer cleats more than synthetics but it's just rather preference than reasonable argument which material is better.

Molded Studs or Replaceable

There are practically two different molded soccer cleats on the market.

The traditional-contains a sole
that has round studs
(usually between ten to fifteen).

The X-Grip (or Bladed shape) - slimmer than round studs, strategically placed in different angles to offer a player a better footing.



Soccer shoes with molded round studs(traditional) are more universal. What I mean is that, this type of soccer cleats are good for hard and firm surfaces as well as for soft grounds. However, they are not really reliable for extreme circumstances like: very hard and dry fields (turf shoes will be the ultimate choice here) or very soft and wet surface (screw-ins).

The X-Grip design is manufactured for specific field conditions. In this case, with different length and angles of studs, we have to choose between soccer cleats made specifically for either hard(HG), firm(FG) or soft(SG) ground. Your choice then should be based on the type of fields you play soccer on the most.

If you play on all kinds of surfaces, I would recommend-traditional round studs.
But if you really want to stick to new style, then buy X-Grip for firm pitch(FG).

Of course, the best scenario would be to have two pairs of soccer cleats for different field conditions. But who can afford it? Not to many of us.

Replaceable (screw-ins) cleats are very optional. Most young soccer players do not need them. With the poor quality of most youth fields, screw-ins just wouldn’t get enough use to warrant purchase.
Unless, you play a lot on great, soft fields and have extra cash (screw-ins can not be the only soccer cleats you have). Also some leagues do not allow this type of equipment.

Size

It is very important that the soccer cleats you buy must fit perfectly. This means as snug as possible, tight to the foot (sorry parents, you can’t have growing room in soccer cleats). Close-fitting shoes facilitate the best touch (the feel for the ball).

Soccer shoes I usually get, for my older son (16 years old) and myself, are ½ size smaller. This is, because leather expands after a while and then molds to the foot. For my 10 year old, since his feet still grow fast, I buy his exact shoe size.