can you wear astro turf trainers on concrete

January 29, 2022 Zeeshan

How to choose the best football or soccer shoes to buy is probably a problem for many footballers and future footballers, as well as for their entire families.

Leaving aside the different brands that you can find in any sports store and whose preference depends a lot on the marketing factor, let’s focus for a moment on the most important characteristics of a football boot .

Because it is an important choice

You may be wondering why you should waste time reading and understanding how to choose your next football or soccer shoes.

I can tell you with certainty that if you find the right shoes for your feet you will be able to find significant advantages in practicing your favorite sport:

Increase your physical performance
Improve ball control and touch
Avoid injuries and pains

Three fundamental things for a football player (or a five-a-side football player) who always wants to give his best.

In reality, the shoe is often underestimated, this happens in many sports, but it is as if a formula 1 car put smooth tires in the wet: a disaster!

Think about it when you buy your next football boots, you could miss an opportunity to make a difference even in the Monday night match, as in the championship final.

First of all where you play

The first factor to keep in mind when you are about to buy a new pair of shoes is whether you play football or five-a-side football and in particular the ground on which you will find yourself being chased by the ball (or chased).

In any case, you must know that there are “different” soles with “different” types of studs that adapt to “different” types of terrain and weather conditions.

AG shoes (artificial ground): 6-8 fixed or detachable studs, very hard (in aluminum) perfect for soft and muddy ground, absolutely not recommended on medium or hard ground
AG PRO shoes: new generation of shoes similar to AG, but with the addition of 4-6 lower studs in hard plastic that prevent the metal ones from sinking too much
FM shoes (firm ground): 11-15 medium-high studs of circular or triangular shape in hard plastic, ideal for natural ground not hard and not soft
HG (hard ground) or MG (multi ground) shoes: more numerous studs than FM, softer designed for both natural and synthetic hard ground (even icy)
TF shoes (or turf, synthetic grass): many small soft studs (sometimes with a suction effect) with shock absorbing midsole (more comfortable), born for hard synthetic grounds, almost always used in 5-a-side and 7-a-side football
Indoor shoes: without studs, but with a no-marking rubber sole with a lot of grip and shock-absorbing midsole, they are designed for indoor 5-a-side football (futsal), on concrete or parquet

Knowing the terrain where you play well, now you also know which type of sole and cleats are right for you.

What’s your style of play?

Depending on how you prefer to play football, there are more or less suitable shoes.

Shoes with fine, comfortable, light and very elastic lightweight uppers are perfect if you are a player who:

It weighs less than 80 kilograms
Likes to spin and move the ball
Play with a few precise touches
He doesn’t run much on the pitch
He prefers actions with short shots
He needs great touch and ball control

Soccer shoes, on the other hand, which are made from thick synthetic materials or leather, perhaps with different reinforcements in the points most under stress, are ideal if you are a player who:

It weighs 80 or more kilograms and has a sturdy build
He favors actions of force
It has an aggressive game
Takes many long shots with many changes of direction
Need for stability to express all its speed
It does not require excessive precision in touch and shot

In addition to the different types of studs seen above, also keep in mind that there are two types of soles .

Those in carbon fiber are stiffer, more resistant and light, but deform less as they adapt more slowly to the foot (they are often a little more uncomfortable) than those in thermoplastic polyurethane .

One last tip if you play five-a-side football is on the toe of the shoe : it is better that it be slightly reinforced because kicking on the tip is often an additional weapon in five-a-side football (unlike 11-a-side football).

In 5-a-side football , shoes that are not too thick are generally preferred, given the reduced length of the field and the need for greater precision.

The foot must be comfortable

Everything we have said so far is certainly right and useful, but what has to be in the end is your foot.

Therefore , the number and size of the football boot becomes fundamental .

Always try on your shoes with the socks you would use to play:

The foot must not tap on the toe even when you go on the toes
It doesn’t even have to go off at the heel
Also check if the shoe is narrow or wide (based on your foot)
Be careful that the instep is also not too low

Always keep in mind that the shoe will let go a little over time, certainly not in length, but in width.

Latest tips

I bet you are wondering: what is the best football boot brand ?

The answer is simple: it doesn’t exist .

Often they are the same, only by trying will your foot find one brand better than the other: you just have to always keep in mind what I told you before.

To be safe , try more and more brands to choose the one that suits you best.

Appearance and fashion certainly play a very important role, but not more than what was said before.

In other words, buy the most beautiful shoes only with the same characteristics, otherwise choose the ugliest ones, but with the best technical specifications .

If you are a parent avoid taking a larger number hoping that your child, still in the growth phase, can use it also the following year: you will do more damage than anything else.

A personal advice: if you are not an expert, go to shops specialized in soccer shoes and five-a-side football (compared to large sports shops), in order to have more competent staff who can advise you better.

On the other hand, if you are already sure of your shoes and do not need to try them on, in online stores you can find a greater assortment of models and colors at lower prices.

Problems related to the wrong shoes

The problems that can arise when you play and train in unsuitable shoes can be divided into two large groups.

You will definitely lose in game quality :

Less agility in the fields of leadership
Less coordination and ball possession
Less speed in shooting and speed in general
Less precision in passing and aiming in shots on goal

In addition to the reduction of all these technical and physical skills, you will also risk running into annoying muscle problems and unpleasant injuries :

Swelling in the feet is the first symptom that occurs during the game
Often followed by painful blisters
Always staying on your feet increases the chances of getting a sprained ankle
Back pain ( low back pain ) and sciatica in the most unfortunate cases are very common pains when shoes are wrong
As well as the groin it proves to be the companion of many amateur footballers as professionals
Finally, the chances of having joint pains of various kinds will also increase (knees, hips, neck )

I would say that these little food for thought should be enough to make you waste a little more time when you enter the store to choose and buy your brand new shoes, be they football or soccer.