New Purple Nike Shoes

[Unregistered]

This is coming from a 17 year old male that is playing at a D3 college next year.
And this is purely my observation.

When I play against a team, I usually make an assumption of how good the player is by the color or make of their boots.

To be honest, it's usually the sub-par players that wear flashy colors (the Superflys and Vapors). The back line and midfielder players that wear blackout Tiempos or CTR360s are the ones I assume are decent or good. I'd say I'm correct about 80% of the time.

Colorful boots may be cool when you're younger but when you're playing U17 and U18, there is a huge difference in what's in style.

Tiempos are the only way to go.

[BWags]

A couple of things I was surprised to not see mentioned in this thread:

(1) Insoles - I am amazed that at this point in time we still see so many boots with minimalist, flat, non-removable insoles. My daughter had chronic ankle problems until she had a gait assessment and started buying only shoes with removable, running shoe style inserts that could be swapped out for custom or over the counter orthotics. Putting orthotics in shoes not designed with a removable insert never works because the shoe is too shallow and your heel winds up too high and out of the heel cup.

(2) Protection - A lot of what you pay for in super expensive boots are the super light materials. Many players actually favor a more substantial shoe to protect the foot. Some of these shoes are so light it's not very difficult to break a metatarsel (as noted by a poster above) simply by striking the ball hard, let alone tackling or getting stepped on. I fell for the whole weight propaganda for years until I realized that I was playing better in my $50 indoor Sambas than my expensive outdoor shoes because the Sambas were heavier and provided more protection to my feet.

(3) Studs - If you find someone who knows what they are doing, studs can be customized to your foot/gait by grinding certain ones down.

[Unregistered]

When my kids were still growing, I never spent more than $25 on cleats, and those were handed down if still in good condition. The most I've ever spent was $85 online (most recently) and my kid paid $35. I tell them, I'll pay up to $50, the balance is on them.

That's how to do it. Great lesson for the kid also. Nice.

[Unregistered]

That's how to do it. Great lesson for the kid also. Nice.

I like that lesson as well. I typically have an amount I'll spend on things and they come up with the rest. Shoes are a concern to me though especially cleats. If you have ever had kids with severs or other bone/ligament issues associated with growing, then it is so important to invest in new shoes. Hand-me-downs just aren't the best for feet especially in high-growth years.