Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
Over the past couple of weeks, I had the chance to have my first experience with Nike’s All Conditions Control (ACC) in the form of the Nike CTR360 Maestri III. Now I am aware ACC is available around the world, but if there is one place in the world that needs the technology in March and April, it is here in Iceland. While about half of play goes on inside during these months, the increased presence of outdoor turf fields means a majority of pre-season games are held outside. According to the World Meteorological Organization, Reykjavik, Iceland averages 13 rainy days per month this time of year. To put that in perspective, a place like Dallas, Texas has an average of 6 rainy days per month during the spring rainy season.
With this information, it is obvious I needed to give ACC a try, as there is nothing worse feeling the ball unexpectedly slip off your foot as you take on a defender. Nike claims that ACC allows their boots to maintain the same level of friction on the ball in both wet and dry conditions. For some time now, Nike has included the ACC technology on all of their top end models, and it looks like ACC is here to stay.
I’ve now had the opportunity to wear the Maestri’s in rain, snow, both on turf and real grass. The difference between a boot with and without ACC is obvious from the first drop of rain. The water simply beads off the upper, and even when a normal boot would be saturated with water, the upper with ACC looks exactly the same as when it is dry. While visually, the presence of ACC is obvious once it begins to rain, I can’t say the same about the performance while touching the ball. I still felt like the ball slipped across my foot more than it did when it was dry. This is not to say the ACC has no effect, just that it doesn’t solve the problem entirely. With that said, there is nothing the ACC takes away from your touch in the dry weather, so anything it does to help in wet conditions is surely worth its inclusion on all boots.
You can get your hands on a pair of Nike boots with ACC technology here.
