Soccer Cleats 101 Soccer Cleats News and Reviews
While I was at Soccer Nation Expo a few weeks back, the CleatSkins team shared a pair of their patented product for review. After having a chance to play around with them and try them on different cleats, here are my thoughts.
What exactly are Cleatskins?
Cleatskins is a protector that slips over the soleplate of your soccer cleats to allow you to move from the field to wherever you want to go without having to take your soccer cleats off! They are made of a durable, compression model rubber that acts as a shell on your cleats.
When can you use them?
There are several areas where I can see Cleatskins being very useful:
- Younger players – when it comes to weekend games, younger players can have multiple games split up throughout the day. This can lead to it being easier to slip on a pair of Cleatskins over your cleats rather than changing multiple times.
- Wet conditions -I remember there were several away games I played in Ireland where afterwards there were no changing rooms, and all I wanted to do was jump in the car and get home. Instead of having to stand in the rain and hop on one leg getting changed, you could simply slip on a pair of Cleatskins till you get home.
- Breaking in cleats – This is honestly where I find these most useful. I have found wearing Cleatskins over new cleats I am breaking in allows me to wear them around the house!
How do they look?
Pretty decent actually! They slipped on my cleats easily and sat flush all the way around the cleat. They also come in several different colors, so you can choose the color that suits you best.
Will it have damage my cleats?
Quiet the opposite actually, I can only see these having a positive effects by helping to extend the life of your studs and they won’t leave any marks on your boots as they are made of rubber.
Negatives
I have one super negative – with the exception of the examples above, I absolutely don’t recommend players wear their soccer cleats anywhere but on the soccer pitch! Wearing your cleats off the field, particularly when your feet are wet and sweaty, only has the potential to damage the skin on your feet. And, who really wants to walk around in wet soccer cleats?
Summary
Cleatskins are a very simple yet ingenious idea, and definitely serve a purpose. But ultimately, in my opinion, they are going to be much more useful for younger players who have several games or practices a day. For their price, they will be a worthwhile investment to help protect and extend the life of expensive soccer cleats. I wore a size large on my size 9US soccer cleats and they fit perfectly. The large size is designed to fit a size 9-10.5US.
Actually, one thing that caught my attention when looking at the Cleatskins website is that they have a golf version available – and that is who I feel these would serve the greatest purpose for, where players need to protect they shoes when walking anywhere off the golf course.
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I've had the idea of a product like this for ages. Glad they finally exist. My idea revolved around an exterior rubber sole with grooves for the studs of your boots to slip in. Of course, the limitation being that you would need to buy a specific rubber sole for each boot to fit in. But essentially it would turn your soccer boots into a normal/IC shoe.
Might consider buying some, even if they do look a bit silly. Do they come off easily? I.e., could I get away with kicking a ball around the house without worrying about them falling off and me falling on my ass as I slip on the studs?
I have them. Don't particularly like them. I bought them to not have to bring another pair of shoes in my travels for soccer, but it wasnt all that worth it. Its okay. I would give them a 3/5 but it is about player preference.
Can you use these for indoor soccer without them falling off?
@Kelian, these would not work for indoor soccer. They will be too bulky and offer little to no grip and support.
I have a pair, and I am not really a fan. Their adverts say "Increased performance and accuracy," or something along those lines. That's going a bit too far, a real gimmick.. just like a powerpulse insole or something.
Don't get me wrong, the concept of cleatskins is great, its just that the product itself does not deliver; they are like soccer crocs.
Thanks for your comments. Just for clarification, Cleatskins are NOT intended for use during competition, but rather than to protect your studs while off the pitch, thereby protecting your performance while on the pitch. Cleatskins also protect floors and car interiors from damage and dirt. Fulham FC and Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer wears them to and from the pitch before and after each match and practice. Rick Kay (Cleatskins)
The people above (see previous comments) should READ about what Cleatskins are intended to be used for , rather than assuming and provided useless comments about this great product… Cleatskins is very specific on every site when describing the purpose of their respective product. In other words, this is an outstanding product that fully does what it says it will accomplish.
Can they worn to play gamesifferent from football like basket or badminto. Also for running