Every player needs various pieces of equipment to practice and compete safely and efficiently while in the field. The most essential and must-have pieces of gear, however, are soccer cleats Indoor Soccer Shoes provide you with traction, support, and function. These shoes, which can have a significant impact on your performance can perform their function correctly because the parts of soccer cleats are put together to form a bio-dynamically sound design. High levels of research have been made from huge athletic brands such as Adidas, Nike etc. in order to make the perfect shoe.
Below you will find how the soccer cleats are manufactured and what are the main parts of a soccer cleat.
Below are listed the 8 essential parts of soccer cleats, as well as the materials used to make them. You can find a more detailed anatomy about all the parts that make a soccer boot here.
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Upper
The upper, as the name suggests, is the uppermost part of soccer cleats. It affects both ball control and traction and is usually made using different shoe materials.
Although all these materials produce lightweight, comfortable, and thin shoes, players have different preferences. The following is an overview of the different materials uppers are made of:
– Natural leather
There are different types of natural leather. They are kangaroo leather, calfskin leather, and full-grain leather.
Because of the uniform fibers on kangaroo leather, it is light, thin, and strong. It also molds quickly to the feet and are great for players with wide feet. Consequently, kangaroo leather is the most preferred by players and is very expensive. On the downside, unlike other natural leathers, kangaroo leather is not waterproof or as durable. Also leather cleats tend to stretch more. The calfskin leather is more durable and soft that the kangaroo leather but is heavier. Finally, full-grain leather, made of cattle, is tougher and more durable and water-resistant than the two others but also a lot heavier than the other types of natural leather.
– Synthetic Material
Synthetic materials are lighter than natural leather. They are also water-resistant, easy to clean, and affordable. Nevertheless, synthetic materials are thinner, less stretchy, and less comfortable than leather. They have low durability levels and take longer to break-in.
– Synthetic leather
Synthetic leather is designed to look and feel like leather. Cleats made from this material are breathable, easy to clean, and waterproof. However, synthetic leather doesn’t offer as much contact feel like natural leather. Kanga-Lite form Nike is an example of such material.
– Knit
Knitted uppers are the most recent addition to the cleats market. Cleats made from knit texture are highly waterproof, and lightweight. They provide enhanced traction and ball control. The only downside to knit cleats is that they are expensive. Adidas PrimeKnit and Nike’s Flyknit are two examples of this.
– Mesh
Mesh is one of the new trends in the material used for making soccer cleats. This material is mainly used for running shoes, adopted for its small weight. Although they are very light and breathable shoes they do not provide good water protection.
– Vectran
Vectran is a super strong fabricated liquid crystal polymer fiber. We see this in Adidas as SkeletalWeave and in Nike as Flywire.