Let's Talk Cleats

timbuck

timbuck

My DD is about done growing, so I don'd mind spending a little extra for the right cleats.
We play on a combination of turf (the newer stuff with the cork or rubber infill) or So Cal grass (grass for a few weeks and then mostly hard dirt the rest of the year).
What is the latest on the right sole plate/cleat to use?

I've not been a fan of the bladed cleat design (heard they aren't great for the knees on turf and hard ground), but it seems that the Nike Hypervenom now has a combination of conical studs on the inside and bladed on the outside.
 
timbuck said:
My DD is about done growing, so I don'd mind spending a little extra for the right cleats.
We play on a combination of turf (the newer stuff with the cork or rubber infill) or So Cal grass (grass for a few weeks and then mostly hard dirt the rest of the year).
What is the latest on the right sole plate/cleat to use?

I've not been a fan of the bladed cleat design (heard they aren't great for the knees on turf and hard ground), but it seems that the Nike Hypervenom now has a combination of conical studs on the inside and bladed on the outside.
Click to expand...

Man who walk in center of road get hit by trucks going both ways.
 
We went the cheap route all through the younger ages because my DD could only fit in them for 6 months at a time. Once her foot stopped growing (more or less) we decided to splurge. She chose the old school Adidas Copa Mundials. According to her, by far the most comfortable cleat she tried on. Never have problems with footing and those things have lasted over a year and a half with only needing to replace the laces, still going strong. Many of her teammates use 2 pair, choosing Copas for grass and some sort of Nike turf shoe for the artificial surfaces. One of them had an ACL injury a couple years ago because of a cleat getting stuck in the turf when planting and turning, so the coach made them all get turf shoes in addition to their grass cleats. You probably should get both if she's a field player. Mine is a keeper, so there is less of the cutting and change of direction at full speed, so the Copas have been ok on turf.
 
Copas do seem to be the best all around. The conical cleat works on most surfaces pretty good. They are a bit ugly though (her words, not mine) . And Nike hyper venoms seem to fit her foot really well.
I'll try to get her foot into a copa and hope they feel right.
 
Mystery Train said:
We went the cheap route all through the younger ages because my DD could only fit in them for 6 months at a time. Once her foot stopped growing (more or less) we decided to splurge. She chose the old school Adidas Copa Mundials. According to her, by far the most comfortable cleat she tried on. Never have problems with footing and those things have lasted over a year and a half with only needing to replace the laces, still going strong. Many of her teammates use 2 pair, choosing Copas for grass and some sort of Nike turf shoe for the artificial surfaces. One of them had an ACL injury a couple years ago because of a cleat getting stuck in the turf when planting and turning, so the coach made them all get turf shoes in addition to their grass cleats. You probably should get both if she's a field player. Mine is a keeper, so there is less of the cutting and change of direction at full speed, so the Copas have been ok on turf.
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Between games in an OC tournament, we stopped at a sports megastore to get my son a new set of cleats. He really liked them - said they were the best fit he had ever had. Only when we got home did we realize they two had been mixed up and were a half-size different from each other.
 
I'd recommend you get her a pair with an AG (artificial grass) soleplate. They have all conical studs and are less likely to get hung up in the turf.

My personal favorites right now are the tiempo legend 6 if you're looking for a more classic kangaroo leather boot but that's still thin and light like a more modern soccer shoe or the hypervenom phantom 3s (low cut). Both come in AG variations and are nice. The hypervenoms have a real nice sock like fit but are a little tough to get in and out of (I have a pair of the tech craft ones). The tiempos run about half a size small and have sole separation issues but are also very nice and you can send them back to Nike if you have issues. Both shoes are one piece construction which I really like (no tongue getting bunched up or sliding to the sides).

Below those you can look at fg shoes with all conical studs like a Nike premier or Copa mundial (or anything else with a similar stud pattern). That being said, it's most important that the boots fit and feel good, I'd just stay away from anything with bladed cleats, without laces, or with collars.

A good resource that I use for gear info is soccerreviewsforyou.com the guy has a really good YouTube channel where he talks about all the new stuff.

Also soccer.com has a sale running now 15% off boots over $99, so it's a decent time to buy.

Hopefully that helps
 
My dd is/was fast & changed direction very quickly. her cleats would give out from under her when she wore a bladed cleat.

once she went round cleats, her feet always stayed underneath her & she never went down.

tough thing is, within the nike line for example, you need to get a shoe that fits your kids foot well. as some models are wider or narrower than others.
 
There is a reason Copas has been popular for last 30+ years. It's like buying Toyota of shoes - not too flashy but proven, reliable and cost effective.
Nike makes great looking boots, but normally they don't last long.
 
My daughter is 11 and her feet are pretty much done growing and has been wearing Kaisers going on three years now. Is there a really big difference in comfort from the Kaiser to the Copas?
 
MR.D said:
My daughter is 11 and her feet are pretty much done growing and has been wearing Kaisers going on three years now. Is there a really big difference in comfort from the Kaiser to the Copas?
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I don't know about stop growing. My daughter went from a 2Y to a 7.5W from 11 to 14
 
We like the the tiempo legend iv, v and vi. The only issue is that they wear out very fast. I just heard from another parent that there is 2 yr warranty on Nike. We plan to check this out when her vi fall apart (should be good for couple more months). And with occasional clearance + coupon on Nike.com, we pay around $100-$110 for these.
 
SocalSoccerMom said:
We like the the tiempo legend iv, v and vi. The only issue is that they wear out very fast. I just heard from another parent that there is 2 yr warranty on Nike. We plan to check this out when her vi fall apart (should be good for couple more months). And with occasional clearance + coupon on Nike.com, we pay around $100-$110 for these.
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Yep, the two year deal is great, just keep the receipt. It really helps if you buy them from NIKE.COM, they will always have the record that way. Hard to keep track of receipts for two years.
 
MR.D said:
My daughter is 11 and her feet are pretty much done growing and has been wearing Kaisers going on three years now. Is there a really big difference in comfort from the Kaiser to the Copas?
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The big difference is that the Kaiser 5 is calf leather vs the Copas are kangaroo leather. Comfort and fit are similar, but the K leather will be softer. I believe that with the release of the Adidas gloro they have discontinued the Kaiser 5.
 
timbuck said:
I thought that you can't get kangaroo leather in CA any longer?
I suppose you can order online or find a way.
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Some online retailers won't ship them to you. I tried to order a pair of copas from Amazon and that was a no go, but I was still able to get them through soccer.com and eastbay

If you're looking for something in store then it just depends on the retailer. Some still carry the shoes despite the moratorium on the ban being expired (at their own risk I presume).
 
timbuck said:
Copas do seem to be the best all around. The conical cleat works on most surfaces pretty good. They are a bit ugly though (her words, not mine) . And Nike hyper venoms seem to fit her foot really well.
I'll try to get her foot into a copa and hope they feel right.
Click to expand...

Unless you get the Copa's outside of California, they are not the Copa's of old. California and several other states now have the kangaroo (hopping rat) leather ban and the original Copa's were made with kangaroo leather. The Nike Tiempos also had kangaroo leather. The Copa's currently sold in California aren't kangaroo leather and the ones legally shipped to California are not kangaroo. My DD uses the Tiempos and we have a friend from Florida send her a new pair when needed. DD had some foot problems when she was 12y/o and wearing Copa's. The podiatrist told her those cleats were horrible for your feet and recommended Pumas or the Tiempos. He said that even with insert they were still not good for the feet since they had no arch support and did not flex. I know a good number of club players that use the Copa's and like them, but have not seen many adult/college players using them.

The Tiempos and Copa's have the round studs and work well on both grass and turf. If your kid is going to play college in a rainy part of the country, just get them the soft ground cleats with replaceable studs. They work great on the soft wet and muddy fields you will run into in the northwest and southeast. If your kid is going to play college they should at a minimum have three pair of cleats, firm ground, turf, and a practice pair usually firm ground. DD had four pair, FG, turf, SG and a practice pair.
 
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