Patriotic But Not American Made

Should these be made in the USA?

How to Choose the Perfect Stud

Do you know the difference between turf shoes, cleats and indoor soccer shoes? 

The primary goal of all three styles of athletic shoes is the concept of traction, but they achieve this goal in different ways.

The biggest difference between indoor turf shoes and outdoor shoes is the size of the cleats (the studs on the bottom of the shoe). Outdoor soccer shoes have rounded or bladed cleats. Turf shoes have either very small studs or a traction pattern for extra grip on artificial turf–depending on whether the turf is indoors, outdoors.

Turf Shoes - designed primarily for play on artificial turf, these sports shoes can also be used on real grass.  They have smaller studs than traditional cleats.

 

Cleats / Studs - The shoe is typically covered with eight to 15 studs. Cleat studs can be made of metal or rubber, depending on the sport.

Indoor Soccer Shoes - indoor soccer shoes are available for playing on hard surfaces (such as wood floors, cement, etc.) as well as for playing on indoor artificial grass (artificial turf).   They can be made with real or synthetic leather uppers and strong stitching.  Indoor soccer shoes are made by many different footwear brands including adidas indoor soccer shoes, Nike indoor soccer shoes, PUMA indoor soccer shoes etc. 

Shoes are made in all of these categories in both men's and women's sizes.

Shop for shoes at Nike, adidas, and other fine footwear companies.

We hope that this helps you better understand the difference between cleats and turf shoes.  Hopefully you can now find the perfect stud.

Nike 3-D Printed Cleat Plate

Nike continues to push the limits of innovation in many areas of fashion and footwear.  They previously have debuted football cleats built using 3D printing technology. The Nike Vapor HyperAgility Cleat, built for the shuttle drill (or 5-10-5), has taken innovation and athlete agility to a new level.  In the quest to help make athletes better, Nike has been working toward accelerating the footwear manufacturing process through 3D printing technology.

The Nike Vapor HyperAgility cleat, born from Nike’s “Shuttle Project,” took innovation and traditional footwear manufacturing to a new level.  In addition to linear speed, the game of football requires agility and lateral quickness.  The mastery of these skills is seen on a grand stage as pro scouts clock athlete’s “shuttle” or “5-10-5” drill times in order to assess them for game-time ability.  Optimal traction on turf, reducing deceleration time, and traction confidence, are all critical requirements when “cutting” or changing direction quickly.

Nike Vapor HyperAgility Cleat built for the Shuttle drill features 3D printed cleat plate.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is a 3D printing technology that uses high-powered lasers to fuse small particles of materials into a 3-dimentional shape. Traditionally this process is used for prototyping, but through proprietary material selection, Nike was again able to create fully functional plate and traction system in a fraction of the traditional timeframe and at a fraction of the weight.  Once again, 3D printing has revolutionized the way Nike designs and manufactures footwear, allowing designers to make updates within hours, instead of months, to truly accelerate the innovation process.

Learn more about the Nike 3D Printed Football Cleat Concept news from a few years ago.  You can also visit the Nike website to learn more about how they have been innovating the cleat & shoe market.

You may also find interest in our article about the 3D Printed Shoe Progression.

Thank you for taking the time to read our footwear news article.

If you are new to 3D printed fashion or shoes, you may want to read our 3D printed shoe term.

New Balance Soccer Shoes

New Balance, a private Boston-based company, is known for chunky, slightly retro style running shoes but they are now gearing up to become more meaningful in the world of sports.  Pushing well beyond running, they are making a significant push into the soccer market.  The company appears to be lining up 10 of the world’s top soccer athletes and with the intent to beat Nike and Adidas to a share of this important market.

In August it emerged that Warrior Football was set to be re-branded as New Balance, its parent company.  I believe this starts next season.  Not only was this announcement significant for the likes of Liverpool, Sevilla, and Porto, who have their kits manufactured by Warrior, but also for the players wearing Warrior boots.

Privately-held New Balance announced plans to enter the soccer market in simultaneous star-studded events in New York and London, featuring Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey in London and Costa Rican footballer and Vancouver Whitecap Kendall Watson in New York.  Other new additions to the New Balance soccer roster include Adnan Januzaj, Jesus Navas, Fernando Reges, Samir Nasri and Álvaro Negredo.  New Balance’s move has been rumored for months with Ramsey sporting a whiteout version of the new boots and later a pair with the New Balance logo added.  

Because they are a private company, New Balance doesn’t have to share many financials statement, but its annual sales have been reported close to $3 billion. Nike, by comparison, spent roughly that amount last year just to make ads and sponsor athletes.

In addition to celebrity endorsements, New Balance also hopes to win over athletes by making shoes in different widths.  The strategy requires a good deal of costly manufacturing and extra inventory, but it has paid off for the company in running shoes.  They are betting that it will pay off for soccer fans as well.

You can learn more from the article New Balance Set to Sign Multiple Soccer Stars.

Learn more about New Balance here on the Apparel Search fashion guide.

It doesn’t matter if you prefer to say Fútbol or soccer.  Either way, you will probably like the New Balance soccer shoes.

If you are interested you can check out my previous blog post about New Balance Assembled in NYC at the Fashion Industry Network.  I am not sure where they manufacturer the cleats and other athletic shoes used by soccer players.