How to Select Football Shoes Like a Pro

A football player with the wrong pair of shoes is akin to a race car with the wrong tires. Transferring power to the ground is everything.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Athletic Socks
• Athletic Tapes
• Football Cleats
• Football Gear
• Football Helmets
• Football Uniforms
• Footballs
• Footballs

1. Test your cleats when you go out onto the field before the game (see "How to Prepare for a Football Game Like a Pro").

2. Run a zigzag pattern down the field, planting hard and changing direction every 5 yards or so.

3. Perform a series of 90-degree cuts.

4. Stand on the goal line and run at a brisk pace toward the 10-yard line. Once you get to the 10-yard line, plant your left foot hard, driving off that foot as you make a sharp right turn. Keep driving for two or three steps.

5. Starting at the 10-yard line, run at a brisk pace toward the 20-yard line. Once there, plant your right foot hard, driving off that foot as you make a sharp left turn. Keep driving for two or three steps.

6. Starting at the 20-yard line, run at a brisk pace toward the 30-yard line. Once there, plant your left foot hard and turn 180 degrees back in the direction that you came.

7. Starting at the 30-yard line, run at a brisk pace toward the 40-yard line. Once there, plant your right foot hard, turning 180 degrees back in the direction that you came.

8. Starting at the 40-yard line, get into a three-point stance and explode forward, accelerating for 15 to 20 yards. Repeat several times.

9. Determine whether you maintained good traction during these drills. If not, visit the equipment manager, then return to the field and repeat the drills.

Tips & Warnings

• For soft or muddy turf, you'll want the equipment manager to put 1-inch-long cleats into the bottom of your screw-in, seven-stud cleated shoes. They'll dig deeper into the ground, giving you a better chance to grab onto something solid when you plant your foot.
• For normal to medium turf (similar to the fresh-cut feel of the grass in your backyard), you'll want three-quarter-inch cleats. This is the length of cleat you'll wear more often than any other.
• For short, hard-packed grass, you'll want half-inch cleats - or you may be better off abandoning the seven-stud cleated shoe in favor of a molded-rubber-bottomed shoe.
• For artificial grass, you have three basic choices. Linemen often wear molded-rubber shoes that are good on turf or grass. However, skill-position players (running backs, receivers, tight ends, linebackers, defensive backs and quarterbacks) typically don't get good traction from a molded-rubber-bottomed shoe.
• On dry artificial grass, your best traction will be in turf shoes that have dozens of tiny nubs on the bottom (about one-eighth of an inch long). However, some players wear cross-training shoes that have a sole similar to that of a basketball shoe, but more pronounced.
• On wet artificial grass, your best traction will be in turf shoes that have dozens of longer nubs on the bottom (perhaps two-eighths of an inch long). On wet turf, cross-training shoes usually are not an option.
• When you're making a cut, lean forward and keep your weight over the foot that you're planting. If your feet are too far out in front of your body (you're leaning backward as you get ready to break), your feet are apt to slide out from under you even if you're wearing the right cleats.
• Make sure the cleats you select don't have too much grip for the surface. You want to have good solid traction, but you don't want your cleats to stick so much that they trip you up or cause an injury.

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