How to play soccer...

Soccer Cleats
The best of the best.
Our top picks for soccer cleats.
Based on not only value, but also comfort and game performance.

Just Click the shoe to see more details and pricing.

	Nike Air Legend FG Firm Ground Soccer Shoes UPPER: Extremely soft all over kangaroo leather. Contoured Last and External heel counter offer an excellent fit and comfort. Features visible Zoom Air unit in the innersole board along with a hi-tech molded Sockliner for in-boot comfort. OUTSOLE: Glass fiber shank and toe for lightweight rigidity. New stud configuration offers great comfort, traction and ball control. For use on firm, natural surfaces. WEIGHT: (11.2 oz.)  This is the shoe I wear. The best I ever purchased. About $130.
	Nike Tiempo Ronaldinho FG Firm Ground Soccer Shoes UPPER: High performance kangaroo leather with a unique fusion of strength, durability and touch. Molded Sockliner with full-length Poron inserts for enhanced cushioning. OUTSOLE: Lightweight TPU with three forefoot flex zones and textured stud tips for Ground Control. For use on firm, natural surfaces. WEIGHT: (11.6 oz.) Awesome cleat worn by my some and three of my players with spoiled kids. About $140.
	Same as above but in black.
	Nike Tiempo Mystic FG Firm Ground Soccer Shoes UPPER: Ultra soft, Full-grain leather with high-density recycled EVA Sockliner. OUTSOLE: Innovative TPU outsole with new stud configuration for great comfort, traction and ball control. For use on firm, natural surfaces. WEIGHT: (11 oz.) Best all around affordable cleat. I would put EVERY youth player in these if I had the choice. About $59.

Why Leather?

Why are all our top picks leather? Let's just say this. We tried several non-leather shoes and ALL ended up hurting our feet or not offering enough protection from impact of kicking. I will NEVER buy a non-leather cleat again.

Cleat Science

 When compared with the extensive research for running footwear, the biomechanical properties of soccer cleats have received little scientific attention. Only recently, players, organizations and shoe manufacturers became more interested in modern concepts of athletic footwear design for soccer cleats. Prevention of injuries and performance enhancement are the key factors for any athletic footwear design. Shooting performance with five different soccer cleat constructions was evaluated, using methods for the measurement of ball speed, shoe deformation and tibial shock. The results of the study demonstrated the benefit of biomechanical analyses for the improvement of athletic footwear.
For ball speeds, the subjects showed low intra-individual coefficients of variation of less than 2% during the repetitive trials for a given shoe. This high repeatability in shooting performance of the individual players is a good basis for detecting statistical between shoe differences. Using an ANOVA (ANalysis Of VAriance between groups), significant between shoe differences were found for maximum ball speed, peak outsole deformation , peak outsole deformation velocity, and shock to the body.
Considering the concept of energy return, one might expect higher ball velocities with an increase of shoe deformation and/or shoe deformation velocity. However, one shoe model showed an opposite behavior. A regression analysis revealed low determination coefficients between ball speed and outsole deformation (r²=0.11) as well as outsole deformation velocity (r²=0.04). Similarly, low determination coefficients were also found for peak tibial acceleration against ball velocity (r²=0.04) as well as outsole deformation (r²=0.04).
The study demonstrated that ball velocity and shock transmission to the body is influenced by shoe construction features. For a variety of different cleat constructions, no trend could be found, relating the deformation of the soccer cleat to ball speeds. For a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms, a future study should investigate identical shoes, only differing in the stiffness of their outsoles