FOOTBALL BOOTS

I want to follow up on a conversation a few of us had regarding football boots and blades last Saturday. I understand that a lot of our players have bladed boots and if that's what they wish to wear instead of traditional studs then fine, it's personal choice. However, there seems to be a few lower leg and knee injuries cropping up at the moment and I think a large part of this is down the some of you wearing the wrong boots for the conditions. With ligaments, tendons and muscles growing at a fast pace it is really important that you wear the correct type of stud for the surface. The pitches are currently very hard and they will be throughout the summer. This renders bladed boots virtually useless as they cannot penetrate the hard ground. Rather than giving grip they are more likely to cause you to slip as you are essentially running on the tips of the blades and turning on a very small surface area. The impact through these blades onto the hard surface isn't good for your joints either.

I'm aware that boots are expensive and I'm not going to dictate what you wear or indeed make any requirements, but I would recommend that if you are due some new boots or have the opportunity to get a second pair for firm/hard ground then you should consider getting a pair with short moulded studs and once the pitches become soft again you can go back to wearing the blades if you desire. If you have the traditional screw-in type football boots with proper studs then it's well worth investing in a set of shorter rubber studs for the summer months and this will be a small but worthwhile investment.

Below is the type of moulded studs I recommend, usually no more than 1.5cm in length.

As I said, what you wear is up to you but be aware that wearing suitable footwear for the conditions is something you should take into account, and limiting the chance of injury and repetitive impact stresses on your joints is worthwhile. It's a case of horse for courses where boots are concerned.