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Played 5-a-side last night for the first time in about 10 years; my boots lasted 15 minutes before spectacularly disintegrating.
Anyone got any recommendations of astro turf boots worth checking out?
Used to love my Puma Kings......
These days i would just go for whatever updated Nike Tiempos are on offer. Nike have always kept them well up to date and there are different versions to suit most budgets.
Ones that fit your feet. I could never squeeze into made-for-sausage-feet Nikes or Adidas. Think Diadora worked for me, but normal feet width, choice is quite limited.
Fit is the most important.
Some boots are narrow, some are wide, long etc. If it doesnt fit when you first try it then an hour of sweat and turning is going to leave blisters.
Its taken me a long time to find some that dont leave blisters. Adidas Mundial Teams. seem to have good support and fit for me. Expensive as they're leather but I use them twice a week.
Adidas predator are pretty popular at our game. Reasonably cheap, seem to work well. Last about a year of weekly play.
What kind of astro turf - the carpet like stuff or the proper stuff? I play on both and have different boots for each - blades for the proper stuff and "normal" astro trainers for the carpet rubbish at the local leisure centre. Fit is very specific - I wear Adidas. Similar sized Nikes felt too tight and going up sizes meant too much space in the toe.
Proper astro actually, I was surprised how good it was. Thanks for the advice on fit; reading some reviews of the Nikes suggests they're really narrow, so I'll definitely have to go and try some on
Ones that fit your feet
This is the most important thing.
My son plays academy football. Nike are narrow, PUMA are wider but for my son he has difficulty getting them on. He wears New Balance currently as they are wide fitting.
Look for boots noted as FG - Firm ground, although some brands do specific 3G boots which are thin pointy studs.
Adidas Kaiser. I have wide feet and they arent anything as narrow as Puma Kings were. FYI, the Copa Mundial are more of a 'mouldy' stud than for astroturf but it depends if you're on old school stuff or 3 or 4G.
Puma still make kings for Astro surfaces. I use them and rate them highly.
If its the rubber crumb based Astro then it's worth getting boots with a neoprene sock to stop having a shoe full of the stuff.
My tips are go for a leather boot as the colourful synthetic ones tend to stink after a while (black boots for the win) and some pitches won’t let you use blades so go for the moulded studs. My feet fit Nike so I use whichever leather Tiempo were on offer.
Adidas Copa Mundials if you want to look like you’re a hard, old skool player.
Very much this!
Another Adidas Mundial Team/Kaiser 5 Team wearer here, only real difference being the former are made from kangaroo leather and have a strip of suede over the toes. Prefer wearing knobbly rubber astro boots to moulded as 1) I find I roll my ankle easier in moulded and 2) most of my mates don't wear shinpads so on the occasions I catch someone I figure it's better not to have moulded studs on.
I think you get just as much grip on 4G in the astro boots as moulded even when wet. That is until the rubber knobbles have worn down, but for me that takes about 2 years in adidas playing twice a week.
most of my mates don’t wear shinpads
whose fault is that?
Prefer wearing knobbly rubber astro boots to moulded
100%. I'd go as far to say its pretty selfish to wear studs or blades in a kick about type game. Fair enough if you are playing in a league and taking it seriously but for a casual game just wear astro boots and significantly reduce the chances of injuring someone.
Prefer wearing knobbly rubber astro boots to moulded as 1) I find I roll my ankle easier in moulded
I find the opposite. Astros get caught up more and are less predictable so I was rolling my ankle too often. I moved to them because I thought the lower height would help.
- Nike Premier
- any Mizuno
- Alder Japan - wow!!! (When you can get them)
yes … I have very wide feet