How to Buy Cleats

The most important aspect of any pair of cleats is comfort. Before you buy cleats always try them on and walk around. People often get preoccupied with price and brand without asking themselves if they like the way the shoe feels. Never buy a shoe that is not comfortable. 

There are three major materials that cleats are made out of, leather, kangaroo leather, and synthetic. Leather is the old fashioned leather used on many low and mid price range shoes. It breathes well and is very comfortable. It is heavier than kangaroo leather and doesn't do very well in wet conditions. Kangaroo leather is very expensive. It is lightweight but has a leather fell and is used by many professional players. Only buy kangaroo leather if you think its worth the price and you play all the time. Synthetic materials, like those found on Nike Vapors, are becoming increasingly popular. They are very lightweight, but not always very comfortable. They simple don't breathe as well as leather shoes and your feet can get extremely hot in warm weather. They are great for wet conditions because they won't become waterlogged and expand. When choosing a shoe take these variables into consideration.

Weight isn't as important as people make it out to be. Yes you don't want a heavy shoe but you can often get a leather shoe that is much more comfortable, $50 cheaper, and a couple ounces heavier than a synthetic shoe and its usually worth doing. In this sense, kangaroo leather has the best of both worlds with the low weight of synthetic shoes and the comfort of leather ones. 

The appearance of a cleat often determines whether or not a player gets a cleat. Yes you may not want a bright pink, or bright orange cleat but you can usually get the same cleat cheaper in a less popular color. No matter what don't change your mind about a cleat simply because you don't like its color, if you go to other stores or online you can usually find the same cleat in many different colors and at a cheaper price. If you don't mind you can often get last years $200 cleats for over half off by finding bargains online. 

In most cases peoples feet fit a certain brand of shoe better than another. Adidas usually runs wide, Nike and Puma narrow. Always try on different brands when picking out cleats, find out which one fits best.

I recommend buying a traditional cleat for either synthetic turf or grass fields. Some people prefer playing with turf cleats on turf fields or even having two pairs of cleats but that is usually unnecessary. Just make sure you don't buy turf shoes expecting to be able to play on grass, you will slide around and won't really be able to play.

Sites like Eurosport and Amazon have a wide variety of cleats to buy at much cheaper prices than most stores. Remember always try a shoe on before you buy it, so do visit your local sports stores and try them on first. Thanks for reading, feel free to leave your own views about picking out cleats in the comments below.