International Soccer University®

Are the Soccer Shoes too big?  Big mistake!

For my first column I want to talk about an issue that needs to be addressed in Youth Soccer in Florida.   I have been visiting several soccer facilities in order to get a precise idea about the level of Youth Soccer in our state.  I have watched games in Middle Schools, High Schools, and County Parks.

I am in the business of teaching soccer in the best and most effective way possible.  Therefore I have to analyze the factors that might have a positive or a negative influence during the learning process.

Lately I have been approached by lots of kids who want to improve their skills’ performance.  To my surprise, a lot of them wear soccer shoes that are usually one or even two numbers too big. Their parents and coaches do not seem to realize how important it is to stop this trend immediately.  

I will tell you some of the reasons why parents buy their kids’ shoes bigger than needed, than I will write about what really happens when anybody plays soccer wearing a non fitting shoe, and finally I will talk about the proper footwear for a soccer player.

Here are the most popular responses of parents when asked about their choice of shoe size for the kids:

·         I know that his/her shoes are too big, but it does not matter.  He/she will grow in them and money will be saved.

·         His/her shoe size was not available, so we bought the next bigger size.

·         I wore bigger shoes when I was a kid.  It did not hurt me and it certainly will not hurt him/her.

When a soccer player wears a shoe that is too big for his/her foot Proprioception is being severed.  Proprioception, according to the dictionary definition, is “the unconscious perception of movement and special orientation arising from stimuli within the body itself.”  In other words, the body has internal sensors that provide “constant information on limb position and muscle action for coordination of limb movements.”  

Now, how do bigger, wrong sized shoes affect Proprioception?  The sensors of the foot will only control its position as far as the toes go, because they can’t sense the tip of a shoe that is almost an inch away.            

 As a result of the excessive length of the shoe, the whole leg (ankle, knee and hip flexion) will be raised higher than the natural movement to avoid tripping.  This means that the body will develop a wrongful running pattern and more so wrongful soccer skills in order to compensate for the obstacle that the shoe itself is creating.

Knowledgeable soccer coaches have noticed this described problem and fulfilled their duty of talking to the parents and to the kids about it.  Here are some helpful hints to detect wrong shoe size in your players.

·         The soccer shoe has wrinkles in the front part of it.

·         The player has a tendency to trip, especially when he/she tries to pick up speed over short distances.

·         The player develops a sprinting pattern that is not balanced on the toes, more of a rolling over the whole foot from heel to toe.

·         Skills that use either part of the instep (inside, center, outside) like shooting, passing, dribbling and controlling the ball stagnate and are not accurate enough.

·         The player complains often about blisters in the plantar area.  This means that the foot wanders back and forth inside the shoe when the player stops and starts.

·         The player might show a tendency to twist his/her ankles, as the foot moves sideways inside the shoe and subsequently looses lateral stability.

The right foot wear for a soccer player can be described as follows:

·         Youth players are constantly outgrowing their shoes.  Spending large amounts of money on a pair of shoes that will last for a couple of months is a private decision of home economics.  It is best to spend less money and stay on top of the exact size of the foot at all times.

·         In a properly fitted soccer shoe, the big toe has slight contact with the inside of the tip of the shoe. The foot shall not be tight, but neither loose inside the soccer shoe. 

A SOCCER SHOE SHOULD FIT LIKE A SOFT GLOVE.

·          Only one pair of proper soccer socks should be advised.  The common use of two pairs of socks should be discouraged at all times, because it creates an additional layer between the foot and the ball, thus affecting the ability of the player to control it.

·         As the level of the game rises and contact is characterized by increasing force, every high performance soccer player should use a protective, non elastic ankle bandage during practice and games.

My Soccer! My Life! ®