Rather odd question...

[Pele08]

I was wondering if practicing barefeet would be less effective than practicing with proper equipment (shoes, cleats)...

P.S. This is concerning personal practice, not team

Thanks,
Pele08

[th12]

i have tried it before...
you get more touch on the ball, but you slip all over the place, and when you shoot it really hurts (u can fix that problem with tape) ur feet are a lot lighter (obiously) and that allows for better speed. the biggest problem is not having any traction at all as it is hard to change direction quickly

[GreenDay]

I'm sure it will add to your game if you don't injure yourself.

[IASocFan]

My sons and I have played barefoot soccer in the back yard for years. It's scary how hard they've hit it. :D I like the feel of the ball barefoot.

[htafc]

if you want all the benifits try wearing vapors they feel like socks theyre so light

[sockacrazy]

I love playing barefoot but the only prob is i have alot better touch on the sole of my foot so when i go back to boots i hit the mall with my studs cause i am used to coming in closer with bare feet and i am with boots.

-justin

[soccer4life_7]

if you want all the benifits try wearing vapors they feel like socks theyre so light

yes i believe that the vapors once broken in are good because they mold to your foot pretty well from what i heard. ( dont have vapors but might get some)

[yourself]

I think slipping may actually be a good thing, (provided you don't injure yourself). Me and my friends would always play after school (in our street shoes) on a dirt lot by the school. The dirt was very comparable to a baseball fields dirt and it was really slippery, like playing on concrete that hasn't been swept in a long time. Anyways, it was had to dribble and to moves because you would slip and land flat on your face, but eventually we developed really good balance and pretty soon we didn't even notice how slippery it was. Playing on grass with cleats on is really easy and I have really good balance now.

[soccermainiac2003]

barefoot is fun unless you bruise your foot on a sprinkler

[SccrDon]

One of the kids that plays pickup soccer with my family in the summer always plays barefoot. He says he has better touch and he can drive the ball when he wants to. He also says it's better for his knees - since his feet slip a little when he changes direction, it doesn't torque his knees. He doesn't complain about getting stepped on. However, he does whine a lot when we spit on the field ("Now I gotta step in your spit") ;)

[appleCORR7]

When Mark Hughes used to play for Manchester United. He used to go in the training room at the side of the changing rooms and whack a ball against the wall really hard bare footed. He said it used to help him focus more on which part of his foot he needed to use in the game to strike the ball. Plus it helped to get him set up for the game.

I've played bare foot a few times. And like everyone has said. You do actually hit the ball harder than you think. I think its good practice because you can feel where you are meant to hit the ball better (or if you cant feel it the red mark on your foot should help - lol :D )

appleCORR

[furyboy999]

Sometimes, play barefoot around the turf soccer fields near me. Or jsut in my backyard.

Another good way to get good touch, is you know those small replica balls the size 1 ones? I dribble those around my house all day, and i beleive it has given me really good touch, and able to just not even really think about what i have to do cause my feet know what to do already.

[nobody]

When I was a kid, my coach used to make us play bare-footed. It pretty much forces you to kick the ball properly or your foot hurts. You also tend to develop good touch that way. You face more danger from guys stepping on your feet than anything the ball's gonna do. Once your skills are pretty fully developed, I don't really see much point in it, but it's not gonna do any harm.

[Tony Dellbird]

I play football in barefeet all the time until one day, some clumsy berk stood on my big toe with boots on, (silly idea to play barefooted when people have got boots, but i didn't want to mess up my new trainers) and now everytime i lift my big toe it clicks a lot, although i've broken it several times since then. playing in bare feet is awesome though hurts after about an hour or 2 though, but the more you play the less it will hurt because the skin on your feet will become harder.

[dasoccerplayafosho]

I played barefoot for two summers straight, and it is great (the other people play barefooted, too). We started because we can't kick straight in our street shoes, and it grew and grew until we'd rather play barefoot than in equipment. Kicking it hard doesn't hurt, and we can step on small stickers and thorns without really feeling it now, so yes, your feet get much tougher. I can whack the ball barefoot as hard as I can and it doesn't hurt, unless the ball is inflated like a rock.
Austen