Its not the mud. Its the millions of tiny rubber pellets from fieldturf that end up in my shoes and balled up on my socks. All of which end up somehow on my floor at night when I get back home. I swear I'm going to start using black duct tape to form a rubber pellet barrier. Or wear old style splats. Wait. Is this about shoes or pet peeves?
Marital harmony requires me to make sure the shoes stay on the front porch when I go in the house after those games!
Lots of good stuff in here, thanks everyone! I hadn't heard of Running Warehouse, so I looked there. I found these that I'm going to try. http://www.runningwarehouse.com/adidas_Terrex_Agravic_Speed/descpage-ATRSM2.html They seemed to be a good mix of traction, light weight, and shoes that still "looked" like a ref shoe. The Salomans looked a little heavy and clunky, and the Adidases were about 9 ounces. I already own a pair of Brooks GTS 17s in all black with a little gray, so I'll use those for really hard fields and turf. Now if I decide to follow through with this, I need to put the rest of the ref gear on the Christmas list as well!
I have a version of these: https://www.dsw.com/en/us/product/a...& Sneaker-_-New_Athletic & Sneaker&cadevice=c They have tremendous traction, but the rock plate make them a bit stiff. Plus the toe box is a bit tight for my feet. I only use them for really muddy fields.
If you haven't used Speedcross, they are a great running shoe for non-hard surfaces. I first bought them to train for a 10-mile mud-run, and fell in love with them. Started using them to referee, and haven't looked back. My next pair will be the all black...
Just a quickie review- I hadnt tried trail running shoes yet and I found these online for cheap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B015...dpPl=1&dpID=51B4vxNL4vL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1 They run small (I ended up with a whole size larger than my usual) and don’t have the most aggressive tread. I had them on yesterday for three hours worth of games. Quite comfortable and no hotspots or blisters. Good structure to the toe box for stopping, turning. On damp grass traction was quite good, at least as good as turfs. For the price I’m pretty happy. I’m not so sure about how much I’m sold on the concept, tho: running in running shoes definitely makes me run with more of a heel strike than in turfs, cleats, or minimal running shoes. So they may be great for the feet but I don’t want to trade that for knee issues.
Hmm now that you mention it, I do find my knees a bit more aggrieved since I switched from my King Turfs. Thought it was sunspots or seconds at dinner, but you are saying the mechanics are different? All this and they have to be black, I have half a mind to start reffing in Tevas.
Ok so the traditional running shoe, going way back to the first new balance, Nike Pegasus, Brooks from the late 70’s all have a thick wide heel, significant drop, and expect you to strike the ground first with your heel. Your posture is upright, and your leg is extended almost straight at impact. As you move forward, your foot rolls forward and the thick heel spring returns energy to help the transition to the toes. The straight leg means that more impact energy is transferred to the knee. That’s why running downhill is bad for the knees- your leg is even straighter when doing so. That’s why you must change these shoes frequently and why you see outlandishly complex heel structure in some shoes. Over the last several years you see the minimal shoe movement. Pretty much every major shoe maker now makes minimal shoes- from shoes with less heel and structure (Nike free) to no heel (five finger shoes). And of course there is the Nigerian way- no shoes at all. In this style, the foot strikes the ground in the mid or forefoot. Your posture is forward. The knee remains flexed, and the primary spring action is in the Achilles. Changing to this style often lets a runner with bad knees return to running long distances as long as they can build up the calf muscles. Of course, this posture and heel strike are what you do when you sprint. I don’t think it’s that big a deal for refs, since we don’t run on concrete. But, if you feel it in the knees after a long session and you are using traditional style running shoes, you might think about changing your running mechanics. Or trying hokas...
Thinking a little outside of the box on this, but for cleats these New Balance lacrosse cleats really intrigue me . . . https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/...MI8OTf5drI1wIVE45-Ch3sLwCEEAQYAiABEgLTePD_BwE My son tried lacrosse in the summer of 2016. He didn't continue (lacrosse season conflicts too much with soccer season), but I went back to that when thinking about cleats. I enjoy watching lacrosse, and their movements have some similarities to movements as referees. I'm thinking these would have more cushion than soccer cleats because lacrosse players don't play the ball with their feet. Plus, I have bad ankles from my days playing American football, so the mid-cut of this shoe would help me.
Oh, you said HOKAS, one O, one H. But hey thanks for the info. So the basic takeaway, right, is that running shoes are less suitable for the stop/start of dynamic on-field motion, which is what I always thought was true about them (as opposed to, say, cross-trainers) but the shoe people would have us believe is no longer (or never was) the case.
I just stumbled onto Hokas for my triathlon running shoe and love them. Never thought to look for all-black Hokas. Amazon, here I come...!
Podiatrist experts.. thoughts on trail-running shoes? that's what I use a majority of the time unless I'm doing 40's... or low level officiating where I do a lot of standing.
well, to me the takeaway in this particular problem (knee problems from running) is that not heel striking is better. With a traditional style running shoe the heel is bulky and the drop means that it actually is hard to run and not strike the heel first without doing some weird balletic toe pointing. As for the stop/start/cut/sidestep, to me that has more to do with the toe box and upper structure: certainly trail shoes generally have a lot more support here than a street running shoe. I do wonder if a thick heel could worsen a sprain if I were to roll my ankle, a real possibility when side stepping. For me, I am trying trail shoes to see if they can replace my turfs with similar traction and better foot comfort, for use in the casual and youth games that are 85% of what I do. For the few “elite” games that I get to do that actually demand athleticism, I can’t see not using turfs (for hard pan and turf) or cleats (good grass and wet). At my age I’m not going to do more than one of these per day, so sacrificing comfort for agility in those is fine.
Anyone have recommendations for turf cleats that are similar to the adidas mundial teams? Looking for something non-adidas that are similar and I've been striking out left and right. Bonus points if they're nike (who can guess where I'm going soon?)
I have these. https://www.amazon.com/Joma-Flex-Tu...UTF8&qid=1511149050&sr=8-2&keywords=joma+turf They are for me much more comfortable than the mundial teams, which I find far too narrow, but I am using some superfeet insoles to improve their arch support.
I just picked up the Nike Tiempo Ligera - I've been wearing Tiempos for 15 years now. https://www.nike.com/t/tiempox-ligera-iv-artificial-turf-soccer-shoe-VZwrYM/897766-002. ETA - actually bought these locally for a 20% discount - Dicks Sporting Goods and the like also had them available, but at less discount.
https://www.adidas.com/us/copa-tang...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CNzJj4KGztcCFcZ7wQod61MBGw Foot wear is excluded from the Adidas ban at DA
Yeah, I was encouraged if possible, to try and find something non-adidas anyway, which I'm not opposed to, but I do know that they are technically accepting of adidas footwear. kind of like they allow us to wear hats. Or mix and match old/new jerseys, or any of the other things that are "allowed" but emphatically discouraged.