Footwear

[Tiny]

Ok looking for advice. its not been discussed on here from what I can find. What events require what kind of footwear? I found a cheap pair of "track shoes" online ugly as sin but only $20.

http://www.amazon.com/ASICS-Hyper-LD...741684&sr=1-70

Will those be good enough for all events? Do I need a more agressive cleat for some evens and a normal tread shoe for others? Not looking to slip fall and potentialy hurt myself or others but at the same time I dont want to break my ankle.

[Alan H]

Those are running cleats for track. I would NOT recommend them.

Instead, I'd recommend turf shoes. These are often moderately high-top shoes for football players. They give good ankle support. You also can easily find low-top turf shoes for soccer players, if you like the feel of a low-top shoe.

Something like this: (though these are only available in limited sizes)

http://www.amazon.com/Nike-Mens-NIKE...=pd_sbs_shoe_3

http://www.amazon.com/Adidas-Intim-T.../dp/B002VLK9VG

Wow...great deal on Ebay, if you're the right size:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PONY-FURY-TU...item1c1237f80a

I got my Nike's on ebay for $15, they were "last years model".

I would NOT recommend full-on football cleats. I wore those for two seasons and my feet were exhausted at the end of the day. Also, if you throw on anything but deep dirt or thick grass, they actually give WORSE grip than turf shoes. Where football/soccer cleats shine is 1.) caber in deep grass, where you want NO chance of your feet slipping out from under you...2.) hammer, if you don't wear blades .... and 3.) on days when you're throwing in ankle-deep mud.

For God's sake don't wear cleats when you throw stones, you'll destroy your knees. In fact, I might start changing out my shoe, just on the right foot, so that I can rotate my right foot during the throw to "pop" my right hip. Right now I wear the turf shoes in the Stones and there's always some torque on my knee. I might go to a plain-bottom generic workout shoe on the right foot and leave the turf shoe on my left foot. Wierd lookin', but I'm not out there to win a fashion contest.

I swear by my Nike hi-top turf shoes...LOVE them, much much better than the old football cleats. I can wear them all day and not be groaning at the end of the day. I only have the cleats in the bag if I know that it might pour down rain, and since all our throwing here is in the summer, the only chance of that is the last Games of the season in Mid-October.

[Detroitpete]

Great advice above from Alan. Turf shoes are the way to go, especially for caber--and NO cleats for stones. You need to be able to have your feet not get 'stuck' in the turf--nasty knee injury on the way if that happens. I have a blown out/repaired knee so I'm particularly careful about my footwear. That said, I'm a bit of an odd-duck on this issue. I throw everything but caber in a pair of deep tread, high cut combat boots that served me well in the military. For caber, I switch to turf shoes (if I haven't forgotten to put them in my bag). But like I said, I do everything I can to prevent getting stuck in the turf and still have to wear a fairly complicated (offensive lineman's) knee brace.

[Tiny]

Thanx for all the advice just won my auction on eBay for some Nike red/black football cleats. Just over $30 including shipping

[Alan H]

Cleats or turf shoes?

[Tiny]

Cleats. planning on using them for caber, hammer, braemar, sheaf, and WOB. I figure I'll use my boots for WFD, and open stone.


Will adjust depending on the field conditions.

[Tiny]

I never did post what I've ended up using. I got a pair of Tanel mid cut molded cleats just before the Maine games in August. They felt great and I noticed I was far from the only one wearing them.

[o1d_dude]

Tanels are the bombdiggety.

Ya done good, Tiny.