At the start of the pandemic, Australia’s IDA Sports launched its female-specific soccer cleat.
“Who launches a sports brand just before a pandemic shuts down all of sports?” co-founder Laura Youngson told The Guardian. “That’s nuts.”
Even crazier has been the response the cleat has gotten in Australia, where it’s close to selling out in its first year. Given the success the cleat has had in both sales and reviews, it’s no surprise that the cleat is finally available for U.S. consumers at DICK’S Sporting Goods.
Retailing at $169.99, IDA cleats were made by women, for women. The boots feature a wider toe box, higher arch, a narrow heel cap and a female-specific outsole — all of this the result of numerous iterations, consultation with podiatrists and bio-mechanists and wear tests in the W-League.
As well as offering a better fit and more support, it might actually reduce the risk of an ACL injury.
“The simplest thing to do is to look at the contact with the ground and the step/pivot/twist,” Dr Matt Whalan told The Guardian. “You’ve got to get the basics right. There’s maybe a 10-kilo weight different between male and female footballers and we’re going to put them in a same boot, that has the same traction, the same stiffness and that needs the same muscle capacity to control the traction that the boot will give.
“If you’ve got a stud that is 15mm long and you’re leaning really hard and having to change direction but you’re 10 kilos lighter, do you need studs that long to get the same sort of traction? When you’re getting a lot of traction that you don’t need then that’s when you start to put things at risk.”
The reviews of the boot confirm the benefits of the changes. In discussing the cleat for BootHype, amateur player Shikin Ali said: “For the first time, I ended my training with no soreness in my hips, back and feet,” which speaks to the 11x5 stud pattern as opposed to the usual 9x4 configuration you find on men’s boots.
