Tuesday 6 October 2009

Cleats for Ultimate Frisbee

Once you've been playing Ultimate for a while you will soon realise that you don't need much equipment. The essentials are a disc, cones, breathable clothing and boots/cleats. I would say that you have the most options of 'what to buy', when it comes to your boots and there are a number of things to consider:
  • Comfort
  • Support
  • Stud Pattern
  • Durability
  • Weight
  • Cost
  • Aesthetics
How much time you spend playing and at what level you play will determine how you prioritise.

I'd just like to offer some of the boots that I've been recommendedAdidas Copa Mundials

Nomis Sparks

Puma V1.08

Nike Speed TD

Warrior Speed Burn

Nike Vapor Jet 4.2

Nike Super Speed D

Nike Mercurial Veloci

Nike Tiempo Mystic

What rediculous names...

Anyway, the key in my mind is knowing that it's important to invest in decent boots because cheap ones will
  • wear out quickly
  • cause blisters
  • result in rolled ankles
  • provide a lack of traction
  • look crap
amongst other things.

When choosing your boots look out for the toe stud as well, it comes highly recommended for Ultimate! I've found American Football boots to be generally suited to the style of running in Ultimate and with the American market being what it is, there is a massive range to choose from, you can even customise many boots from Nike with your team logo and colours (not my thing but hey)

Feel free to give your own recommendations in the comments!

If you found this interesting you might also like to check out:

Ultimate gear, where do you buy yours?

Also have a look at the discussion thread at ultitalk.com

3 comments:

  1. I am a big fan of Nomis boots. Specifically the sparks. I am on my 5th pair and they just seem to tweak the design each year to improve life and performance.

    pros
    -stud pattern has both horizontal and vetical blade which give great grip in all directions
    -leather so moulds to your foot and soft leather interior so you almost never get blisters even in your first game in them.
    -heel support is just reinforce plastic but i can stand on the side of the boot and i doesn't move.

    cons
    -leather so you have to spend some time drying them out and cleaning them.
    -no toe plate so you tend to wear out the toe of your pivot foot.
    -cost at A$250 a pair out of some peoples budgets but not too excessive
    -weight while they aren't real heavy they aren't a super light weight boot.
    -can only be bought online in aus

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  2. you missed out one of the most popular boots in British Ultimate. Adidas Copa Mundials. The most comfortable boots in the world, ever. Even by the last game on a Sunday, they still feel like slippers.

    Around half of Fusion appear to use them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for pointing those two out to me! I added them to the post.

    ReplyDelete