Soccer cleats are one of the most basic pieces of equipment that you need in order to play the sport properly and they need to fit you right so that they aren’t causing any lasting damage to your feet as this can be painful!
Having cleats that are too big can be problematic in a number of ways, most notably that they will be loose and could come off when you are playing.
Buying new cleats can be expensive and as such this may not be an option for everybody (though if you do have the ability to return a pair that doesn’t fit and replace them with a pair that does, I would advise this before anything else).
Today though we will be taking a brief look at some of the ways that you can make the cleats you have smaller; they may not always work but are worth a go if you’re struggling to fit into your cleats.
Here are 5 ways to make your soccer cleats smaller.
1. Tighten Your Laces
It may sound like a rather obvious thing to say but you’ll be surprised by how much tightening your laces can make your cleats feel tighter around your feet.
Laces on soccer cleats are much longer than your average shoe or trainer and as such, they can be tightened to a much larger extent.
To do this, make sure that your laces are fully installed properly on your cleats and are of equal length when you pull them tighter as uneven laces could cause further issues down the line.
Once you have the two equal pieces of lace in your hand pull them as tight as you can around your feet, you should feel a pulling sensation as the cleats seal up around you and become tighter.
If this doesn’t work, consider removing the laces from your cleats entirely and replacing them with longer laces that can allow for even more tightening.
Just be careful when adding longer laces as they could become trip hazards of they are not tied up properly or become loose during a match.
2. Buy New Insoles
The base of your foot can also be an area in which your cleats feel too big, the main cause of this is through having high arches on your feet. High arches are an uncurable disorder that can cause pain when playing sports, they can be managed with special insoles though.
These insoles work by effectively plugging the gap between the sole of the shoe and the base of your feet, giving you more of an even footing when compared to regular insoles.
Having a lot of extra space in your cleats can make them feel loose and uncomfortable to wear, so I would recommend diagnosing whether or not you have high-arched feet before purchasing any special insoles as they can be expensive.
Once again, there is no guarantee that this will work for everyone so make sure you are certain about needing to make any purchase before doing so.
3. Wear Thicker Socks
Another simple method that costs next to nothing to do is to simply wear thicker socks (or double up on those you already have on) as this can make our feet slightly larger in your cleat.
It must be noted that this is more of a ‘quick-fix’ rather than a long-term solution to the problem as eventually, you will start to notice the effects of wearing cleats that are too big for you again.
The best kind of socks to wear while playing soccer is of course soccer specific socks that are used by professionals around the world as they have been perfected over the years in order to provide both safety and comfort.
With problems like this, it is always good to have solutions that can be done in a matter of seconds so that you can get on with the match at hand.
4. Soak Them In Water
This is a method that I have seen mentioned on the internet a number of times, though I have never actually tried it for myself as it is something of an experimental solution that may not work for all brands of cleats. The brand of cleats that this method seems to work for is Adidas though.
With this warning firmly in place, the way to shrink your cleats in water is simple. Merely fill a bucket with water and place the cleats in there to soak for a while before removing them and placing either old socks or newspaper inside them to absorb the excess moisture.
The worst part of this solution is that you have to then wear the soggy cleats for around 7 hours in order for them to shrink as they dry off, so be prepared to have wet feet for a day if you want to try this solution.
Personally, I don’t fully trust this method of shrinking your cleats but if you want to give it a go on an older pair, please let me know if it actually works!
5. Patience
This may not be a way of actually making your cleats smaller, it is the only natural way for them to become in effect ‘smaller, but this only works for children, unfortunately.
In order for cleats that are too big for your feet to fit you need to simply have enough patience to let your feet grow into them, this could take years though (or it may never happen).
Eventually, your feet should be large enough to fit into the cleats that were once far too big for you, even if they are now a few seasons old.
There we have it! Just a small selection of some of the weirdest and most effective methods of making your soccer cleats smaller. As we have mentioned, these solutions won’t work for everyone, so if they don’t then it may be time to buy a slightly smaller pair in the future.
