Question:
There is one answer I need to know. What kind of shoes should I wear?
Answer:
What kind of shoes you should wear depends on the surface you play on and the conditions you play in. If you play on grass, a cleat is usually the best shoe, but not one that is too grabby. Those are the kind that have 8-10 big, long cleats on the bottom. Those are only really good when you play on long, wet grass. If you play on astroturf, the shoe will depend on the kind of turf and whether the pitch is dry or wet. If the pitch is dry, or sand-filled, you can wear flats, either like a basketball shoe, tennis shoe or cross-trainer. If you play on wet turf, look for hockey shoes designed for wet turfs. They’re multi-cleated shoes with small cleat and lots of them. The big thing you don’t want to have is a shoe that you’re going to slip in when you move or stick when you extend to make a save.
Here’s a suggestion from Chris Howes in the UK: “Just a point about “what shoes to wear” – on sand filled astro, I suggest that the multi-studded (cleated?) shoes are best as the kicker straps will either fit between the studs, or the studs can be removed (with a sharp knife) to allow this. This then protects OBO’s wonderful, but rather expensive, straps from abrasion.”