I have a pair of the Yahoo Kickers and have been using them for about a year and I’ve found that on the surface that touches the ground the top layer has rubber off and the foam is starting to wear down, especially on the toe. On the old pair of Grays kickers I used at school I coated the surface with a two part epoxy glue, however i don’t want to dive in and try this on my pair as they’re expensive and the last thing I want to do is folk out for a new pair because the foam melted away!
Has anyone got any ideas for something can coat the foam with to protect it from wear?
duct tape!
Hey KeeperH
One thing you can do to prevent damage to your kickers is coat the bottom of the kicker with some silicone spray to lubricate them. This way they wont rub as much. Every kicker will wear down eventually however sorry.
In an ideal world:
1. Play on a water-based surface!!!
2. Make friends with your local OBO agent!!!
In the real world:
1. Don’t buy Hi-Rebound (SP) kickers if you play most of your hockey on sand-based grounds as they are softer foam and wear much quicker
2. Buy your gear annually, even before you need it, in the OBO November sale or whenever your local agent has a good deal going. Stick it in the cupboard if you don’t need it, OR;
3. Use your old kickers for training and use your new kickers for games
4. Duck/ gaffa tape – on the underside of the kicker especially high wear areas like the toes
5. Glue – as above. ShooGoo is good and a thin film can be smeared across the whole underside to prevent the foam being in contact with the surface
N.B. With 4 & 5 once you start using these things it will adhere to the foam and removing it will damage the foam so regular ‘touch ups’ will be required
If they are a year old I would guess they only have about 3-6 months left in them max before they start to go really soft and you feel shots through them. I’m suprised they lastest that long, I blew through a pair of yahoo kickers in 6 months when I first bought my own kit.
I’d consider starting to save up to replace them with ROBO HC. They should be basically indistrcutable if your yahoos are lasting a year + and so will be cheaper in the long run.
To squeeze some more life out of your current pair, either duct tape or shoe goo… beware epoxy glues, they may well dissolve/Burn the obo foam, Obo foam is quite sensitive to certain chemicals, compared to other brands.
my club gives out yahoo kickers and i could feel every shot – so much that after practices my feet were sore. so I went out to buy some robo’s and i haven’t felt a thing since
Thanks for all the comments these ideas are great.
Concerning a few peoples comments,
1. yes i can feel shots but I tend to wear the hardest arstros i can find.
2. I only use the good kickers on astro, luckily I’m in the perfect world that I train on water based at club. At school be have hard court so I use old kickers
3. I’m eventually going to replace the Yahoo with the Robo HC, but considering my parents just spent a load of money on new gear and I’m broke, I’ve got to make them last another season at least
I have always found UHU-Hard a perfect solution. Does not dissolve the foam and forms a hard surface. Perfect for sand filled pitches!
This is slightly off topic, but for the guys talking about feeling the shots through their kickers. I glue high density foam (15-20mm thick) on inside of the impact side of the kickers. I do this as soon as I get new kickers. Extends the life of the kickers and provides even more rebound and importantly saves your feet. You just cut the foam into a triangle shape to match the inside of the impact side of the kicker and use some contact glue to apply. I replace the foam at the start of each season. Easily get 3 seasons out a pair of kickers.
Sorry doesnt help with the wear issue 🙂