Hi everyone!
I’m trying to develop field hockey shoes for goalkeepers with strap ridges cut out of the grips on the sole of the shoe. My idea is to develop a waterproof shoe but bulky enough to fill out the kickers nicely and never slip out of the kickers because the straps slot into nice grooves just for them and the goalkeeper also has better surface traction because there is no risk of slipping in the straps.
What do you think about the idea?
Do you like it?
i think its a great idea to come out with a special shoe for the kickers…as i normally use soccer shoes which work quite well for me..cheers!!
you wouldn’t want them to be too heavy though, as it could then restrict the ability to move your foot to the ball. I presume that you mean using a material such as goretex when talking about waterproofing as this material will still allow the foot to breath. Personally I prefer the running shoe style design of Asics, as these have worked quite well for me and they also include a lot of features such as the gel supports etc. but this sounds like a great idea!
I like the idea, but it seems hard to implement as shoe sizes are different and it might be hard to measure where the ridges have to be cut out. Why not make an adaptable shoe so that the goalkeeper can make it fit himself/herself. That’s what a lot of keepers do over here anyway, so why not meet them halfway.
Why not find a good pair of shoes be they Addidas, Greys or whatever. Put on shoes, put on kickers. Have someone mark the sole where the straps go. Take off kickers, take off shoes get a pair of snips and remove the studs/pimples from that part of each shoe? There should be enough flexibility in the straps and compression of the foam for the kicker strap to locate in the shoe when they are put on.
As good as this principle is I’m afraid that there is simply no viable market for this. I work in a sales department for a company that makes specialist equipment for the petro-chem market so we are used to looking at innovative ideas. However here we have a product that has a massive number of variable with regard to fitment and comfort. In order to make a practical keeper shoe we need it to please all keepers and that is simply too large a variable. Then we need to look at a shoe that is appropriate to the surface you regularly play on. Again this is a large differential. After that we need to consider what you think is a comfortable fit within a kicker. After all this we look at the market size and it really is very small. This means that any production cost would be very high due to the limited production run
However this is why we keepers are so innovative as we assess what is available and adapt it to make it work. We love it and work with it. Just about every bit of kit I have has had the knife taken to it to make it fit me.
I’m sorry I that quashes your spark of enthusiasm but this is the reality. Keep at it though as I’m working on a patent at the moment but unfortunately it’s for monitoring safety valves for oil refineries
As a keeper I love the idea and indeed many years ago I put it to the OBO team. I have to agree that the feasibility of this concept making it to market is slim given the previous stated variables.
One thing that could make it more saleable is evidence to suggest that the shoes do provide better grip. Another design hint is a away of covering the straps so that (a) they do not wear and (b) the area under the front strap provides traction to the ground. Personally the toe to ball of foot area is key for traction as this is where you push off to make saves/movements.
For me, I have used Asics Club Lethal for many years and just trimmed the cleats to allow the straps to fit through and it works really well. Good luck with your product development. Is this an OBO idea?
A good trick to keep the kickers straps in it’s place is to use duct tape between them so that they are tied together, also prevents them to wear off. So if you are designing a shoe maybe you want to have some way to make sure they are in place all the time and not just removing a part of the stumps/pimples. (I’ve tried that and it didn’t work for me… )
Brilliant idea. I do that with my hockey boots already. i mark where the straps sit and cut out the studs that lie under where the strap sits. like you say better traction, straps dont slip off and expose your toes. also this prevents wear and tear when playing indoor hockey.
remember too that not all brands place their straps in the same place. Also, since the goalkeeper is played by few players, there would be little demand for them and unless they were able to be used as a regular hockey shoe, not very practical.
i guess the perfect shoe for kkepers would be the asics ge platinum with the ridges and maybe a little bit bigger but thats not really necesarry
If you’re using ROBO’s I find cross-strapping them works best (re-doing the straps around so that they cross over in the middle). Otherwise on my Clouds beforehand I just tied the two straps together down the middle with a loop of electrical tape
Dont forget to include larger sizes – currently using lacrosse shoes from US
great idea!!!! would be perfect for me as my front strap slips :/ i think if you modify the shoe so it can be used by outfield players you might have a chance on this market!!!
I love the idea, but as already stated, it is a very small market for this product. One suggestion however, is that instead of trying to make the perfect all singing, all dancing shoe that’s brilliant in every way, come to a compromise and make a non waterproof shoe (probably best to have a look at other popular brands around for inspiration) that’s breatheable, has a small higher grip portion on the toe/ball of foot area and has a small intent for the straps. Your idea on the whole is brilliant and I would almost definately buy it when in production. Good luck and keep thinking!
This is exactly what i and most gk’s need!. Have you sent this idea to obo directly?
I’ve heard that the Adidas SRS 3 shoes fit really well, into OBO products. And I tape my straps together too 🙂
i think this is a great idea ik when i were my shoes sometime my entire shoe and foot just slip right out of the kickers
I bought myself a pair of ‘cough cough’ Kookaburra Aztec astro’s as they have a thicker sole. I cut a hole in both sides at the front big enough for the strap and threaded it through. The strap doesn’t move and best of all you can’t feel it throught the inner sole of the shoe, also the front strap hasn’t worn!!
I didn’t get round to doing this with the rear strap but I’ve since bought a new version of the same shoe, still with the thicker sole and will do the same in the coming weeks.
I guess the only down side is that the shoe has to stay in the kicker all the time but I’ve not found this to be a problem and one less thing to forget 🙂