If you are planning to buy some cleats to provide you with stability and traction on a sports field, then you have some choices to make. Now, one thing that many people don’t realize is that there are different kinds of cleats for different sports.
For instance, football cleats and baseball cleats are not going to be the same. Therefore, so you know exactly what you are getting into, today we’re going to talk about the difference between football and baseball cleats. There are a few big differences that you need to know all about.
The Difference Between Football and Baseball Cleats
There are actually seven main differences between football and baseball cleats that we want to take a quick look at.
1. The Level of Support
One of the main differences between football cleats and baseball cleats is that they generally don’t provide the same amount of support. In baseball, most of the movement is side to side movement, whereas in football, players need to be able to move in all directions efficiently.
Therefore, football cleats are generally built to be much more supportive, especially in terms of lateral support. It’s all about helping football players prevent ankle sprains and other injuries. Baseball cleats don’t really need this, and they’re also therefore much lighter, can keep the weight of them down.
On that note, baseball cleats tend to go about as high as the ankles to offer great ankle support. However, to allow football players to have a great deal of mobility, football cleats tend to not reach up to the ankles.
2. The Weight
Another main difference that you will see between football cleats and baseball cleats is that football cleats are the much heavier of the two. As mentioned above, this is mainly due to the fact that there is much more material to help support the foot on football cleats then on baseball cleats.
Because football cleats are a bit heavier, it can slow down football players a little bit. Baseball cleats on the other hand have much less supporting material, are therefore much lighter, and allow players to therefore run faster.
3. The Midsole
What also needs to be said here is that the midsole on football cleats is different than on baseball cleats. The spikes or studs on baseball cleats are very sharp and are often made out of metal. For this reason, the midsole on a baseball cleat features a lot more cushioning and material, which is designed for comfort and to prevent the foot from feeling those metal studs.
On the other hand, in football, the studs or spikes on the cleats are not nearly as sharp, with them being more rounded. For this reason, the midsole on a football cleat isn’t quite as comfortable or as well cushioned, because those spikes cannot be felt as easily through the bottom of the shoe.
4. The Spikes
Yet another main difference between baseball cleats and football cleats has to do with the spikes. In baseball, the spikes on the cleat can be made out of plastic or metal. The metal spikes are very sharp and designed to dig deep into the grass for great traction.
However, with football, the spikes will always be made out of plastic. This is mainly due to the reason that football is a contact sport, so metal spikes would be too dangerous. Moreover, for safety reasons, the studs on football cleats are generally more rounded than they are sharp, like on a baseball cleat.
5. The Appearance
Another big difference between baseball cleats and football cleats has to do with their overall appearance. Football cleats tend to be much more colorful and have much bolder designs than baseball cleats, which tend to be a lot simpler and plainer in appearance. Football is just thr flashier of the two sports either way.
6. Cleat Shape
In baseball, the overall shape of the cleat, especially the front of it, is more rounded. However, to provide maximum traction on slippery ground, in football, the cleats are generally a bit sharper at front.
7. The Cost
The final notable difference for you to know about has to do with the cost of both types of cleats. The difference between the cost of these cleats is not huge, but generally speaking, baseball cleats will be slightly less expensive than football cleats. That said, if we compare both types of cleats to soccer cleats, both baseball cleats and football cleats are fairly affordable.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are indeed quite a few big differences between football cleats and baseball cleats. Therefore, when you go to choose your next pair of cleats, make sure that you get the right ones for the sport in question.
Thanks for stopping by ~Jeremy
