I've played soccer all my life. I've had ups, I've had downs and I've had several injuries. The most regrettable injuries I've had are the times when I've been too rushed lazy to switch from my cleats to regular shoes. You see, what non-sports playing individuals might not realize is while cleats are absolutely wonderful at providing traction on grass and turf terrain, they're downright hazardous when it comes to concrete.

In my opinion, they're almost as dangerous as rollerblades on concrete--and easily just as socially unacceptable.
Thanks to our friends at CleatSkins, I may have found a solution to my traction problem. They provided me with a pair to test out and I had a chance to experience the brilliance of the product: A rubber sole which instantly transforms your terror-treading cleat into a safe and sound shoe.

I tried them out two times this last week. I got ready at my place, put on full gear and cleats with the CleatSkins and then walked outside to the "danger zone," down to my car, drove to the field, walked across more danger zones and onto the field. Then I simply slipped the covers off and started playing (no stretching = huge mistake).

After the game I just popped on the CleatSkins and was off. It was nice because instead of lacing shoes, unlacing shoes, lacing cleats, unlacing cleats, lacing shoes, unlacing shoes, you get lacing cleats, pop off skins, pop on skins, unlace cleats.

Done.

Now maybe I'm spending too much time thinking about energy and time saving safety enhancing products and you might say "Chris, you're a freaking adult. Just bring grown-up shoes and change." Okay, fair point. Some people might think I look silly or childish, but I really don't care because the functionality of these CleatSkins is undeniable.

If you're a parent and have kids playing sports, this is a game changer. I can only imagine what a nightmare it is getting kids organized with their equipment/shoes and CleatSkins has the potential to radically change that. Now instead of wrestling with little Johnny trying to get him to change his shoes before he runs across the street to McDonald's after the game (or worse dealing with his crying after he slips on concrete), you can just help him slip on his cool new accessories and skip across the street in no time.

To be fair there are a couple downsides:

1. I wear white cleats and the black CleatSkins apparently make my feet look small (What?!). One of my female friends remarked that they seem cool, but make me look like I have little baby feet. Just to unnecessarily clarify: I don't. I wear size 12 shoes--okay? OK! Stop judging me!


2. I missed a penalty kick during one of my games. In all reality this has absolutely nothing to do with my CleatSkins, but I'm so ashamed I feel the need to blame something...anything. Maybe they tricked my cleats into sucking or something. Sheesh, seriously--how did I miss that?

All in all, I love CleatSkins and while I never would have thought of them as a necessary part of my game, I'm sure happy I was introduced to them!