Soccer remains the world's most popular sport, both in terms of viewership as well as participation from the amateur to professional levels. With so much pressure from competitors and spectators alike, changes to even the smallest aspects of your game can have serious consequences. Given the game's focus on footwork, the color of players' shoes may reflect more than manufacturers' offerings and players' personal sense of style.
Cleat Color
Despite the prevalence of cleat styles, shapes, sizes and colors today, the soccer stars of the past had few options in their choice of footwear. Traditionally donning either white or black cleats with their uniforms, such players had few outlets for self-expression on the field. With the plethora of cleats available today, the use of traditional styles and colors has largely gone by the wayside. Beyond personal preference, the use of orange footwear has some important perceptual underpinnings that may improve your game.
Color and Contrast
Two of the dominant theories of color vision are the trichromatic and opponent process theories. While the trichromatic theory states that the cones, or color-sensitive cells, of our eyes preferentially detect colors in either the red, blue or green spectrum, the opponent process theory states that we perceive color as contrast. Based on the opponent process theory, the three pairs of contrasting color spectra are red and green, blue and yellow and black and white. Based on this theory, orange cleats, which fall in the red-yellow spectrum, would contrast strongly and thus prove highly visible against the green backdrop of the field.
Cleat, Ball and Field Color
By contrasting with the color of the field, orange cleats make players more visible. Although it benefits players on both sides, wearing orange cleats presents a slight advantage to your teammates. As you focus on the defenders when in possession of the ball, orange cleats provide an enhanced ability to spot your teammates in your periphery. In addition to helping you track teammates at your sides, orange shoes also enable you to better position the ball on your foot. Compared with white or dimly colored cleats, orange cleats help you to pass, shoot and dribble more effectively.
Flicker Effect
Based on theories of cognition, perception and evolutionary psychology, humans naturally track quick flashes or movements with their eyes. Known as the "flicker effect," this attention-grabbing mechanism underlies the enhanced ability to spot a teammate's orange shoes moving against a green background. This also works against opponents, as they will have a natural tendency to follow the quick movement of your orange cleats, rather than the ball, while you dribble.
References
- Encyclopaedia Brittanica: Football (Soccer)
- Footy Boots: Football Boots - The History
- Fast Company: Inside Nike's "Adaptive Traction," the Wolverine of Soccer Shoes
- "Financial Times"; Football Battle Between Nike and Adidas Intensifies Off Pitch; Jonathan Birchall; June 2010
- "Perception: Fifth Edition"; Randolph Blake and Robert Sekuler; 2006
- "Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind: 4th Edition"; David M. Buss; 2011
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