Soccer cleats are an essential part of a player's equipment. Because of the many styles of field surface, several types of soccer cleats, or soccer shoes, are available to provide you with the best possible traction in any given situation. While traditional soccer cleats have cleats or tips on the bottom, some variations have no tips.
Turf Shoes
One type of soccer shoe often mistaken for a cleat is a turf shoe. Turf shoes are made for use on artificial grass, or turf, fields. Turf is a synthetic material and comes in a variety of lengths. Because the turf is on a mat, a normal cleat cannot puncture the ground for traction. Instead, soccer shoes for turf feature a dense pattern of low rubber studs that grip the turf instead of the ground.
Indoor Shoes
Indoor shoes are essentially soccer cleats with no tips. Indoor soccer shoes are meant for indoor soccer leagues where games are usually played on wooden gymnasium floors, cement, asphalt or concrete. The bottom of an indoor soccer shoe resembles the bottom of a basketball shoe. There are no raised edges, only slight grooves. The very flat bottom of an indoor soccer shoe allows maximum contact with the floor surface for better grip.
Rules
You will notice that any cleat designed for soccer is devoid of a cleat at the front of the shoe-- unlike baseball or softball cleats which place a tip at the front of the shoe. While a cleat tip at the front of the shoe would help soccer players gain traction, it is considered a safety risk for other players. Because of the amount of slide tackling and shin injuries in the game, a front cleat tip is not offered in soccer shoes. If you have cleats that you wish to use for soccer but they have a front tip, you may have success cutting the front tip off, assuming it is made from molded rubber.
Removable Tip
Some soccer cleats are sold with no tips because they have user replaceable cleat moldings. These cleats are often more expensive but offer players more versatility when confronted with various field conditions. Cleat tips are interchangeable with the use of a manufacturer supplied tool. You can switch to longer cleat tips for wet conditions, or short cleat tips for hard, dry conditions. If you are considering buying cleats with interchangeable tips, make sure that the shoes come with a set. You cannot use cleats with interchangeable tips without any tips.
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