Selecting Your Nike Football Cleat

It used to be fairly easy to pick a football cleat. The color choice was usually black or white and it was made of leather. There wasn't much else to it.

When choosing which Nike football cleat is the one for you, there are many different factors you must take into account. There's far more selection nowadays than ever before.

What style is best for you?

If you are a lineman, then high-tops might be your choice. These give more support to the ankle, especially when moving laterally. These will support a lineman's ankles much better than a lower cut.

As a skill player (DBs, RBs, WRs, QBs), low-tops have traditionally been the way to go. These are more lightweight than the high-tops and allow for the maneuverability necessary for skill players.

An addition to these two traditional styles is the mid-cut. Usually favored more by skill-position players, these still allow for that freedom of agility. What is offers above low-cuts, though, is more support for the ankle.

Which cleat is for you?

The molded cleat is just that. The cleats are molded to the shoe's outsole on the bottom of the shoe and cannot be removed. This offers great traction on most surfaces.

Detachable cleat is a removable cleat. The studs can be removed and replaced at the bottom of the shoe for any reason and in any conditions. These shoes are more flexible to use, yet are more expensive than molded cleats.

Which material suits you?

Leather uppers typically breathe well and is very flexible, which makes for a very comfortable shoe. Additionally, they are very durable under all conditions.

Synthetics, while being less expensive, are not as durable as leather shoes. They also have less breathability than a leather shoe does.

Nike makes more than 20 different styles for men and boys. The prices for men range anywhere from $80-140 or more. For boys, prices start at $40.

The range of styles is impressive, too. Nike.com sells nearly 30 different styles for boys and men. These include the Air Zoom Super Speed, Zoom Flyposite, and Vapor Jet. You can also choose from the Land Shark, the Zoom Boss, and the Zoom Super Bad.

And a very good component of any Nike shoe is that you can create what you like using Nike.com's NIKEiD application. While not available for every football cleat, it can still be used on a wide variety of shoes.

With NIKEiD, you can select the materials and colors you want for your shoe. You can also customize the fit and look to suit you, yet stay within your team concept, too.