(rhythmic beats music)
- What's up guys?
Matt from the Football Boots Team and today I'm going to be
testing football boot hacks that actual professional
footballers have used themselves,
including the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo,
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Philippe Coutinho.
But do they actually work?
Let's find out.
Let us start with a boot hack that
literally blew up the internet.
Philippe Coutinho cut out a square hole in the back of
his Nike Mercurial Vapour XI's.
But why did he do this and does it actually work?
Philippe Coutinho has never come out and said exactly
why he cut off the back of his Nike Mercurial Vapour XI,
but what we think and what you guys thought as well,
is that he must have had a pretty bad blister on the
back of his heel which was aggravating him so much that
he actually got his kit man to cut out the back of his
boot to relieve the pain.
So I'm gonna lace these up
and see if I can tell a difference.
(rhythmic soft music)
All right, so I've just laced up the green Vapour with
the heel cut out of the back,
and there's two main things I can actually feel.
Firstly, they feel a lot looser than
the standard Vapour XI would.
There's definitely a little bit more softness and rollover
in the heel area, but also, which might be a bit
counterproductive, is that I can actually feel some sharp
edges from the cut out piece.
Just doing a little bit of dribbling work through these
cones and I can already tell you get a massive level of
support lost from cutting out the back of your boot.
So for Coutinho to do it in the Primary League where
performance is everything, I am very surprised.
These cut Vapours feel very strange on feet,
but overall, is this a good boot hack or a bad boot hack?
Now, I'm gonna say a bad boot hack for two main reasons.
Firstly, although the pain might be relieved
right in the middle of the hole you cut out,
because the outside now is so much sharper
where you cut it out,
this could actually cause some more blisters for you
if you wear these.
Now the second problem is that you definitely lose some
lock-down and responsiveness because you cut out
a piece of the heel.
There's definitely a level of support and stability
that you don't get from a standard pair of uncut boots.
So what would I rate Coutinho's hole in the heel out of 10?
Well, in my opinion, this isn't the best football boot hack,
so I'm gonna give it a four out of 10.
Two main reasons, firstly, although it might relieve a
little bit of pressure right in the middle of the hole,
anything around the outside because of the sharp edges
could create some more blisters.
And secondly, there's definitely a level of lock-down lost
from cutting out any part of the heel.
But what about you guys?
Would you wear the Coutinho hole in the heel?
Vote in the poll card now.
On to our next one, and we've got an Adidas X which both
Manuel Perez, Jesse Lingard and also Ashley Young has been
seen cutting right down the middle of the tight-fit collar.
So, that's what we're going to be doing,
testing and explaining why they have done this.
So, our first step is gonna be taking out the laces and
cutting down that collar.
(rhythmic beats music)
And this is what it ends up looking like.
Adidas X 17.1 with a tight-fit collar,
but cut right down the middle.
Why did Jesse Lingard, also Ashley Young actually do this?
Well, the main reason is probably because across that top of
the foot the boots are just feeling a little bit too tight,
so you have to relieve the stress,
and by doing this, cutting the collar, you're actually
helping that ever so slightly.
The way that Manuel Perez and Ashley wore their new
cut X boots, was actually by putting them on now with their
cut tight-fit collar, and then instead of lacing them up
back to the top, instead just to make sure there was
no stress on that top of the foot,
they instead wrap around the bottom of the boot.
Now, the problem is that you're still gonna have a lot of
lace to play with, so either you can have them laced up,
which means you're going to have massive loops,
or you can either cut the laces down to a normal size.
But how are they actually feeling
now that I've cut the tight-fit collar?
Well, for me personally, they are just way too loose.
I don't even know how they stayed on the feet
of Lingard and Ashley Young.
It just feels like my foot is gonna slip out the back
just because the tight-fit collar is lost.
So there's no level of lock-down and responsiveness.
A little bit similar to Philippe Coutinho's
hole in the heel, but for different reasons.
Guys this just feels so dumb, you can see just how much the
top of my foot is exposed from the boot.
The only way this could have fit Manuel Perez tightly
is if they were sized, maybe two sizes too small.
So this boot is fully laced up as you guys can see,
but just look at how easy they are to slide off.
That should not be the case for any football boot laced up.
In terms of performance, this is a big no go.
Guys, I've gotta say, although these look completely
ridiculous and also pretty much falling off my feet,
the comfort really is exceptional.
Maybe Jesse Lingard and Ashley Young had a bruise on
the top of their foot and the tight-fit collar was
almost digging in and putting too much pressure on it.
So, in terms of comfort these are really good,
but performance is a no go for me.
But what do I rate Jesse Lingard's
football boot hack out of 10?
Well, I'm gonna give these a six out of 10, so pretty good.
And the reason for that is the comfort is out of this world,
sensational, and these are pretty much made for someone
like Blade Grass on the Black and orange team.
The reason being, he's got crazy wide feet, so if you're
like him, these are gonna alleviate all the stress on the
top of your foot, but be warned, lock down, responsiveness
and overall performance is gonna be completely lost.
So, what about you guys,
would you wear Jesse Lingard's cut Adidas X?
Vote in the poll card now.
Guys, I'm coming back at you with another pair of scissors,
but this time to cut the collar on the Nike Mercurial
Super Fly 5.
Because, does it give you better performance
and better overall comfort?
Because players like Ronaldo, Escoe and Vidal have all
cut the collar on their Nike boots.
So, let's find out if that actually makes a better boot.
First step, let's cut the collar.
(rhythmic beats music)
So, here's how they look with their new cut collar.
To me, I actually think these actually look a lot nicer
than with the done up collar, and a little bit similar
to those new Nike Flying Ultras.
Let's lace up our custom Fly 5's for the first time.
And a really massive bonus point
because these are so much easier to slide on
compared to a normal Super Fly 5
with its dynamic fit collar.
I actually just did lace up the black pair with the collar
and I actually cut my finger, and I bet there's some of you
guys who can actually sympathise with that.
But let's find out how these custom Fly's actually feel.
Guys, here's how they look, top-down view,
and I'm proper having these.
To me the silhouette is just much nicer without the collar
compared to the Super Fly 5 with the collar.
Hey listen, these cut Super Fly's are the one.
You don't lose anything from cutting the collar,
but you gain so much.
Firstly, and more importantly, they're much more comfortable
in my opinion.
For me, and a lot of other players, the dynamic collar
can fit a too snug, aggressive and compressive.
Secondly, they're so much easier to put on compared to
the standard Super Fly 5.
And thirdly, obviously they look better.
But what do I give the cut Super Fly 5 overall out of 10?
Well, I am mega impressed with these.
So, I'm gonna give them nine out of 10.
And I'm not surprised Nike released a low-cut Phantom 3,
and also the brand-new Flying Ultra's.
Low-cut Flying boots are definitely the future for Nike.
But what about you guys, would you wear the cut Super Fly 5?
Vote in the poll card now.
Our next boot hack is back over to Adidas to do the
Zlatan Ibrahimovic cut pure cut cover.
What you need to do to create the Zlatan Ibrahimovic
football boot hack is to very carefully cut around that
pure cut lace cover, making sure not to cut through
that internal cage or the laces themselves.
Once you've done that,
simple as put the boots on and do the laces up.
Here's how they're looking on feet now that I've laced
them up, and to be honest, first couple of steps
I can't tell a massive difference.
They still fit exactly the same.
The only difference for me is what you get from cutting
the pure cut cover is that the laces are now exposed,
rather than having to tuck them into the pure cut cover,
which can actually create a little bubble
which can be uncomfortable.
One problem with this hack, is if you play on 3G,
inside the little pure cut lace cover,
you're gonna get a lot of rubber
that actually gets stuck inside.
To be honest, I think these boots actually look quite cool.
But I found one major problem
with cutting the pure cut cover.
The big problem is the internal cage which is now exposed.
It looks very delicate, as we can see here
it's actually starting to rip already,
and that's just from pulling the laces tightly.
If you were in any kind of bad tackle with the studs,
this would completely rip and then
you don't have a lacing system altogether.
But what score out of 10 do I give Zlatan's boot hack?
Well, to be fair, it hasn't changed a great deal.
The comfort, fit and performance is still the same.
The one difference is the durability.
It's got worse.
Because the internal cage is now exposed,
the durability of those could actually start to rip.
So, overall, I'm gonna give these
a score of seven out of 10.
But what about you guys?
Would you do Zlatan's boot hack?
Vote in the poll card now.
Our next pro boot hack was made famous by the man CR7.
So does his hot water trick actually work?
(pouring water)
(rhythmic beats music)
First step is lacing the boots up, and as you've just seen,
it was the right boot which was actually
given the hot water treatment.
So this one hasn't had hot water and this one has.
So, here they are on feet.
And can I really tell a difference
in how the feel straightaway?
I'm gonna say no,
but let's go for a little run and some dribbling.
Let's step over the white line
for the first time to see how they feel.
And to be honest, and this isn't a lie,
the hot water trick on the right boot just feels a little
bit softer and like it can flex a little bit more easy at
that mid flex point.
Guys, on the real, the boot which has had
the hot water trick has softened up very nicely.
So, if you do have some boots which are fitting too tight
of style, you definitely can try the hot water trick.
Just one thing to bear in mind,
don't have the water too hot.
One major reason is it could actually kill the durability
of the boot, especially around the sole plate
meeting with the upper.
Just doing some keepy-uppies and I wouldn't say the hot
water treated boot feels any thinner
or more barefoot with the ball.
I would just say they feel overall a little bit softer.
But what would I rate this boot hack out of 10?
Well, I think this is actually a pretty good trick
from Ronaldo, so I'm gonna score them eight out of 10.
This is a great option if you have boots which are too tight
to make them a little bit softer and flexible,
or also if their brand new boots you want to speed up
the breaking process another great option for you.
Just make sure the water's not too hot,
because this could damage the upper to sole plate.
Next up we've got the Dani Alves.
So, does lacing up the boots just in the top two holes
give you better comfort and a cleaner ball strike?
Let's put it to the test.
Now you've got your boot and your lace.
You now need to lace up just those
top two ones there and that final top hole.
And this is how they're gonna end up looking,
and obviously one problem is that you're gonna have
these massive laces coming off the end of the boot
so you're gonna have to cut these down to size.
(rhythmic beats music)
So here's how they are on feet,
and because they don't feature any
laces on the top of the foot,
they do have a very unique look to them.
Now, Dani Alves might have done this for a few reasons.
Firstly, the laces may have been too aggressive
on top of the foot and became uncomfortable.
Secondly, he may have wanted a cleaner strike on the ball,
but that's a little bit dubious.
Or thirdly, maybe he just wanted a cool looking boot.
I'm hoping you guys can see on camera, but because there's
no laces the top of the foot where the hybrid tongue is,
it now fits very loose, you can almost pick it up
to create some space underneath the hybrid tongue region.
So, in terms of how they fit, there's definitely a level
of lock-down and responsiveness lost
from taking out your laces across the majority of the boot.
So, I've just had a few ball strikes with the
Dani Alves technique and to be honest I couldn't really feel
much of a difference between this one
and a Vapour with laces all throughout the lacing system.
So, to be honest, there's not a lot of positives
and there is a slight negative of
the overall fit is a little bit looser.
So, what would I give it a score out of 10?
Well, I'm gonna give it a five.
To be honest, it's just a little bit pointless,
it doesn't do anything in terms of positives
and there is a slight negative.
This next hack has become so popular
with a lot of professionals and also amateurs.
And that is playing football with no laces in your boots.
So let's unlace one of these Super Fly's
and see if we can feel a difference.
So here it is, one Super Fly with laces
and one Super Fly without.
So, again, the Super Fly with no laces was much simpler
and I don't even have to do laces, so that's a positive.
But what about the actual comfort and performace.
Guys let me tell you, I'm not having this one at all.
The Super Fly on my right foot
with no laces is all over the place.
Because it doesn't have any laces in the boot,
my foot is slipping, I'm getting a lot of heel slippage.
The Super Fly is all about high level performance,
but this is completely gone out of the window
by taking out the laces.
One of my favourite features of the Super Fly's are the
fly away cables either side of the lacing system.
Pull those laces tight and the whole boot
wraps around your foot very snugly.
But because we don't have any laces in this Super Fly,
the fly away cables are now irrelevant.
So what am I saying about this one?
Football boots with no laces.
Well, I think this is dead.
So I'm gonna give this a score of two out of 10.
The reason it gets a two is because the fit is
overall terrible in terms of performance,
but on the plus size they are very comfortable
if you have very wide feet.
So, guys, there it is.
I tested each and every one of the pro footballer boot hacks
right in this video.
Which one has been your favourite?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Now, that's it, all wrapped up,
so thanks for watching, cheers.