(lively electronic music)
Hi guys, Blake from the football boots team,
and today we're gonna make your boots better fitting,
better feeling, and much more comfortable.
These are the best comfort hacks.
This is the Adidas Nemeziz 17.1.
So what cut can we do to this boot
to make it more comfortable?
This hack involves cutting the back of the jaw lock collar
of the Nemeziz, Mexico International Javier Hernandez
did this on his pair of Nemeziz boots,
where he simply cut off the back of the collar.
You simply get a pair of scissors and cut
around the back of the collar,
but be careful to not cut off too much.
The end result is a collar which is much more traditional.
Alright, let me get this straight, this is definitely
by far the best cut I've ever done
on a pair of football boots.
On the cut Nemeziz, the heel abrasion is nonexistent.
It's like the dynamic colour of Nike's models.
On the pair, which I had not cut, the heel, again,
it just that jaw lock collar,
it just raises slightly too high.
I definitely recommend cutting your collar on the Nemeziz.
But what do you guys think, will you cut the collar
on the Nemeziz, yes or no, vote in the poll card now.
Now this next one is probably the most controversial
'cause you have to raid your mom's bathroom drawer.
Why, because these.
All you need to do is get the cotton wool and stuff a few
of them at the very end of the football boot because
it's just gonna fill up that toe space, which you
definitely need if you've got a boot bigger than your feet.
Now although it's very hard to tell, I've got four
of these cottonbuds in my left shoe, and none in my right.
To test this properly, I'm just gonna go for a few walks.
(wind rustling)
As I come down, as I push my thumb
it does actually fill up that toes space very nicely,
on my right foot, as I push down, there's just a lot
of toe space especially around this bit here,
it definitely fills out that toe space a lot.
The one thing of concern is that the cottonbuds are
actually sliding around my foot, not great, but overall
they do fill up that toe space very nicely.
So I think I proved that cotton wool
in my football boot actually works pretty well.
What do you think, would you try putting cotton wool
in your football boots, vote in the poll card now!
Now this next hack is very, very simple
but very, very effective.
Now Phillipe Coutinho cut a hole on the back of his Vapour XI
to alleviate blister pressure.
We're doing the same thing but at the front of the boot,
we're gonna cut a hole at the toe of the end of the boot,
which Mats Hummels did of Bayern Munich.
This hack is a bit more controversial and requires
a extended knife and a pair of scissors.
The goal is to cut a hole on the end of the boot to reduce
any sort of toe pressure experienced inside of the boots.
At first it was a bit of a task to cut the hole through
but lucky enough, I had a Vapour XI which relatively thin,
so I was able to pierce through
and cut a square hole around where my big toe is.
And just from this pair, if you can actually see
how ridiculous that cut toe looks.
I probably wouldn't recommend this, but it does alleviate
that toe pressure that Mats Hummels and someone like me
would get in the tip of these boots
'cause I have very, wide feet.
Someone with very, very wide feet, I only see
this being effective for, and especially on rainy days,
it is a sunny day here; I don't see a cut hole in the heel
and a cut hole in the toe being very, very waterproof.
With the cut collar of the Superfly V, I actually see
that being the best cut you can do with a pair of scissors.
So after a few kicks and a few juggles, it's definitely
a no-go for a cut toe in the toe box.
Yes, it does alleviate that toe pressure you get inside
the boots, but they're not gonna be waterproof especially
with a cut heel and a cut toe,
they're not gonna be waterproof whatsoever.
I definitely don't recommend this, but what about you guys,
would you cut the toe in any of your boots?
Please vote in the poll card now.
Now this next hack is very, very simple.
This is a pair Nike Hypervenom Phantom 3 Lows,
and they come with a pair of Nike Grip insoles,
which are very, very thin and lightweight,
but today we're gonna put some comfort sock liners
into your football boots.
So what I'm gonna do now is these two insoles
so in the left shoe of Hypervenom, I've got
the Adidas Boost Insole Liner, and in the right boot,
I've got the Adidas Suede Comfort Insole Liner,
so testing these out, let's go!
So just to remind, in my left shoe, I've got
the Adidas Boost Insole Liner, the insole liner that you get
in the Ace 17+ Purecontrol, and then my right foot,
I've got the Comfort Suede Insole Liner, the additional
insole liner you usually get with a pair
of Adidas football boots, and just by walking,
there's actually minimal difference.
I can definitely tell that the left one,
this is the Boost one, is actually slightly more comfortable
and a bit more spongy than the standard Nike Grip ones
you get in the standard Hypervenom Phantom 3.
But overall, wearing comfort insole liners will make
a minimal difference, but if you wanna maximise
the comfort levels inside the boots,
definitely go for the Adidas Boost Insole Liner,
it's a definite good comfort hack.
This hack involves changing your lacing.
Now this is the Mizuno Rebula V1,
I've done two lacing techniques on this one.
That is the standard lacing system,
and this is the comfort lacing technique, let's do it.
So this lacing technique is simple, you begin by lacing
up the first two eyelets of the boot and then you run
the lace parallel with each other, skipping two eyelets
in the middle and then lace up the last two eyelets
as you would do on a standard lacing system.
Of course, there are variations of this technique,
we could just potentially skip one eye in the middle.
So I've laced these two boots up, one with green laces
and one with black laces, and straightaway these appear
as traditional fit, it's gonna fit pretty nicely
But this comfort lacing technique is absolutely
no pressure in that mid foot, it completely alleviates
that mid foot pressure, I like it already.
And just one thing I've noticed is that
the comfort lacing technique, you do get a lot of free space
in there and the flexing tongue like that,
it shouldn't really happen.
There are variations you can do with
a comfort lacing technique and because of the fact that
I've skipped two eyelets, as you can see here,
you could potentially just skip one eyelet, which will
lock down your foot bit better in the mid foot.
So what do I think of the comfort lacing technique?
Yes, it alleviates that mid foot pressure,
but it doesn't really lock down your foot at all,
the standard lacing system is probably what I would go for,
but what about you guys, would you wear
the comfort lacing technique?
Vote in the poll card now.
Now this hack is one of the more popular
on the professional stage; it involves a fold over tongue.
You saw Francesco Totti do it with
his gold Tiempo Legend 6 boots, you can also do it
with a pair fold-over tongue Gloro 15.1s, let's do it.
You simply tie the laces up, that is the standard technique,
so that pretty much goes to the last eyelet,
but what this technique is, you take out
the laces on the last three eyelets.
There's two eyelets missing, you tie the laces like this,
you tie them together like that, and it means there's
much less ankle support but what do you do
with the fold-over tongue?
You simply fold it over, you keep it on the front two studs
with the fold-over strap there, and overall,
you see it on Beckham, you see Totti has done it as well.
I suspect a few other professional players have done it
as well, but what it does, is it just alleviates
all the ankle pressure, making these boots
much more comfortable.
Just by juggling, as well, I definitely felt it was
easier to do with the Beckham and Totti technique,
but what one would you try, would you try
the Beckham-Totti technique or would you stay
with a traditional technique?
Vote in the poll card now.
Now this next comfort hack is very similar
to the comfort sock liner but time it's all about socks.
Don't get TruSox and don't get grip socks,
if you want a comfortable feel inside your boots,
go for something like the Nike Cushion Stadium Sock.
Very, very comfortable, especially around
the toe region of your boots.
Now as you can see, I've got the Cushion sock in white
on my left foot, and the TruSox in black on my right foot.
Overall, actually feel quite similar but overall
the one thing, the difference, the main difference I feel
is the Cushion sock inside the left shoe
is actually, it fills the boot much better.
It's like an edit in the lining, similar to what get
in the Magista Obra II with that padded foam.
I actually like them both but in terms of comfort,
definitely go for the Cushion sock because it doesn't have
those pads, especially around the heel region,
you get a lot of blisters and its not really
the most comfortable sock you could actually wear.
Now this next hack is a hack you've probably all tried,
it's wear leather football boots.
Now most of you have probably owned a k-leather
football boot or general leather football boot
in your career, and most of you as well have probably
owned a synthetic football boot as well.
But avoid synthetic football boots, why?
Because they're not gonna be
as comfortable as leather football boots.
Leather football boots have that organic material,
it's gonna wrap around your foot much better
than any sort of synthetics.
Overall k-leather is probably the leather I would go for,
so something like the Tiempo Legend 7, the Rebula V1,
the made in Japan version especially,
the Mizuno Morelia Neo 2, and as well as that,
we've also got the Copa Gloro or Gloro 15.1.
Overall, all these boots have k-leather and the reason
why k-leather is better than tarrison leather
or full grown leather, and that's 'cause it's much softer.
Definitely go for k-leather because it's gonna be
very, very supple straight out of the box,
no break-in time virtually.
Now the width of any football boot does actually
make a difference when you talk about comfort.
This next hack is all about the width of your football boot.
Go for something very, very wide.
Now I've got two football boots here, the Vapour XI,
this is the very nice Play Ice Vapour XI,
very, very narrow toe box; it's something I wouldn't
recommend if you wanna wear a comfortable football boot.
Whereas something like this, this is the evoPOWER 1.3,
one of the widest ever football boots I've ever worn.
I would say, go for something like the evoPOWER 1.3.
I've also got a lot of other options as well,
especially like the Copa Mundial, the Mizuno Morelia.
As I mentioned before with the leather football boots,
is a lot of leather football boots which will fit
wide feet better, so I recommend wearing something like
the evoPOWER 1.3. if you wanna stick to synthetics.
Again, I would use this POV,
top down look, to compare both boots.
On the evoPOWER 1.3, you can just see how rounded
that toe box is, as on the Vapour XI, you can see how narrow
the toe box is, so overall, comfort-wise, the mid foot
of the Vapour XI will be much more compressive,
especially when it has a no tongue design.
I also recommend going for a boot which has a tongue,
or has a lacing system which isn't attached with the upper,
something like the evoPOWER 1.3, the Copa Mundial,
or something with a tongue the best option,
but overall in terms of width,
it definitely feels much more comfortable.
Now this next hack is probably the simplest of the lot.
I've got two pairs of football boots in my hands,
one is the orange Mizuno Morelia Neo II
and the other is the Nike Tiempo Legend 7
in the academy pack blackout colouring.
Overall, very, very comfortable football boots,
but what's the main difference.
The size, just by looking at these boots at this angle,
you can see the difference in sizes.
The standard true-to-size pair would always fit snug,
and would always will feel comfortable,
but overall, you can go a half a size
to a full size bigger than your usual size.
Go for something which is probably likely to be
a half a size bigger 'cause it's gonna provide
much more comfort, there's gonna be slightly more width
and slightly more length in your shoe.
Now this next hack is a variation of
the comfort lacing technique and it's one
that you can probably pull off much easier.
It's all about the tightness of the lacing.
On the left shoe, I'm gonna tie the laces very, very tight,
and on the right shoe, I'm gonna tie them very, very loose,
so see how much lace we have leftover.
Now as you can see there is a major difference
in the tightness of each football boot.
On the left shoe, it's very, very tight and compressive,
it's gonna be very, very responsive and high-performing.
On the right shoe, this is the hack, you just simply
loosen the laces, you'll have less lace as well.
On the overtightened lacing system,
I can feel it in the mid foot being
very, very compressive and snug and responsive.
If you're all about performance, go for
the compressive lacing system; if you're all about comfort,
go for the loosened lacing system.
Now this last hack I definitely teased easier in the video.
Now this is the Vapour XI, we cut the toe off,
the one that Mats Hummels does, as well as that we also
cut the Coutinho hole, you can click the pro hacks video
right now if you wanna see that video.
But overall, what have we done to this boot as well,
we've actually taken the laces out, that is another hack.
Simply take the laces out of any modern day football boot,
especially on the Vapour XI, something which doesn't
have a tongue system, something like the Superfly,
the Magista Obra, or the Hypervenom Phantom 3 DF,
or even the low version, it'll definitely work.
If you remove the laces, you have much more space
in the mid foot, it's gonna be better for wide feet,
definitely another good hack.
So that's pretty much my comfort hacks video.
Which was your favourite piece?
Put in the comments section below, was it the Nemeziz cut,
was it the wide-fitting football boots, was it k-leather
football boots, was it the fold-over tongue,
was it the comfort lacing technique, was it wearing
comfort insoles, especially the boost sockliner,
or was it cutting the toe off the Vapour XI?
Please put it in the comments section below,
thank you very much for watching,
and as always, we'll see you next time.