Two differences between mens and womens cleats

Womens soccer cleats these days are more than just a different color and size. During the early eighties and nineties when the popularity of women’s soccer was increasing. Manufacturers did what is known as the “pink em and shrink em” process. They made womens soccer cleats in what they considered to be more “feminine” colors and made them in smaller sizes. This is no longer the case. Womens cleats are now designed for women and have some differences from the men’s version.

While different colors and smaller colors might work for a women’s soccer jersey, womens feet have an anatomical difference to men’s feet. In most cases women can wear men’s shoes if the same size. But for performance, and injury avoidance the shoes need to take into account the above differences.

One of them is that women’s feet taper in towards the heel. Modern womens cleats are designed this way. This gives the wearer a better fit. This translates to better agility, stability and much fewer injuries.

The other big difference is that women have much wider hips along with a much wider angle from the hip to the knee joint. This requires the shoe to have much softer support. Especially in the midsole.

When the shoe is designed with smaller heels and feet in mind along with the softer midsole, there is a lot of excess weight removed. These cleats are lighter and the wearer will be able to perform better with less chance of injury.

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