Soccer is versatile.

Got rain all over the week? A little mud on the pitch will not stop your plans.

Cannot access the soccer field? You can simply pick up a game on an asphalt court.

Unlike other sports, soccer can be played on a wide variety of surfaces, regardless of soft or hard, choosing the correct soccer shoe can be a little complicated.

Well, it doesn’t have to be.

In this guide, we’ll cover the three types of soccer shoes – outdoor shoes (cleats), turf shoes, and indoor shoes.

First, let’s see what makes them different.

What’s The Difference Between Indoor Shoes & Outdoor Shoes?

It is very easy to differentiate between indoor shoes and outdoor shoes just by taking a quick look. Indoor soccer shoes look almost like any everyday shoes or sneakers, and likewise, many people wear them as such. But on the other hand, with outdoor soccer shoes, you cannot just stroll out on the streets because they feature jagged cleats under them and a very skin-tight fit around the foot and ankle. Outdoor soccer shoes should only be used on the soccer field.

Outdoor Shoes – Cleats

Soccer cleats are designed for playing outdoors. The jagged cleats, as featured in the popular Nike Tiempo Legend 8 White shoes, serve a very important purpose that is to provide the player with enough amount of traction, preventing them from slipping and giving them an ample opportunity to quickly change directions, stop, accelerate with ease.

Cleats can only be worn on the outdoor soccer pitch. They further divide into three types:

Hard Ground Cleats – for playing on hard soccer fields. These kinds of cleats have short studs under the base, generally evenly distributed. Furthermore, cleats with circular and hard rubber studs are the most effective for hard ground fields.

Firm Ground Cleats – for playing on firm soccer fields. These types of soccer cleats are very common as most soccer players play on a firm soccer field.

Soft Ground Cleats –  for playing on the soft soccer fields. Almost all of the soccer cleats for soft surfaces have detachable studs or stud’s tips. They also come in various lengths, so you can adjust your soccer shoes depending on the condition of the soccer field.

Turf Shoes

Turf shoes are the ideal shoe choice for short-cut turf surfaces. Think of very flat, carpet-style soccer fields, this is where you can wear them. Turf shoes have a larger number of nearly positioned, short rubber studs, or nubs on a flat style soleplate.

The objective of these studs is to equally distribute pressure covering the foot to ensure joint comfort while offering you better balance on a surface that does not give as much traction.

Indoor Shoes

Indoor soccer shoes are designed for playing indoor soccer on indoor courts and fields. Moreover, these types of shoes are actually flat on the base and feature a low-cut style with a slightly harder surface area than a traditional sneaker.

Indoor shoes cannot be worn on a real soccer pitch.

Bottom Line

As you can see, choosing the right type of shoe depends upon the kind of surface you will be playing on. Thus, before buying the right soccer shoe, try speaking to your coach about the best shoe type for your soccer field.