‘Designed For Her’: translational traction of female specific soccer boots

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024)

The popularity of female soccer has grown substantially with over 40 million participants worldwide. Despite this increase in popularity, anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries for female players still occur at larger rates compared to males, with 70-85% occurring in noncontact situations in which the boot-surface interaction is paramount. Players wear studded boots to generate more traction between themselves and their playing surface to improve performance and minimize injury risk. A majority of boots available to players are constructed around a male last, and have specific design features, such as stud placement, that are unique to a male shaped foot. As females tend to have different foot geometries and features compared to males, these boots often fit incorrectly, or key features do not function as intended. Since 2019, however, manufacturers have been slowly introducing female soccer boots to players, with some companies opting to release current boot models, manufacturered instead around a female last. Other companies, such as Nike (Nike, Oregon USA), have released boots with specific characteristics such as a specialized outsole configuration for female players]. This outsole configuration is designed to minimse the traction force generated during hazarous movements to minimize the risk of foot fixation and decrease the likelihood of ACL injury [3]. Despite female boot options being available since 2019, the literature surrounding boot-surface traction focuses on male boots. This research investigates the differences in translational traction between the female boot designed by Nike (the Nike Luna) and two of their range that are designed around a male last (Nike Tiempo and Nike Vapor). This study hypothesizes that the traction generated by the Nike Luna will not be different to the Nike Tiempo and Nike Vapor.