How To Avoid Getting Holes in Your Cleats
The majority of windmill pitchers can probably relate to my annoyance on this subject: you buy a shiny new pair of softball cleats, and before ONE SEASON is even over, the field is tearing up your foot through the holes you’ve worn into your shoes. Well, fret no more! I’ve got some suggestions that will help you get a lot more mileage out of your cleats. Your feet (and your parents’ wallets) will be relieved!
How Checking Your Softball Cleats Can Help You Diagnose Problems in Your Pitching Mechanics
Some of you might be thinking, “I don’t wear holes into my cleats, so I must be in good shape!” Well, not necessarily. Holes develop from friction against the dirt because of the repeated, aggressive drive through that should take place in your motion. If you aren’t wearing out your cleats, you could be crow hopping, or just not striding and driving aggressively enough. Note for young pitchers: If you haven’t entered middle school yet, and/or you’re just learning to pitch, you may just not be putting enough pressure on your drive through foot YET. And that’s fine! Always check your mechanics with your pitching coach, or with the help of video footage, before making assumptions.
Where Are Your Holes?
I’ve seen a lot of chewed up softball cleats in my years as a pitching coach, and I’ve also seen a lot of wear and tear in puzzling places. Are you wearing holes right in the middle of your instep, or even back by your heel? Well, listen up!
If you’re anywhere in the red zone, you’ve got two problems: one, my cleat suggestions won’t help you at all. Two, you’re probably dragging your foot on its side instead of driving through. Luckily, we have numerous posts on how to fix that!
If you’re in the green zone, help is on the way!
Softball Cleats with Reinforced Toes
NOTE: Fastpitch Power is in no way affiliated with any of the following brands, nor have we been asked to promote these products. We also have not tested all of them personally. This is merely meant to be a convenient list of options to explore for players/parents looking for a solution.
My #1 Pick: Ringor Softball Cleats for Pitchers
Yes, these are probably the most expensive softball cleats you can find, but if one pair can replace three, four or even more pairs of cleats, they’re not so expensive anymore. I got my first pair before my junior year high school varsity season. They lasted through two high school seasons, two fall tournament seasons, five summer tournament seasons, and years of coaching. Almost 10 years later, I just retired them before my recreational slow-pitch season started this past summer, and not because of wear to the pitching toe! They have the absolute best toe guard out there. If you’re using them heavily for longer than I did, you probably shouldn’t expect 10 years… but even if you get 3 or 4, that’s a pretty good deal.
Ringors, however, don’t feel good on everyone. Here are a few other options:
All models claim to have a durable toe of some sort, but there is one in particular that specifically sports and pitching guard—and if it’s available as an option, it’s probably a significant upgrade over their regular models. They’re available in metal and molded.
I don’t know what an ADITUFF toe is made of, but there is obviously some decent reinforcement there, albeit thinner and more flexible looking than the two listed above. They were at least designed with a pitcher in mind, so that gives me hope that the toe is decent.
These are a bit of a thicker shoe like the Ringors, which may appeal to some. They claim a decently reinforced toe, though it looks more like part of the shoe than a guard like the others have.
There’s also TuffToe, which can be applied to any pair of cleats. My only experience with TuffToe was about 12 years ago. Mine cracked fairly quickly, and just made for a sharper more painful hole. However, it’s certainly possible that they’ve improved their technology since then, and it’s worth investigating if you’re madly in love with your regular cleats. It’s also a decent option for kids who are still growing. It’s not necessarily worth spending the money on a higher end pair of cleats if the pitcher’s foot will be bigger by the time she wears through a regular pair anyway.
Do you have a pair of cleats you swear by? Leave a comment with a link to a website with the shoe for sale, and tell us why you like them! I’ll add them to the list.
Thanks for the advice. My daughter can go through a pair of cleats in 2 weekends. Now in high school, the team purchased the girls mizinos white metal. Now she is blown through and only can find the blue. Guess I’ll have tp order 5-6 pairs of the white to match the teamto last the season. Going get expensive at $70. a pop.
Yes, it’s always a tough break when you’ve got to match the rest of your team. In your case, I’d recommend trying the TuffToe. If she goes through so many pairs anyway, it probably couldn’t hurt.
You could try shoe goo!
Many people drag the bottom of their shoe (their sole), but I drag my toe as marked in the picture up there. So I was wondering am I supposed to drag with my sole or my toe? Also I go to pitching class and its inside of a gym, so I am required to wear running shoes. The problem is my running shoes rip all the time at the toe part. Is there a way to prevent that?
Hi Chloe, you’re correct; you want to drag your toe, NOT your sole, but only the tip of your toe. Unfortunately if you are dragging correctly it will wear on your running shoes. My recommendation would be to reserve a pair of old running shoes for gym pitching so you don’t keep ruining pair after pair.
Thanks for the informative post. This is a subject I am currently obsessed with due to the amount of money I shell out on shoes! DD is a 10 year old who has been pitching for a year. She has big size 11 feet with a high instep. Do you have any suggestions for a comfortable pitching shoe for her?
For gym training days we get cheap clearance shoes from Walmart, Kmart or Academy and coat the toe with Shoe Goo. We allow it two days to cure before our DD uses them. She usually will get about 6 weeks out of them before developing a hole. Then we just apply a new coat of Shoe Goo. 6 weeks later we start over with a new pair.
I am wondering how the Mizuno training shoe will hold up for gym days. Anyone have any experience?
In my experience nothing beats the Ringors for durability, but I’m not sure about the high instep. I can say my personal pair felt a little awkward at first, but molded to my foot well fairly quickly. Since you don’t have as much choice in softball cleats as running shoes for example, you’re probably better off getting something durable and getting her fit for an arch support. You can take out the padding that comes in the shoe and put in a better one.
If her shoes only last 6 weeks in a gym, she’s probably dragging very hard. I would recommend browsing our drive through posts (https://www.fastpitchpower.com/tag/drive-through/) to see if there is any obvious room for improvement.
I’m not sure how to ask a question at this site. My daughter is a 12 yr old pitcher. She has recurring problems with her right big toe in the nail bed on the outside. It gets a “yeast” infection and she becomes unable to pitch. It gets very red and irritated and she has prescription cream for it. Someone told me that some pitchers get a recurring issue like “turf toe”…and that pitching shoes are made that can help illi kate the issue. Do you have knowledge on this matter? Thanks.
My daughter is a softball pitcher and practices pitching indoors weekly where metal cleats are forbidden. She wears a pair of athletic shoes onto which I reapply Shoe Goo every week in the wear spot. After the first wearing (without Goo) it became evident where the Goo needed to go. It was also evident that if the shoe was wore a second time without Goo repair it would have worn through and made a hole. Thus part of the weekly routine is reapplying Goo. First I clean the area well with rubbing alcohol and a cotton pad. I let it dry (about an hour) and apply a liberal coating of Goo – resting the shoe on the other side to make sure the Goo doesn’t flow in the wrong area. It takes overnight to harden and would be OK to pitch in the next morning (for those who pitch frequently). I have been using the same tube of Shoe Goo all season – so you won’t go broke doing this. Need to do it every time or risk a wear through.