What Are Different Types Of Wrestling Shoes?

Overview

Wrestling shoes are not like the usual type of shoe in the market today. However, they look like basketball shoes, they are in their own different category. Wrestling shoes are designed specially for the wearer to have great flexibility and stamina while they’re on the wrestling mat. Moreover, wrestling shoes are designed to replace the feeling of a wrestler being barefoot, while also adding superior protection for the toenails and toes. See the history of wrestling shoes here.

Wrestlers need to be able to walk around each other with confidence, and an assurance of protection to their feet and toes. Assured that they can trust their shoes to give them the grip and stability they need to get on their opponent. Whether you’re buying junior wrestling shoes for a child or you’re buying an adult pair for yourself, you’ll need to know some of the main advantages of a good quality wrestling shoe.

How Fit Should A Wrestling Shoe Be?

While you’re busy contemplating on which wrestling shoes you should buy for yourself or your child, finding one with the right fit is important for victory on the mat. Unlike a running shoe that you would wear daily, a wrestling shoe should have a tight fit throughout the whole foot. For instance, you want the shoe to fit like a glove would on your hand when you wear it.

To make sure you’re wearing a fitted wrestling shoe on your feet and ankle properly, you can test it putting one or two of your fingers between your ankle and shoe. If it fit right inside your wrestling shoe, you definitely need to go down a size to get a tighter pair. Another good rule of buying a fitted wrestling shoe is to start with a shoe that’s around your normal shoe size to a half of your size smaller than your running shoe size.

Moreover, if you have a child that just started wrestling a beginner, you will only need to buy one pair of shoes, as they’ll likely be growing out of them year after year. Once your children or you get to more experienced level of the sport, they’ll need to start keeping two pairs of wrestling shoes. At a advance level, a wrestler should have one pair of wrestling shoe for practice and another pair for competition. These two pairs of shoes ensure that a wrestler has the highest level of traction when they face an opponent.

Read about how to find a shoe that fits here.

Things to consider before buying a wrestling shoe

Light weight

A good wrestling shoe must be light weight and allow good movement for the wearer. Heavy weight shoes tend to prevent the player from moving well, a good wrestling shoe must allow flexibility.

Ankle support

A good wrestling shoe must support ankle well and protect it to prevent it from spraining. It must be comfortable and well fitted.

Durability

A good wrestling shoe must be durable and last long for the player that is why it is advice able to buy quality wrestling shoes.

Types of Wrestling Shoes

Wrestling shoes can be categorised into two different types. The split sole wrestling shoe and none spilt sole wrestling shoe.

Split Sole Wrestling Shoe

A pair of split sole wrestling shoes has soles that have been cut in half. Looking at it from outer side, the sole of the shoe look like the typical rubber sole of any other shoe. The major difference is that the producer will separate the sole section of the shoes into a front and back piece.

The major advantages of this type of shoe is that it makes the wrestler wearing it the feel as if he/she is barefooted while she shoe is also providing maximum protection to the wearer. The split sole allows for greater stability for the wearer. Wrestlers often choose this type of shoe because of its lightweight design, which allows the wrestler move faster, with great mobility in a match. If an opponent is wearing a non-split shoe, you’ll have more advantage over your opponent, in quickness if you’re wearing a split sole wrestling shoe.

Non Spilt Sole Wrestling Shoe

Just like the name implies, non-split soles wrestling shoes do not possess a split in their sole. Instead, the sole of the wrestling shoe is made of a standard piece of rubber that stretches the entire underside of the shoe.

However, a non-split sole shoe does not have as much flexibility and stability as a split sole wrestling shoe, but they are still lightweight and offer more mobility than a standard shoe. Although, wrestlers on a budget will pick non split sole types of wrestling shoes, as they have the ability to last longer than split sole shoes. The durability features is a welcome advantage for anyone who doesn’t want to have to replace their wrestling shoes from time to time.

Examples of Wrestling Shoes

Below are some examples of wrestling shoes.

Kids’ HVC 2 Wrestling Shoes

These are perfect wrestling shoes for children wrestlers. It is specially designed for children with top-quality material so that they begin their experience in wrestling with the sport on the right foot. They’re produced with a mesh upper, synthetic leather and synthetic suede overlays. These materials maintain a high-quality look while also providing super flexibility. The shoe also has an elastic ankle strap to give the kid a lockdown fit.

Men’s Varner Wrestling Shoes

This shoe provides great traction. The shoes do this by including medial and lateral drive points on the heel and forefoot, it also has a rubber outsole to help you possess traction in any direction. They also include a mesh upper to help your feet stay cool while you’re on the mat, giving you maximum comfort and helping you stay focused on winning your opponent.

Conclusion

Wrestling shoe are shoes worn by wrestlers to help them gain traction on wrestling mat, it also look like a basketball shoe but it is unique in it’s own category, there are two types of wrestling shoes the spilt sole and non split sole shoes. There are few examples of wrestling shoes for both adults and children. For example, mens’ Varner wrestling shoe, Boys Matflex 6 Wrestling Shoes, Men’s Aggressor 4 Wrestling Shoes among others.