Hot Shot Gels Review
Soccer shoes are getting lighter and lighter, which means that they are also getting thinner and thinner. Since soccer shoes are getting thinner, the amount of foot injuries is getting higher, which is exactly what the Hot Shot Gels are looking to change.
The whole concept behind the Hot Shot Gels is to up the amount of protection that you wouldn’t normally get from a pair of soccer shoes. Essentially, Hot Shot Gels are rectangular pieces of fairly soft gel that is designed to sit on top of the foot, generally where the laces are, to provide extra protection against direct impact, like getting stepped on. The concept sounds great, and it serves a purpose, but it does alter the overall feel of the shoe.
The rectangular gels are made to sit either, under the laces and on top of the tongue of the boot, or directly on top of your foot. One side of the gel has a slightly sticky finish, to stick to whatever surface it is applied too, while the other side is a matte finish. Like I said, the gel is softer than I would have expected it to be, and are 0.2-inches thick, so there is some bulk to it. While you won’t notice it when just running, you will notice a difference in feel on the ball. I would describe the feel as a dampening of the impact. It adds some cushion to the ball on impact, which is good, but there is also a slight loss of feel, which some may not go for. Another thing worth mentioning is that the Hot Shot Gels are most suited to soccer shoes with central lacing systems. If you have a boot with offset lacing, you can’t really put the Hot Shot Gels in the laces, and if you wear it on your foot instead, generally the shoe will not fit properly, due to extra bulk.
The Hot Shot Gels come in 3 sizes, small, medium and large, so you can pick a size that will suit your foot size. They range in pricing from $10 to $12, depending on your size, so it isn’t a big investment if you are looking to just give this product a try. Would I say that this is a product that everybody should wear for the sake of safety, no. I feel that the people who are wearing thin soccer shoes realize that they are putting themselves at risk for the sake of having a particular feel. I don’t see a need to put this shoe on a thin soccer shoe to protect yourself, mainly because if you are worried about being protected out on the field, you shouldn’t be wearing thin soccer shoes in the first place. Where I do see this products value is for young kids or for older players who are looking for some kind of recovery protection. If you have suffered a foot injury, the Hot Shot Gels can provide just that little bit of padding to keep you in the game. Of course some would argue that the injury may have been prevented should the player had been wearing the Hot Shot Gels in the first place, but like I said, soccer shoes are all about feel, and some people do not like to tamper with what they like. Is this a product that is for everyone? The simple answer is no, but it serves a purpose and I truly believe that it is a product that can benefit a lot of soccer players in preventing injury.
Final Score 8 out of 10
