Football Boots
Review: Concave PT+ Soccer Boots
Over the past week and a half we’ve been testing the brand new Concave PT+ Firm Ground soccer boot from Concave Sports. This is the same professional grade shoe used by John O’Shea of Manchester United and the Republic of Ireland and Danny Webber of Portsmouth FC and formerly of the England Under-20 team.
Our trial consisted of one break-in session in which we ran some dribbling and shooting drills, one club training session, two pickup games and one winter club friendly. Given that it’s in the middle of winter where we are located, the fields that we played on were not in the best condition and at times wet and muddy. Nevertheless, the Concave PT+ cleats performed very admirably.
Soccer Boot Basics
Concave boots feature the company’s patented enlarged sweetspot, Shank Balance Stabilizer and MetaGuard. We’ll get to these in a bit. However, even without them the Concave PT+ is a great soccer shoe. It possesses all of the characteristics that one would expect from a high-end shoe — premium light weight leather, a quality ergonomic sole that is designed to match the shape of the foot, an instant snug fit and a great first touch. Without the extras, the PT+ could easily be compared with a classic such as the adidas Copa Mundial.
Aesthetically, the Concave PT+ is well-designed and definitely falls within the realm of soccer eye-candy. The use of well-placed lines on the boot’s body was, in our opinion, its best aesthetic feature.
In Game Performance
When wearing any new boot, soccer players require a game or two to get used to them. The Concave PT+ is certainly no different. Upon first using them, we noticed that they were extremely stable (even on our rough playing fields) and were readily able to execute very accurate inside and outside of the foot passing and trapping with minimal effort. The stability was particularly useful for trapping the ball and easing its momentum in situations where we had opposing defenders tight upon us. It also aided in maintaining control of the ball while dribbling.
While the Concave PT+ is not and does not claim to be a speedster’s boot like the Nike Vapor or Reebok Sprintfit Lite, we found that it was light and comfortable enough to make runs up the wings from the leftback and rightback positions with no worries. Enjoying the boot’s stability, it was then easy to execute one touch crosses into the box for our sometimes talented strikers.
Thus, of the Concave PT+’s marquee features, we found the Shank Balance Stabilizer to be the most immediately noticeable and useful in game situations.
The Sweetspot / MetaGuard Area
The Concave PT+’s enlarged sweetspot / MetaGuard complex is a feature of Concave soccer footwear that the firm places quite an emphasis on. This is for good reason, as we found the enlarged sweetspot to be extremely effective for quick and accurate shooting (including volleys and half-volleys), making lobbed passes, making low passes with the front of the foot and trapping highballs. It also acts as a nice guide for the ball when dribbling with the front of the foot. Think of the sweetspot / MetaGuard area as a large surface that slightly cups the ball to help you make better contact with the ball when striking it and acts as an extra layer of cushioning when trapping a ball with the top of the foot. It works so well that you feel as if you’re cheating at times. It’s a good thing the PT+ is FIFA-approved.
It should be noted that the enlarged sweetspot does take a bit of time to get used to for shooting or passing. The reason for this is that it seems to amplify the power with which you hit the ball. Without practicing with the PT+ for at least one training session will result in you shooting over the net or making long passes that fly past your intended target.
Durability
We’ve logged about six hours of training and game time in the PT+ in some unkempt fields thus far. While they show some signs of use and have lost the brand new soccer shoe look, they have held up quite well in spite of our abuse and them being stepped on a few times. We’ve seen none of the stretching and wrinkling of leather that often occurs with new boots. Everything on the shoes seems intact and ready for another game. Below is a picture of our pair Concave PT+ in its current state. This is definitely a well constructed product that should stand the test of time.
Final Thoughts
The Concave PT+ is a quality professional grade soccer boot. We found nothing lacking in it in terms of performance and think that it is a good boot for outfield players in all positions. At the same time, the PT+ does have the ability to improve your game via its stability mechanism (our favorite feature) and enlarged sweetspot. Again, practice is required to master the latter. Once the enlarged sweetspot is mastered, it will definitely improve your finishing, long passing and defensive clearances for intermediate to advanced players.
