Just as swimming has its super-suits and tennis has its large-head racquets, football now has a new innovation designed here in Australia: the Concave football boot.
The idea is simple; enhance a players kicking accuracy by moulding a concave element onto a football boot to cup the ball rather than push it away. It’s been proven to improve a foot’s sweet spot by increasing the surface area, meaning better kicking power, better distance and better accuracy.
The idea has been 10 years in the making, and is finally ready to be launched by its Australian founders. Concave co-founder, Andrew Theoklitos, says the journey has been difficult, but has always trusted the technology.
“It’s been a challenge to make it a commercial reality,” he tells Neos Kosmos. “It’s one thing to have a concept, another thing to bring it to life.”
Andrew has come from a soccer background, managing teams like South Melbourne FC and the Young Socceroos. For him, it was about engaging his love of the sport and converting this passion into a cutting-edge product.
Surprisingly, the idea was actually born on the back end of some miss kicking in an AFL game, not soccer.
Clueless as to why only a few kicks were better than most, a player asked his engineer father what might be going wrong.
They discovered that the top part of a foot is shaped convex, and the ball shape is also convex. So, both were working against each other. They found if they reversed the shape of the upper foot to a concave shape, then the kick would compliment the ball by alleviating the force.
Andrew explains it with an egg analogy: “It’s pretty much like controlling an egg with a teaspoon. You don’t control it on the outside, it’ll roll off. But if you put it in the teaspoon you can control it.”
The boot has been trialled by some British Premier League players, including Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish. In Australia, Concave partner and Socceroo, Michael Peterson has been the official tester.
“Because it’s a football boot, we need the best of the best validating it,” says Theoklitos.
“Michael was one of those players that was very technical, he was renowned for being able to pass a good ball.”
Ambassadors for the boot also include Ron Barassi and James Hird, giving the boot the AFL seal of approval.
A lot has gone into the development of the boot outside the Concave technology. All comforts that footballers have come to expect have been addressed, like comfort, weight and the look.
With the product ready to be launched in Australia, the company is looking to market it to more than one sport.
“Now our focus, because it was an Australian invention, is on the Australian market for football as well as AFL,” Mr Theoklitos says.
The boot was even trialled for American NRL, with tests by Houston University finding that the boot produced an extra 0.5 seconds of hang time.
Signs are positive that Concave can convert A-league and AFL players nationally.
Major sport shops in Australia, including Sportsco and Sportsmart already stock Concave. You can also purchase direct via the online store at www.concave.com