An article of footwear having a sole that provides friction between the playing surface and the player's foot. In some embodiments, the article footwear includes a sole having a plurality of elongated studs in the heel region in addition to a back lateral stud having a rounded or circular shape located in the back lateral area of the heel.

An article of footwear having a sole that provides friction between the playing surface and the player's foot. In some embodiments, the article footwear includes a sole having a plurality of elongated studs in the heel region in addition to a back lateral stud having a rounded or circular shape located in the back lateral area of the heel.

Various embodiments for a traction element used with athletic shoes having a stud body with a metal insert that extends axially from the stud body and methods for manufacturing such traction elements are disclosed.

A sole portion for an item of footwear having a plurality of cleat systems, cleats, or plate structures that dissipate force by deflecting, deforming, displacing or otherwise shifting under selected force, or by facilitating cleat movement around a radial line during ground engagement.

A cleat assembly for a shoe comprising an anchor for anchoring to the shoe, a cleat, a first biasing member circumscribing the anchor and engaged with the cleat, and a second biasing member biasing the first biasing member. The second biasing member can directly engage the first biasing member or a bushing that circumscribes the anchor. So constructed, the cleat assembly provides multiple degrees of freedom. That is, the cleat assembly provides effective axial shock absorbance coupled with 360? tilting of the cleat for enhancing a user's ability to suddenly change direction when wearing a shoe equipped with the cleat assembly, thereby minimizing stress and impact on muscles, joints and ligaments and enhancing the performance of athletes wearing such shoes.

An article of footwear may include an upper configured to receive a foot and a sole component fixedly attached to a bottom portion of the upper. The sole component may include a baseplate having a bottom surface. The sole component may also include an arrangement of ground engaging members extending downward from the bottom surface of the baseplate. The baseplate may further include a reinforcing shank arrangement including a plurality of reinforcing strips formed of a different material than portions of the baseplate adjacent the reinforcing strips, wherein at least one of the reinforcing strips forms at least a portion of a base platform from which at least one of the ground engaging members extends.

An athletic shoe includes a sole having one or more anchors, a protrusion attachable to each of the anchors, and a releasing system adapted to release the protrusions from the anchors when a predetermined condition is experienced by the sole. In one version, the releasing system includes a portion of the protrusion that is receivable in the anchor and wherein the portion and the anchor are magnetically attracted to one another. In one version, the releasing system includes a sensor that detects a condition, and the releasing system causes the protrusion to be released from the anchor when the condition exceeds a predetermined level.

A cleat assembly for a shoe comprising an anchor for anchoring to the shoe, a cleat, a first biasing member circumscribing the anchor and engaged with the cleat, and a second biasing member biasing the first biasing member. The second biasing member can directly engage the first biasing member or a bushing that circumscribes the anchor. So constructed, the cleat assembly provides multiple degrees of freedom. That is, the cleat assembly provides effective axial shock absorbance coupled with 360? tilting of the cleat for enhancing a user's ability to suddenly change direction when wearing a shoe equipped with the cleat assembly, thereby minimizing stress and impact on muscles, joints and ligaments and enhancing the performance of athletes wearing such shoes.

An article of footwear may include a first ground engaging member extending substantially downward from a baseplate, the first ground engaging member may have a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape in a substantially horizontal plane, the first ground engaging member having a first sidewall edge, a second sidewall edge, and a third sidewall edge forming vertices of the substantially triangular cross-sectional shape. In addition, a first sidewall may have a concave portion that is concave in the substantially horizontal plane. Further, the first ground engaging member may be disposed proximate a peripheral edge of the outer member with the first sidewall edge disposed opposite the concave portion of the sidewall, and the first sidewall edge oriented facing toward the peripheral edge. Also, the concave portion of the first sidewall may be oriented in a substantially lateral direction, facing away from the peripheral edge of the outer member.

A traction element arrangement for a sole structure of an article of footwear is described. Traction elements of a first group are associated with a lateral side of the sole structure. Traction elements of a second group are associated with a medial side of the sole structure. Traction elements of the second group include multiple medial rotational traction elements that each have a plurality of individual traction elements arranged in a circular grouping. Each circular grouping is a different size to provide more or less rotational movement to the associated portion of the sole structure. In one embodiment, the shape of the traction elements corresponds to the shape of the circular grouping.