Cheer Shoe Lifespan: When Should You Get New Shoes?

We see people wearing cheerleading shoes that are legit falling apart all the time and it makes us cringe every time! It is not okay to be wearing those! It’s just not!

Here’s a Cheerleading fact for you all.

Nearly 37,000 cheerleaders visit the emergency room every single year. 37,000!! Seriously just crazy. Think we’re joking? Check out {these} crazy stats on cheer injuries.

Being safe while cheering should always be the top priority and when you wear shoes that are falling apart, don’t fit properly, or aren’t actually cheer shoes, you could get seriously hurt. Wearing the proper attire and shoes is the first step to avoiding injuries.

When we tell cheerleaders just like you that they need new shoes, we always hear the same thing.

“But, they’re so comfy still!”
“Theyre still good, I fixed them with duct tape”
“I’m good, I’ll just tie them tighter”

No. No. No. No. Just no. We know that your shoes are your babies and breaking in a new pair is the worst but you need to let go eventually! Keep reading below to know the signs of dead shoes and why it is so important to replace them.

The first indication is with the midsole of the shoe and it is probably the hardest part of the shoe to actually see physical signs of wear, probably all you feel is the broken-in comfort. Let’s start by answering the first question. What is the midsole and why is it so important?

To put it simply, the midsole is the comfy shock absorbing material that sits in between the sole of the shoe and your insole. It’s the thing that protects your body on impact and supports your foot in its range of motion. After a certain amount of time, that material breaks down and no longer able to do its job of supporting you and your feet.

So now think about how much pressure and force you are putting on your body each and every single time you land with no cushion under you. Think knee and hip injuries, shin splints, muscle tears and strains etc. No good!

If you can’t see the midsole, then how are you supposed to know when it is no good anymore? By keeping track of how long you have had them. Typically, midsoles tend to wear down after 45-60 hours of aerobic dance activity. For cheerleading shoes, that time frame is most likely less because of all the stunting, tumbling, and jumping you do. That’s a lot of impact for your shoes to take day and day out.

Check out this math for a sec. If you cheer for 1 hour a practice X 3 times a week = 3 hours x 15 Weeks = 45 hours = Just slightly over 3 months…so now think about when you practice more than 3 hours a week. Crazy!

The second indication are the lace loops ripping. This is unfortunately happens quite a bit with cheerleading shoes. Annoying when it happens, we know, but totally normal.

One reason is simply because the shoe broke. When shoes are manufactured in mass quantities, unfortunately a damage like this is bound to happen with a handful of them. When it happens, please don’t think it’s a minor fix by just skipping that one eyelet when you lace them. It causes your feet to lose out on the support it needs.

The second reason it could be happening is because the shoe could have stretched out too much and now you are pulling your laces too tight. We know, you like your shoes tight especially if you’re a flier. Which is totally fine! BUT here’s the point we are trying to make: when you first bought your shoes, they probably fit great, right? Well, as you wear them they stretch out and when they stretch out they no longer are supporting your feet as well as they should be. This is the bad part!

If your shoe doesn’t hold your foot and support it anymore then this is going to cause injuries. AKA lots of rolled ankles, knee problems, even simple tripping over your shoes because they are now too big. This is not good guys.

SO, moral of the story, when you start to notice that you are tying your shoes tighter and tighter, it’s probably time for a new pair. You should also look into what size you are getting as well. If you are tying your shoes super tight from day one, look to see if the smaller size might be better for you. Remember how much they stretch!

Lastly, peeling toes. This is another one we see a lot. A LOT. We’ve also seen a lot of at home fixes for it including white duct tape around the toe, nail glue to fix during practice, and even a shoe lace. Please don’t do this! The toe peeling is pretty normal depending on the style and the amount of wear you have put on the shoes. Plus if you’re a toe dragger when you cheer, toe peeling is VERY common. But unfortunately once it starts happening, it will only get worse and it will become a safety issue. Tripping, falling stunts because the base had her fingers on the peeling part and can’t get a stable hold, etc.

Any of these problems sound familiar to you? We’re sure at least one of these things has happened to you at some point in your cheerleading careers. We hope now that you know the importance of your cheerleading shoes, you will take better care of them.

So just trust us, let go of your emotional bond with your cheer shoes and replace them, we are your cheer experts after all. ;)

Do you any questions that we didn’t talk about here? Or do you have a personal experience that would help prove our point? We would love to hear from you!

Call us anytime at 877-200-4944 or email us at customerservice@cheerandpom.

Thanks for stopping by!