There may be something in that Shane.
My part-time job for a few years when I was at University was working at the Athlete’s Foot. They take sneakers pretty seriously, and we had a heap of training on running mechanics and which shoes suited which foot type. There was a huge range of running shoes, and you could almost always find a shoe that suited a customer’s foot and requirements.
Things might have moved on, but the technology for footy boots wasn’t anywhere near as advanced in respect of support and cushioning. This is understandable as you are running on grass, and stability of the boot is much more important that cushioning for footy players. That said, I’m not sure footy boots are really designed for 90kg guys like Tabs running 15km a game on increasingly firm surfaces (let alone all the training). Further, if you’re locking players into sponsorships, the options for fit – which is probably the most important thing - decline sharply.
Two examples came to mind from Freo, though I’m not sure both are true. I remember Freo custom-making some boots for Sandi after his foot injury, and I remember a story that after Ballas had his foot injuries he wasn’t allowed to wear screw in studs and instead had to always wear molded soles, which is why he tended to fall over a lot.
Where clubs are looking for an extra 1%, figuring out which shoes players should wear seems like a good place to invest some time.
