Which Hard Yards grip sock should I use?

6 Mar

We get a lot of questions over on Instagram about the Hard Yards range however we most frequently hear, ‘I love the look of your grip socks, but I’m not sure which one is best for me, could you guys explain the difference?’.

While we aim to give you the low-down in the shop, sometimes a few more words are needed, so I’ll lay it all out here.

For reference you can go to the product pages for the Original 365 and Performance Bowler’s socks here.

1 - The Grip

This is the only aspect that is identical between the socks.

We use the same medical grade silicone both inside and outside. This ensures that your foot grips the sock, and the sock grips your shoe, giving you maximal stability and power transfer with each and every step.

Taking things a step further, you will find that our grips are ‘offset’.

This means that they alternate inside-outside-inside-outside along the length of the sock (see Fig. 1). This design means that when you step down on the grips, they align into a single row and work together to fully lock you in (see Fig. 2). The extra benefit of this alignment is that they don’t sit on top of each other, which would create uncomfortable pressure points. This design is patent-protected and sets us apart as the best-in-class grip sock on the market!

— __ — __ Fig.1 (Hard Yards ‘offset’ grips)

— — — — Fig. 2 (Hard Yards grips align together when you stand up)

They can feel a little strange when you first put them on. However, once you warm up and the silicone reaches body temperature, you’ll forget they are even there, but you’ll notice the impact on your game!

2 - The Weight & Cushioning

The Original 365 sock as created as a utility sock and can be used in any sporting endeavour. It is a mid-weight sock with our standard levels of cushioning around the toes and heel, but it has more substance than you would find on a generic sports sock. This is a really nicely balanced sock, with a reassuring feel, keeping you comfortable for as long as you need.

By contrast, the Performance Bowler’s sock (right bottom ->) was designed specifically to reduce the high impacts felt in the feet and toes of cricket bowlers when they plant their front foot down at the end of the run up. Players were telling us that their toes were hitting the inside of their shoes and some even cut holes in the ends off to prevent injury! To meet this need, we combined our double-sided medical-grade silicone grip with a heavy-gauge cotton fibre, increased the thread count and doubled the level of cushioning over the toe cap and the heel. This means the sock feels much more solid and robust on your feet, but with minimal added weight. The grip eliminates any forward travel and the cushioning keeps things snug and supported. While it was designed for cricket bowlers, we have found that many other athletes, big and small, ladies and gents like to use the Performance Bowler’s sock for these added benefits. To give you something to compare it to that you might have worn before, it is somewhere between a mid-weight general sports sock and a performance hiking sock.

3 - Ventilation
Now, to account for the heavier knit of the Performance Bowler’s sock (right bottom ->), we designed custom air vents over the top of the foot. This ensures that you get all the added benefits described above, without overheating.

The Original 365 sock (right top ->) has our standard slim vents to keep your feet at the optimum temperature.

4 - Ankle support

You’ll notice that the ankle area is slightly thicker and textured compared to the rest of the sock and has a more defined shape.

At this crucial bio-mechanical point, we’ve added 2 things:

Extra padding to ensure that any pressure points with the tops of your boots or any straps are minimised.
An engineered 3D-twisted honeycomb weave creates a mild compression effect around your ankle joint providing added stability and support. It expands as you mobilise but keeps things nice and snug around the ankle.

The Performance Bowler’s sock has both of these features the full 360-degrees around the ankle.

While the Original 365 sock leaves the front open for better and an even greater range of movement in the joint.

5 - Aesthetics

Finally, a subtle point.

They do look similar, but you’ll notice that the Performance Bowler’s sock has double the number of ‘track lines’ as the Original 365 to reflect the heavier and more dense knit.

For those of you with a keen eye, you might have even spotted below our internal details at the cuff and the braille markers on the back that help our vision-impaired athletes give their best on the field!

Summary

These two socks were designed for quite different purposes however don’t let the ‘Bowler’s’ part of the name put you off from using them for other sports. We’ve found that basketball and squash players as well as weightlifters love the extra weight of the Performance Bowler’s Sock and reap the benefits on the court! However, if you are unsure where to start, we’d always reccommend the Original 365 Sock as your introduction to the Hard Yards tech.

Whichever you choose, you’ll always get the best in class grip to make sure that every step counts! If you’d like to read more about the tech behind the grip, you can read more here.

Grip

Dr Harry Carr