How an Insole Helped Change My Son’s Football Fate

Recently, a Freeior customer shared a story with us about her son, one final football tryout, and a small change to his footwear during one of the most important weeks of his season.

We loved the story because it was not really about an insole magically turning someone into a better athlete. It was about a young player who had already spent months training, suddenly found himself with one last opportunity, and refused to give up.

Below is her story, lightly edited for clarity and readability.

One Week Earlier, He Had Been Told: “Maybe Next Time.”

Last Saturday, I sat on the sidelines watching my son run, sprint, and cut during his football tryout.

Near the end, the coach nodded, patted my son on the shoulder, and called him over for a quiet conversation.

A moment later, my son came running toward me. His face completely lit up.

I almost broke down in tears right there.

Because just one week earlier, that same coach had told him:

And this time, “next time” really mattered.

Three Months of Training Came Down to One Final Chance

My son had wanted to make the school football team since his freshman year.

He stayed after school to train, dragged me out of bed for weekend runs, and covered his bedroom walls with pictures of NFL players.

For this tryout alone, he had trained for about three months.

But when the first results came out, he walked through the front door without saying a word and dropped his backpack onto the couch.

The coach had been straightforward with him.

His first step was a little too slow. His acceleration was not quite where it needed to be. His cuts were not as sharp as some of the other players competing for the same position.

There would be one more scrimmage the following weekend.

Play well, and he still had a chance to earn his spot.

Fall short again, and that could be the end of his opportunity for the season.

For the next several days, he trained until dark.

But I could see it in his eyes. Seven days was not much time, and he knew it too.

He had the work ethic. He had the motivation. What he wanted more than anything was to feel quicker on that first step.

The Thursday-Night Discovery

The turning point came almost by accident.

On Thursday night, I was scrolling online when I came across Freeior Carbon Fiber Performance Insoles .

My first reaction was skepticism.

There are plenty of sports products online promising to make athletes faster, jump higher, or suddenly perform better. I did not expect an insole to replace training.

But what caught my attention was the material.

Instead of being just another soft foam insert, the Freeior product used a thin, rigid carbon fiber structure designed to sit underneath the shoe's original removable insole.

I started reading about carbon fiber insoles for sports, shoe stiffness, sprinting, and why carbon fiber had become such a major topic in performance footwear.

I figured it was worth trying.

Game Day: “The Bottom Feels Stiffer, but It’s Really Light.”

Before the scrimmage, I fitted the carbon fiber inserts underneath the removable insoles in his football shoes.

He put them on, took a few steps, bounced lightly on his feet, and stomped the ground a couple of times.

Once the game started, I immediately felt like something looked different.

His first few steps looked more decisive. He was getting into his stride quickly. His cuts looked sharper than they had the previous week.

During the scrimmage, he scored three touchdowns and made two important tackles.

Afterward, the coach pulled him aside and spoke with him for almost ten minutes.

On the drive home, my son looked over at me and said:

I just smiled.

Of course, I knew a pair of insoles could not take credit for everything that happened that afternoon.

My son had trained hard all week. His confidence was different. The pressure of knowing this was his last opportunity probably mattered too.

But whatever role the new setup played, he liked how his shoes felt — and most importantly, he played with confidence when it mattered.

Two Weeks Later

My son has now been training with the team for two weeks.

After practice, he sometimes comes home telling me that teammates have noticed how quickly he gets moving.

Looking back, what makes me happiest is not really the insole.

It is knowing that when he had one final chance, he did not give up.

He kept training. He kept looking for small things he could improve. And when his opportunity came, he was ready for it.

Sometimes the difference between “almost” and “I made it” is not one huge change.

Sometimes it is a hundred small ones.

How Do Carbon Fiber Insoles Actually Work?

The customer's story naturally raises a bigger question:

What can a carbon fiber insole actually change inside an athletic shoe?

The most useful scientific concept here is called longitudinal bending stiffness, often abbreviated as LBS.

In simple terms, longitudinal bending stiffness describes how strongly a shoe resists bending from heel to toe.

During sprinting, running, jumping, and pushing off, the front of the foot bends around the metatarsophalangeal joints — often called the MTP joints — where the toes meet the forefoot.

Adding a rigid carbon fiber element can increase resistance to this bending.

That is one reason carbon fiber performance insoles and carbon-plated footwear feel noticeably different from ordinary soft foam insoles.

What Does the Research Say About Carbon Plates and Jumping?

One of the classic studies in this field was conducted by researchers Darren Stefanyshyn and Benno Nigg.

The researchers inserted carbon fiber plates into footwear to increase bending stiffness and examined both running and jumping mechanics.

They found that the stiffer footwear reduced mechanical energy lost around the MTP joint during running and jumping.

In the vertical-jump portion of the research, jump height was significantly higher, with an average increase of approximately 1.7 cm in the tested group.

Importantly, however, the researchers did not conclude that the carbon fiber plate simply acted like a spring returning large amounts of stored energy.

Instead, the observed effect was associated with changes in joint mechanics and reduced energy loss.

Can Increased Shoe Stiffness Improve Sprint Performance?

This question is particularly relevant when discussing carbon fiber insoles for football, because football depends heavily on acceleration, short sprints, and the first few steps off the line.

A 2004 study tested 34 athletes using sprint footwear with different levels of bending stiffness.

On average, increasing footwear bending stiffness was associated with improved sprint performance.

But one finding is especially important:

The stiffness associated with the best performance was different for different athletes.

In other words, there is no scientifically established rule that says:

Individual biomechanics matter.

Body mass, foot mechanics, muscle characteristics, running technique, shoe construction, plate geometry, and sporting movement can all influence how a person responds.

What About Running Economy and Energy Efficiency?

Another commonly discussed benefit of carbon-plated footwear is running economy.

Running economy refers broadly to how much metabolic energy an athlete requires to maintain a given running speed.

In a 2006 laboratory study, researchers placed carbon fiber plates inside running shoes to increase longitudinal bending stiffness.

The researchers observed approximately a 1% metabolic energy saving in the stiffer condition compared with the control condition.

However, they also noted that the exact biomechanical mechanism responsible for the improvement was not fully understood.

Newer Research Adds an Important Caution

Carbon-plated running shoes have advanced dramatically since those early studies, and newer research gives us a more nuanced picture.

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 12 studies investigating footwear longitudinal bending stiffness.

Overall, increasing stiffness was associated with improved running economy.

But plate design mattered substantially.

In the review, curved plate footwear showed greater improvements than flat plate conditions. The results therefore cannot simply be transferred from highly engineered carbon-plated racing shoes to every flat removable carbon fiber insert.

Another study published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science examined the carbon-fiber plate inside Nike Vaporfly footwear. Researchers reduced the effectiveness of the plate but did not observe a significant difference in running economy.

This suggested that the performance characteristics of advanced footwear come from the interaction of several components — including geometry, foam, stiffness, and the carbon plate — rather than the plate acting alone.

So, Are Carbon Fiber Insoles Good for Football?

Football is different from steady-distance running.

A football player repeatedly accelerates, decelerates, cuts, jumps, plants, and changes direction.

There is currently far less peer-reviewed research directly studying removable carbon fiber football insoles during real football competition than there is research on running shoes and sprint footwear.

So the most scientifically responsible answer is:

Carbon Fiber Insoles for Football: Fit Matters

Performance is not only about materials.

Fit matters.

A rigid carbon fiber insert should normally sit underneath the shoe's removable original insole rather than directly against the foot.

The shoe also needs enough internal space to accommodate the additional layer without creating excessive pressure.

Athletes should test any significant change in footwear during training before using it in an important game or competition.

If an insert causes pressure, discomfort, numbness, instability, or negatively changes shoe fit, stop using it and reassess the setup.

The Bottom Line

The reason we wanted to share this customer's story was not to suggest that a pair of performance insoles can replace months of football training.

They cannot.

But equipment is part of sport.

Shoe fit, traction, weight, cushioning, stiffness, confidence, and feel underfoot can all influence an athlete's experience.

For this young football player, the Freeior carbon fiber insole became one part of a bigger week — a week defined by hard training, one final opportunity, and refusing to quit.

And for us, that is the part of the story worth remembering.