So close

Under Armour have slowly but surely continued to increase their presence in the boot market. While they may not have the marketing power they once had, the brand deserves a lot of credit for still going in spite of their struggles. There were several years when I personally felt they would drop football boots completely, but I am glad they kept going. The Shadow line has probably been their best line up of speed boots they have made. While every model has their differences, there is very clear an evolutionary through line with the Shadow series. The Under Armour Shadow 3 Pro is possibly their most honed in speed boot, and while the boots are fairly simple in terms of what they offer, they are very clearly well thought out, except for two glaring spots.

Fit and Feel

Perhaps the nicest part of the Under Armour Shadow 3 Pro from out of the box is how high quality they feel in hand. The black part of this knit has this slight multi-colouring weaved into it, and it helps make the boot pop out more on feet in terms of looks. The Intelliknit upper is woven tightly and feels very durable in hand. Under Armour has obviously put lots of work to make the boot feel premium.

There is also this nice coating on the forefoot and heel which seems designed to not only provide some structural support in these areas but also to help protect the knit from wearing too quickly. This coating also has this slight grippiness to it, but we will cover how it feels on the ball later on. It is appreciated, though. Interestingly, the exposed knit in the midfoot feels structurally sound as well and provides a stable feeling throughout the middle of the boot yet at the same time is not overly tight.

The structure of the knit also has excellent lockdown, and again it is not overly tight. At the same time, the foot feels very secure in the boot. Part of this is also down to the excellent heel design, which seems to have the perfect amount of cushioning. I would go so far as to say that outside of the ASICS X Fly Pro 3 and the Mizuno Alpha 2, the Shadow 3 Pro has one of the best heels on the market when it comes to speed boots. I do not feel any hotspots the break in time for the heels was minimal.

Which brings us to the overall fit. The heel is excellent, the midfoot is great, and yet the forefoot feels just a bit overly wide and voluminous. It is a weird juxtaposition because the heel and midfoot fit appropriately snug but, in the forefoot, it seems to all fall apart. I do not think these boots are a bad option if you are looking for a slightly wider fitting speed boot, as the fit in the midfoot is fairly stretchy. But, for me it is just noticeable too wide. Which is a shame, because the rest of the boot fits me so well.

It does have to be acknowledged that the knit does break in quickly, even if the boot does not fit me quite right. It only took around an hour and a bit for the boots to feel fully ready to go. It is pretty pleasing that we have got to a place where we can have knit boots be durable without giving up the soft feel we need on the ball.

The insole is fairly simple, especially for an Under Armour boot, but I actually appreciate this because UA has a long history of over-engineering their insoles and midsole boards. This has gone from the bizarre lack of insoles in the Speedform where the cushioning was stitched into the midsole, to other boots like the older 4D Charged insoles on some of their older boots that were so cushioned they effected performance. So, while the Shadow 3 Pro has a more simple set up, it has enough cushioning to be comfortable.

For sizing, I went true to size and that is the way to go. For me, this means I went with a US 8.5/UK 7.5/JP 26.5/EU 42.

On The Ball

The Under Armour Shadow 3 Pro is a knit boot in all of the ways you would want and expect. What I mean by this is that the material has a thin feel on the ball while still providing good overall structure. Basically, it does not feel sloppy. Except for the fact that it does not fully fit me in the forefoot.

However, the overall touch on the ball is really nice and I can understand why Footloose Boots raves about the boots so much. The thin layering on the forefoot provides just an ever so slight grip on the ball but you do have to go looking for it. There is not really a pingy sensation on the ball, but this is down more to the softness of the knit rather than the thinness of the upper. Which again, is thinner than I expected it would be before I got the boots in hand.

It is a bit difficult for me to talk about the touch on the ball though, since the forefoot feels just wide enough that it feels like my foot is not properly secured in the front of the boot. In theory, the feeling of striking the ball should be really good in these boots because of the nicely balanced upper. In reality, I feel disconnected from the ball when striking it. I also have a similar detached feeling when dribbling with the ball – again something this boot feels like it would excel at if they properly fit my feet.

As regular readers of this blog will know, I like to control and move the ball around with the bottom of my foot. In the Shadow 3 Pro, it’s fine. There are not a lot of studs and because of that I do not have as much confidence using the bottom of the boot on the ball.

Grip

Under Armour has used this soleplate on their Shadow Pro series since their inception. It is not a bad soleplate, per se, but I think at this point it needs a rethink. The grip is good, but the awkward look of the stud layout is off-putting, and it is definitely not suitable for artificial grass surfaces. The blades themselves are also overly thin and while I do not experience stud pressure in the boots, on harder surfaces it can feel slightly weird in that I am often thinking if the weird stud layout will cause issues.

To the soleplate’s credit, there are no weird sensations when running in the boots. But I personally would have liked to have seen an evolution of the perfectly serviceable Spotlight soleplate rather than the revolution of this Shadow soleplate. Also, there has to be a rounded studded AG option at this point. It seems like laziness that there is not at this point and while I appreciate that UA Football does not have loads of money, they surely have enough to siphon some away from player sponsorships and towards developing a proper rounded studded plate for the Shadow 3 Pro.

Or they could at least offer the Magnetico soleplate as an option like they do for their sponsored players. In fact, I do not think I have seen a single sponsored UA player with the retail soleplate on their Shadow 3 Pros, which says something.

Conclusion

There is so much good stuff going on with the Under Armour Shadow 3 Pro from the excellent heel, great lockdown and premium knit. It is such a shame that not only do the boots not properly fit my foot, but that they do so in the forefoot so I cannot get a proper feel for the ball. Add that to the fact that the soleplate desperately needs to be changed means that Under Armour has a boot that is halfway there. I can absolutely understand why people love this boot so much, but sadly it is not for me. Still though, that knit is excellent.

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