EM “Not everyone has perfect feet”
The national team uses an oven for football boots
Status: 15:41 | Reading time: 3 minutes
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A black box is accompanying the German national team at this European Championship. It is an oven for football boots. The DFB stars, like many others, swear by the effectiveness of the device. The manufacturer reports happy calls from the players.
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Many football professionals swear by it. A company from Konstanz has developed a warm-up device for football boots. According to the manufacturer, the oven-like box preheats the boots so that they can adapt perfectly to the foot.
“The material becomes softer and more supple and adapts to the shape of the foot,” said Alexander May from the company k-tech, which developed the device called Formbase around 30 years ago and sells it worldwide. “This speeds up the breaking-in process, which can often be very painful due to blisters and pressure points.”
According to BILD, the German national team, which will face Spain this Friday at the European Championships in Stuttgart (6 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker), also swears by the shoe heater. Photos show offensive player Leroy Sané putting his football boots in the heater before training. The best compliment is the positive feedback from the players, reported May. “When the players call and say, I really need this.” That happens, for example, when professionals move to clubs without a form base.
The black ovens are located directly at the training ground of the German national team
Source: Dennis Brosda/BILD
The Konstanz-based company’s customers include clubs such as Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Other well-known clubs also consider the oven to be an insider tip for treating blisters and pressure points. The device is necessary because the players get new shoes every six weeks or so. “They regularly break in new shoes,” says 40-year-old May.
It must be 75 to 80 degrees
According to May, the oven was originally developed in the 1990s for winter sports, “to adapt the thermoformable materials of ski or snowboard boots.” Over time, the Formbase has also established itself in other sports – such as cycling, ice hockey and American football. Around 500 devices are now sold each year. Since the company was founded, the number has been 30,000.
The invention from Lake Constance is sought after according to the manufacturer
Source: dpa/-
According to the manufacturer, a synthetic leather shoe should be put in the oven for three minutes. Full-leather shoes for five minutes, as May explains. The temperature is 75 to 80 degrees. After that, the shoe can be put on the foot. The Formbase does not work much differently than a normal convection oven. There is a timer on the control panel for three and five minutes. As soon as the device is ready, the bell rings.
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The oven is not a fad, it really works, stressed May. “Not everyone has perfect feet, everyone has problems of some kind.” It also works with hiking boots, and even business shoes can be brought into shape with the oven. “It doesn’t make sense with soft running shoes.”
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There are currently no competitors on the market. An attempt to copy it from Asia failed. A device costs between 500 and 850 euros. The clubs are now coming on their own. The oven has proven itself.
