When you first start doing martial arts training on mats, you probably don’t realize that you need grappling socks. However, after a while, you will realize that you need good traction.
At that point, you might also have experienced mat burns because doing these training sessions barefoot can be painful and cause cuts. Obviously, you want to avoid them as well and these grappling socks below can provide these and improve your footwork. These are also really affordable!
I researched many grappling socks on the market and checked out forums and I also have done many of my MMA training sessions with grappling socks. According to these, I gathered the best grappling socks on the market and below you can find the reviews of them and my experiences.
Note: All of the grappling socks below have sizing information on product pages and have good fitting rates.
1. RDX Neoprene Ankle Brace Socks
Durability: 9.4 / 10.0
Comfort: 9.8 / 10.0
Best Place to Buy: Amazon
Exclusive Features
- Good protection from cuts
- Extra arch support
- Good moisture wicking qualities
- Suitable for long training sessions
- Many size selections
RDX Neoprene Socks actually provide ankle support and obviously do what socks do. Many people on forums also say that they feel more confident with it since it also provides ankle support. Also keep in mind that, thanks to the material quality and design it actually provides you to feel “natural”. It provides a snug fit and it doesn’t bother you while you are rolling on the mats.
Neoprene and rubber simply do not slip on mats and as you may know, neoprene wicks sweat incredibly well.
I love this British Brand since it always produces quality products (MMA headgears, gloves etc.) with good prices and RDX Neoprene Ankle Braces Socks is no exception! If you are interested, click here to view more details about it. Also, it has three sizes and detailed sizing information so you can make sure that it will be a right fit for your foot.
I only heard and read good things about this model and it should be your definite first choice.
2. Ring to Cage MMA Grappling Training Socks
Durability: 9.2 / 10.0
Comfort: 9.8 / 10.0
Exclusive Features
- Good protection
- Stretches well
- Ergonomic design and light
- Suitable for long training sessions
- Incredibly popular
This one uses rubber for grip and as you may know, good boxing shoes also use rubber for traction and it works just fine. With that, the sole of this sock is made of neoprene and it is sturdy as well. It covers heel part and it is flexible.
Thanks to the material quality and design, this sock is light and it is actually one of the gears which directly affect your training performance positively.
As a side note, apparently many people on Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling forums (wrestling forum) just love wearing Ring to Cage MMA Grappling Training Socks and many wrestlers wear it under the wrestling shoes. So it is quite versatile and if you do training for other sports such as wrestling or boxing, you can also wear Ring to Cage under your shoes. Also, when you do MMA training (purely striking, grappling, sparring), you can wear these socks under your shin guards.
Right now, my page can’t show the picture, but seriously it looks really cool and you can check it on the product page. You can also get your training socks according to your shoe size on the product page.
3. ROLL HARD MMA Grappling Training Socks
Durability: 9.2 / 10.0
Comfort: 9.0 / 10.0
Exclusive Features
- Good protection from cuts
- Ergonomic design
- Good moisture wicking qualities
- Suitable for long training sessions
Again, I am really sorry because there is no image available for this product on my site however you can check out here for the detailed images. You can also choose this one according to your shoe size as well.
Alright, let’s talk about the qualities. First of all, thanks to the material quality (neoprene) you can train with Roll Hard MMA Grappling Socks around 2 years.
My Experiences: Alright, this brand is not a popular one, however, I trained (grappling dummy and sparring) with it on MMA mats for two years and have really good experiences with it! As a side note, I am one of the people who do sharp movements during my MMA training and I always slip whenever I am barefoot during sessions. But I did not experience it at all with these grappling socks. Considering my experiences, I can actually recommend it to everyone who does BJJ or MMA training! Seriously you can roll hard on mats with Roll Hard MMA Grappling Socks.
Thanks to neoprene, it also wicks sweat quite well and you can wash it in a washing machine.
Brand Overviews: I trained with two different grappling sock models of RDX in an MMA gym in Samut Prakan, Thailand and even though the weather had a great amount of humidity these wicked the sweat well and both of them provided enough traction. According to my experiences, you can go with RDX with no problem whatsoever. As I said above, I also rolled on MMA mats quite some time with Roll Hard and my sparring buddy also used another model of this brand and he was completely satisfied with the protection from cuts which can occur while doing ground work on mats. So even though it is not a popular brand, I can say that you can give Roll Hard a shot. As a side note, I know that some of you may ask why Combat Sports is not on this list. Actually, I got very mixed feedback (good and bad) from my MMA trainers so I just did not include it.
Important Note: Some sock types (yoga, beach etc.) may not be good for martial arts (MMA and BJJ training). Because some of these don’t have solid construction and if you wear them, your foot will probably slip on BJJ mats all the time! Also, other sock types and grappling socks actually don’t have any price differences so what is the point of getting yoga socks for your BJJ or MMA sessions?
Final Thoughts
If you don’t want to use a Band-Aid just after a couple of sessions on MMA mats, you need to use good grappling socks, period. These also improve your training performance drastically. Considering that you are doing martial arts (MMA and BJJ) training, it is just vital. With that, according to my research and experiences in Martial Arts gyms, thanks to good material quality, RDX provides good traction and this one also provides ankle support! If these are appealing to you, definitely have a look at RDX Neoprene on Amazon. I really hope that you enjoyed reading the reviews of the best grappling socks and if you have anything to share or any questions about a specific brand or model, just leave a comment below.
Never really thought about wearing socks for doing martial arts. Usually you see people going barefoot. It makes more sense to protect your feet! Great article and thanks for the info!
There can be infections, fungus if you don’t wear socks on mats. After all, while grappling dirt, sweat.. get into mats and many BJJ gyms are not particularly good at cleaning mats.
Hi Furkan, what a great post! You really know your stuff when it comes to sportswear and I always learn something new when I come to your website.
I like the fact that most of these are not only good quality, but reasonably priced too. I can see how important it would be to choose a pair that wick sweat well as this is an area that most of us sweat from the most.
My nephew who is 14 is thinking of getting into MMA so I will be recommending these to him. Do these come in kids sizes? And are there any certain brands you would recommend for a beginner?
Thanks
You don’t want to your feet to slip right? 😉 So it is crucial that grappling socks wick it ultra-fast.
Some of them have small sizes which are suitable for kids. No, I don’t recommend a brand. All of them can be usable by starters as these basically provide the same things which are wicking the moisture and protecting feet. The only difference is the material quality which determines the longevity.