How To Choose Pickleball Shoes – 8 Proven Tips & Tricks

It’s everyone’s wish to open the browser, go to the desired website, and pick up the best pickleball shoes. Do you think it’s the right scenario? If you shop this way, there might be chances to pick up the wrong pair of pickleball shoes and regret later. Don’t waste your hard-earned money without knowing how to choose pickleball shoes.

Remember that Pickleball sports need sturdy, high-quality rubber sole shoes with enough cushioning and durability. The material, cushioning, and other things depend on certain other factors such as the Pickleball shoes manufacturing brand, insole, outsole, rubber type, padding, and cushioning.

Tips to choose the right court shoes for pickleball

So, if you want to learn more about how to choose pickleball shoes for men and women, stay on this blog. We have discussed everything from material type to quality and narrow to extra wide. Let’s begin!

Risk of Wearing Wrong Pickleball Shoes

Do you need special shoes for Pickleball? The answer is yes. Playing Pickleball with unsuitable and wrong shoes is equal to putting yourself in trouble. Wrong pickleball shoes can make you feel hurting, lack of traction, zero support, and similar issues. Recall that a good pickleball shoes provides optimized traction and increased court grip whether you play indoors or outdoors. You can Pick up the right pickleball shoes from our top-reviewed products.

Furthermore, blindly picking up the shoes can cause strain, sprain, and serious injuries. The most common injuries are knee pain, ankle problem, leg alignment, and heel pain. To cut a long story short, buying reliable pickleball shoes that support your feet, provide easy lateral movements, and prevent injuries is crucial. Therefore, always invest in the right pair having foot support, high-quality insoles, rubber outsole, enough padding, traction, and under your budget.

Why Do I Need Pickleball Shoes?

The simple answer of this query is to get traction, easy lateral movements, comfortability, and snug fit while playing on the court. The right shoes make you stand out of other players on the court, providing excellent gameplay and performance. Remember that pickleball shoes are specially designed, keeping the players’ requirements and Pickleball’s dynamics in mind.

How did you get high performance with these shoes? Recall that they are designed to give support, free movement, good grip, and snug fit. Similarly, you get complete safety while playing on the court (Indoor and outdoor). Do you know why safety is necessary? The primary reason is that pickleball sports have high lateral and quick movements. That’s why extra security is necessary to keep your feet snug tight and secure without disturbing the overall performance.


How To Choose Pickleball Shoes – Helpful Tips

Now increase responsiveness, land on the court smoothly, and ace the Pickleball with the right shoes. We have listed the crucial considerations from Pickleball professionals, medical experts, and researchers.

Where Do You Want To Play: Indoor vs. Outdoor

Knowing where you want to play, indoors or outdoors, is important. It defined the shoes’ quality, material, and other important things. Usually, lighter soles, thin outsoles, and soft shoes are suitable for indoor Pickleball. The reason is the indoor courts’ sleek material and require lightweight shoes with soft outsoles in indoor pickleball shoes.

On the other hand, outdoor courts are built with concrete, having hard surfaces. Similarly, you also have to take care of the weather conditions such as winds, temperature, season, and more. Outdoor pickleball shoes are usually made from hard material with thick soles for durability. They have more cushioning to bear the shocks due to the outdoor court’s hard surface.

Similarly, some brands manufacture universal shoes suitable for indoor and outdoor courts. However, we recommend you buy specialized shoes where you want to play (Indoor or Outdoor). Undoubtedly, it increases the overall performance and a specialized gear is always better than the universal ones

Optimal Comfort and Traction

Whether you play indoors or outdoors, a perfect grip is the key to success. It’s usually provided by the shoes’ traction and overall comfort. Remember that Pickleball involves high lateral movements (360-degrees) and quick direction changes. Therefore, always buy pickleball shoes with optimal comfort and traction.

Your Playing Style

The shoe selection also depends on your playing style. Sometimes you might not be good at quick movements and like to use soft outsole instead of tha hard one. Suppose you don’t know your playing style and are a beginner at Pickleball. You can still know your style by playing indoors and outdoors for a few days and buy accordingly.

Breathability & Support

Support is the major requirement for the pickleball shoes because you can’t perform on the court without them. Do you know which shoes are supportive? When shoes have enough padding on the sides and cushioning inside to give a smooth accommodation, it means they are supportive.

Similarly, breathability is very important; otherwise, your feet will sweat during summer. It also causes a foul smell inside the shoes. Therefore, always buy breathable shoes with high-quality mesh to remain sweat-free even for extended play.

Fitting & Size

Fitting is important because you can’t even make lateral movements freely without a snug fit. Always buy accurately fit shoes; otherwise, your feet will move inside the shoes, decreasing overall performance. It’s also related to the foot’s size because a perfect size provides accurate fit without any issues. Remember that some brands manufacture narrow shoes; therefore, order a little bigger size than your standard shoe’s size.

Material and Overall Construction

High-quality construction material increases the durability of pickleball shoes. Usually, a quality shoe’s outsole is usually crafted from high-density rubber to bear the shocks easily. The rubber provides a reasonable shock absorption up to a few millimeters. Likewise, the EVA cushioning gives a comfortable accommodation to the shoes. Therefore, always buy high-quality, high-density, shoes with proper lining and construction.

Cleaning

Taking care of the pickleball shoes is necessary because no one wants to invest in shoes every week. Therefore, read the cleaning guide for your selected shoes and always buy machine-washable ones. This way, you will get quality and easy cleaning of the shoes. It’s also necessary for longevity.

Warranty & Budget

Last but not least, always pick up shoes with outsole and insole warranty. It’s helpful to replace the outsole or insole, if broken within a few days. Warranty also shows the authenticity and quality of the product. Meanwhile, don’t always go for expensive shoes  because many affordable shoes offer longevity and high performance comparable to expensive shoes. Therefore, always go according to your pocket.


Watch the video for better understanding:

A Few Maintenance Tips For Pickleball Shoes

Suppose you have picked up your desired pickleball pair; here are a few tips to keep them clean and maintained for long lasting performance.

  • Always replace the outsole or insole when you detect some hole or something like that. You can also repair them with glue or recommended material.
  • It’s good to clean your shoes at least weekly with a wet towel and brush for better performance.
  • Don’t always play with a single pair. Switch between two or more pairs if you are a regular pickleball player.
  • Never put the shoes in extreme sunlight or heat because it can increase the wear and tear.
  • After playing Pickleball, put the shoes out to dry.

Conclusion

Learning how to choose the pickleball shoes is necessary to get value for your money. In our experience, optimal comfort, traction, and high-quality construction are the key components of quality pickleball shoes. Other requirements are optional and completely depend on your needs and requirements. We recommend always making a list of requirements after reading this blog and shopping accordingly. It’s good to prevent shipping errors and further regrets.

FAQs

How do I choose pickleball shoes?

Look for the support, tractional, optimal cushioning, and overall foot support and choose your first pair. You can also care for optional things such as color, fitting, size, breathability, etc.

Do pickleball shoes make a difference?

Definitely, specialized pickleball shoes make a difference of performance on the court, providing cushioning, comfort, stability, and increased energy return. That’s why we always recommend you buy specialized shoes for indoor and outdoor Pickleball.

Can I wear running shoes for Pickleball?

No, we don’t recommend you wear running shoes for playing Pickleball as they are designed for walking purposes. Pickleball shoes are specially designed to give you optimal support and traction on the court which running shoes can’t provide.

Mike Brown

Mike Brown is a passionate pickleball enthusiast and the driving force behind Sportstly, the ultimate destination for in-depth pickleball shoe and accessory reviews. With years of experience on the court, Mike has a keen eye for selecting the perfect gear to enhance your pickleball game. His dedication to providing insightful, well-researched content ensures that pickleball players of all levels can make informed decisions. When he's not analyzing the latest products, you can find Mike enjoying a competitive game of pickleball or sharing his expertise with the pickleball community. Trust Mike to serve up the best advice for your pickleball needs.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *