Don’t you think it would be funny and disastrous to wear running shoes for playing soccer? We sure think that’s gonna be a crazy game. Likewise, someone playing padel cannot wear footwear that’s not appropriate to the game. Since many people confuse padel with hardcore tennis or platform tennis, it may be hard for a budding padel player to find and choose good padel shoes. So, how to choose Padel shoes?
Different skill levels require different needs as players move differently. Avoid wrong choices by not only looking at style, brand or price. It is especially important that you choose a shoe that offers enough grip, comfort and support for your foot. What you really want is a shoe you don’t feel, this would be perfect.
As a sport that requires lots of quick and swift footwork, padel shoes play a vital role in determining how successful your game will be! With this, we’d like to welcome you to our padel shoes buying guide. In this guide, we will help you explore all the practical tips for choosing shoes for this Mexican sport.
Table of Contents
What criteria should a good shoe meet?
When choosing shoes for sports, there’s always a personal preference, be it the brand, style, color, or design. Besides all that, you also need to take into account other features that elevate your overall performance. Here’s are 3 essential features that padel shoes need to have!
Grip
Mobility and grip are best friends but with a few conditions! With too much grip, you have a high chance of impairing your movement. You may also end up straining your knee.
On the other hand, if your shoes have insufficient grip, you will slip and fall on the court. Too little grip is also responsible for a slow response against your opponent’s hits.
Hence, finding a balance between too much and too little grip is key here. Just make sure there is a nice deep indentation and a rigid feel when you touch the outer sole of the shoes.
Damping
In general, shoes with damping allow a comfortable fit while reducing pressure on the foot. This is only possible with a good cushioning and damping system. With so many quick and varied movements, playing padel can get extremely hard if your shoes don’t have damping in them. Padel shoes need to have high cushioning with the midsole and innersole, offering maximum comfort.
Lateral Stability
Shoes meant for padel sport need to be supportive of lateral movements. Whether you move as an individual or as a pair, your feet will need sufficient stability for quick side-to-side movements. This is possible with regular padel shoes, too, but the ones that come with good lateral stability are your buddies! If not, you’re going to end up spraining your foot while doing such quick lateral movements.
Different types of soles
Sports gear experts usually classify padel shoes into three different soles that work differently in different types of courts. While choosing the best padel shoes, you also have to also look out for the type of sole that your shoe needs to have. We can categorize Padel shoes in 3 types of soles:
Herringbone
Tennis players playing on clay courts usually use shoes with herringbone soles, but nowadays, these soles have become common with padel too, since the sport has started gaining popularity. You can easily recognize it from its set of parallel lines that form a zig-zag pattern on the outer sole.
When it comes to the features of this sole, it wins the award for excellent grip and durability. The sole is made with wear and tear-resistant materials that often reduce abrasion as compared to other soles. For regular and advanced padel players, the herringbone sole is the go-to sole for their padel shoes.
Omni
The Omni soles are the ones that work best on an artificial grass carpet court. The “dots” on this type of sole distinguishes it from the other types of soles. These dots are deep enough for you to maintain a strong grip and not slip when you chase the incoming ball.
The Omni sole is good for tracks with rough surfaces, but it doesn’t make a good sole for sliding. This means you may find it difficult to reach far-away balls when you’re wearing omni sole padel shoes. On the other hand, omni soles offer better lateral displacement and come at a shockingly low price.
Omni / Herringbone hybrid
The Omni and herringbone mix sole is the combination of the previous two soles. It is also known as a mixed/hybrid sole.
While different brands make different patterns of this hybrid sole, you may find soles that are more omni on the frontal inner part of the sole and more herringbone pattern on the rest of the area of the sole.
Choose the correct size
Choosing the right size for your padel shoes is important to steer clear of sore feet and nail injuries. Like any other sports shoe, a padel shoe should not fit too tight nor too loose. The gap inside your shoes will affect the quick turns and stops that you intend to make. Therefore, choose the perfect size for your shoes or find the one that’s half a size larger in case you’re skeptical.
How much you should spend on padel shoes
Spending on padel shoes depends on how qualified you are as a player. As a professional player, you should stick to high-end brands for excellent performance. However, if you’re an entry-level player and want to get something in the affordable range, you can consider looking for discounts online shoe stores.
Gender, age, level
There is not much of a difference between men’s and women’s padel shoes in terms of price.
Naturally, a pair of padel shoes for younger players will be less expensive compared to adult shoes.
Once you start playing more often, as more than 2 times per week, more expensive shoes could be more interesting.
Brands
There are many brands that create shoes specifically for padel.
The best brands are often the ones that are in it for the longest. Most often those brands also make tennis shoes.
Adidas, Asics, Babolat, Bullpadel, K-Swiss, and Nike are all respectable brands and which would be an excellent choice.
Padel shoe lifespan
How to extend padel shoe lifespan?
To make sure your shoes live for their longest duration, keep them dry at all times and use them only when you play padel. Remember, the shoe lifespan does not only depend on the manufacturer’s quality of construction; it also depends on how well you take care of it.
How to know when to change padel shoes?
Well, the best way to figure out when to replace your padel shoes is by looking at the outsole of the shoes. If you see that the wear and tear of the shoes have affected the midsole, you need to change your shoes.
How often to change padel shoes?
As a rule of thumb, you need to get new pair of padel shoes every 6 months if you play hardcore padel 2-3 times a week.
But again, just keep an eye on the depth of the sole patterns, as these determine how you perform.
Conclusion
Finding shoes adapted for padel isn’t the easiest task. With so many similarities between tennis and padel shoes, it can be a tricky decision to stick to the one appropriate for your game.
It is very important that you buy padel shoes that support all the quick movements, sharp turns, and others. The only way to know the difference between tennis and padel shoes is to understand the sole. Hence, you have to consider three main things while choosing a padel shoe – grip, damping, and lateral stability.
