You tend not to get Mizuno in Scotland, even asics are quite rare but are slowly getting a foothold outside the runners market with their court shoes. Cheung could you suggest a Mizuno shoe?
An interesting thing about Mizuno shoes is that, everything I go to a store and ask for try-ons, my size is always out of stock (27.5cm) So, I never get to try on one of those.....let's see if I would have better luck this time.
I believe it's a matter of : 1. Level of play 2. Opponent level If you are a good player ie good footwork, good stroke - I guess you can wear anything and can still play well. The power-monger I spoke about during last year's Inter House competition wears basketball shoes and he trashes everybody in sight, except his 'archnemesis' who wears those old 'Butterfly' brand-type. Also, if your opponents are serious, and I mean those who truly play for pride - you will have to match that and surely a pair of badminton shoes will only help. Still, I read in a post last year about the same question - that stated that a friend of one of our regular poster here is quite an advance player, but because he wore the wrong kind of shoes, got injured. The importance of badminton shoes is synonymous with the need to prevent injury. Face it, else we could just play in slippers or bare-footed.
WOuld love to but shoes are very personal things. I tend to stick to one model only until the production run finishes! I'll give a report on the new ones when I can get to the badminton court.
To serious players, By the way, if you play a sport on almost everyday, you shouldn't wear the same pair of shoes on two consecutive days. After one day of hard wearing, although you can't recognize the change, most of the rubber/plastic were hard pressed and the tiny little molecure were compressed losing the shock absorption function. Long term use of compressed shoes will result in joint problems. So serious guy at least need 2 pairs of badminton shoes.(Also, it will be better if you only change the badminton shoe on court such that the rubber will not lose the elasticity during your walking all the day)
If you play to a competitive level, or in the process of footwork training, a pair of baddy shoes not only help ur movement, but also reduce the chance of injuries. If you just play for fun, and don't run as much, cross trainer, etc could be an acceptable alternative choice. However, make sure stay away from running shoes.
Right now I'm using cross trainers and they provide excellent grip if the floor is dust free(if it is dusty..they tend to pick up the dust and it is no longer grippy) At the gym I play regularly....sometimes it does gets dusty and slippery. I would clean off my sure first..then go play, the grip would be perfect. But after 1 rally..it has already become to slippery. Do badminton shoes make any difference in this case?
Here is the website which listed 5 model of Mizuno badminton shoes http://catalog.mizuno.co.jp/catalog/product/product_sports_top.jsp;jsessionid=Bp47V2QzuJy65i1I0LEKQaal3DEH3YVYe4CVn58wMRyAiNvstqPl!-1280814570!-1062730495!7005!8005?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181844&bmUID=1101609147773 I bought 2 pairs of Mizuno badminton shoes model number of 7KM-34009 recently. IMHO, they are the best pairs of badminton shoes I have ever worn. My feet fitted neatly and comfortably in them. They have excelleny design for the heel which tend to dissipated the force of impact whenever I land on my feet after jump smash. I reckoned they give good protection to my feet and really prevent foot injury. I threw away all my Yonex shoes. I also tried to look for other model of Mizuno badminton shoes but was told that there is only one model imported for Singapore market. The saleman introduce me to use 9KV series which I refused to buy because they are for playing volleyball.
I have surf other Mizuno site in other region http://www.mizuno.com/ The two sites which show good information on badminton shoes are Taiwan Mizuno site http://www.mizuno.com.tw/workspace/basic/mizuno/html/sports/product.jsp?id=eOjNTRNsbLeBMwEiAIJBseRkDRjdu8&father_name=¤gKÕû%20-%20ˬ°à Japan Mizuno site http://catalog.mizuno.co.jp/catalog/product/product_sports_top.jsp;jsessionid=BpKq2HAe2StFeMkvCPEUL0n3g6qjNLDdaHVrF9W2yseIhMN4oyJo!-1280814570!-1062730495!7005!8005?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=1408474395181844&bmUID=1101613610055 So either you have to use Mandarin or Japanes to understand or else to rely on the nice pcitures with some guess works.
In my opinion one of the best badminton shoes you can get is the Mizuno model 7KM 34014. It is surprisingly one of the cheaper Mizuno badminton shoes in the Mizuno range. Some of the most important properties of a good pair of badminton shoes are that they should not bend when bending with both hands the toe and the heel sides towards each other in the centre, there should be a bend at the toe end, the heel sides must be stiff and sufficiently high, the sole must not be sitting on a cushion of air, and the shoes must resist twisting. Most badminton shoes do not come quite close to meeting these requirements. The much promoted Yonex anti-twist badminton shoes have much poorer anti-twist performance than the Mizuno 7KM 34014. You will be surprised to find how many so called good badminton shoes can be easily bent, toe and heel ends bent towards each other. The 7KM 34014 is very wide at the front and is suitable for fitting an orthoses. However, it may not fit people with high arches as the front part is a bit low. It doesn't fit the above requirements 100% but its the only one I find comes closest. I would like any recommendations on better shoes that meet the requirements completely.
I am totally agreed with your opinion. I was looking for 7KM-34014 in Singapore but manage to get only 7KM-34009(S$79.00) and no other model nos. What is the price of 7KM-34009 in HK dollars?
lmao course u need the proper shoes you could hurt your ankle by wearing the inadequate shoes. It's like saying why do we need badminton rackets to play badminton with lol . Wot a daft question to ask.
From what I got, I believe the names of the different model Mizuno badminton shoes are: 7KM-42062 named as Wave Angle ME 7KM-35535 named as Wave Angle PF 7KM-34009 named as Wave Gate
* the Taiwanese Mizuno website is more informative than the Canadian website. It makes me realize that Yonex is not the only one that can make good badminton shoes. Would a regular pair of socks appropriate for badminton shoes? I am asking this because I am using cycling socks for my clipless cycling shoes. Mizono and Yonex shoes have some sort of anti-twist system. Would a pair of thick socks negate the effect of the anti-twist system? Perhaps we shouldn't wear thick socks at all?
1 Socks are very important. Nittaku has super indoor socks. 2 If you like to read story, please read on: my "obssessive compulsive" friend is a early retire guy. Do nothing but testing everything. Suddenly he started doing indoor sports. After doing intensive comparing, he find out Nittaku produced the best professional socks in the world. 3 If you want to understand what a professional sock is, you really need to buy a pair of good "Nittaku" to see and test. 4 Good Nittaku socks have different thickness at the bottom of the sock such that the socks are according to the "contour" of the foot. The floor feelings and reaction is faster. 5 I bought half a dozen of Nittaku, and I brought one pair to the Court when my son was training footwork with some other socks. He changed the socks on the spot without knowing the reasons, but he feels the diff. Get it. Nittaku sock , made in Japan.
Nittaku, why does it sound so familiar? It has been over seven years, now I remember it from my ping-pong life; they make excellent ping-pong ball. At the time, the ball was either Nittaku or Double-Happiness at the competition scene. Funny thing was that we didn't buy its socks. Thanks for sharing.