Hi all,Had been using running shoes for badminton for quite some time and it is time for serious badminton shoe!Please advice what model is good for me?I am a male, 178cm, around 65kg, size 11US.PS. It needs to be available in the USA too.Thank you! Really hope to get one soon as I play around 3-4 times a week! Found a great group of people
yonex shb86, runs wide which is nice for me since i have somewhat wide feet. yonex shb p01 is also nice because it's light weight and quatro fit, but run a bit narrow to me. yonex sc4mx is nice, very comfy lots of cushions but on the heavy side.
Pretty important to know your price range: If you don't plan to spend much, going away from big brands like yonex, victor and lining might be a good option. Otherwise, specialized badminton shoes would be strongly recommended instead of running shoes, which i'm sure you've already realized since you're asking for recommendations. Personally, I think the recent Yonex Shoes have been pretty shoddy in quality. I've seen many pairs of yonex shoes break exactly where you pinky toe would be. And there's some photos of professional badminton players just slapping on tape where that spot broke, so as of now, I don't think Yonex provides the best value. If you're okay with buying online, normally asian stores have better selection and prices, but you have to factor in shipping. http://www.badmintonshoponline.us/store/clearance-sale-c-166.html this site has a clearance section and offers some excellent clearance prices and the site is legit (ordered from them myself) Take a look for yourself and see which pair fits your budget
Since you are in the states, I'd check out some volleyball or raquetball shoes alternatives from Amazon or Zappos to take advantage of free shipping. Personally I don't like the looks of badminton shoes (except for the Victor SH9000) so I went straight to volleyball shoes. My first pair was Asics Gel Sensei 4, and now I'm using Mizuno Wave Lighting RX2. The Sensei's were stable but heavy and the Mizuno is slightly less stable but a lot lighter. The Lighting's durability is a lot lower than my Sensei's. Now on my radar for my next shoes are Asics volleycross MT, gel rocket, or gel blade and on the Mizuno side I'm considering the Tornado 8 but there is something about those holes in the wave cushioning system in the rearfoot area that scares me. My perception is that it is less stable for lateral movements but I haven't found any information that supports that. A good site I like to check out is raquetballwarehouse.com. They have full video reviews of most of these volleyball/raquetball court shoes.
What's your priority? Budget? Looks? Cushioning? Stability? Weight? Difficult to point you in the right direction just off what you've told us.
I would look at the Yonex SC series, in that case - the SC6EX (blue and white) should be pretty cheap as they're about to be replaced.