Hi, I use Yonex shoes and even though they are low spec models i am very happy with them. My only problem is that they get hot and don't "breathe" very well. I noticed that my shoes are made of Synthetic Leather (P.U) which i think contributes to the lack of "breathing" I initially attributed this to my low spec model shoes, but even when i look at the higher models (like SHB 99 etc..) they also use synthetic leather. Why is that? My Badminton salesman thinks it could be becos Synthetic leather is lighter? What do u think? Do the top spec Yonex shoes breathe better? thanks
Yonex should develop better Badminton shoes Hi SonicBoomAttack, I believe that Yonex thinks that... for Badminton, rackets are more important than shoes. Because Yonex started as a manufacturer of rackets, not shoes, we would/should not be surprised that their Research Department spends more time to develop for better rackets than for better shoes. As for me, when playing Badminton, our shoes should be more important than our rackets. Perhaps, you should send a letter to Yonex, encouraging their Research Department to develop better shoes. Cheers... chris@ccc
I use the 99 MX myself. They are very "airy" actually. I can feel the wind move past my toes when I move my feet quickly. Never tried any of the other Yonex models, but I am very happy with the 99s. Cheers.
i think u r wrong. I have seen many forza, wilson, etc sponsored pros where yonex shoes.(eg. ardy wiranata, pi hongyan) Take dinkalot, count # brands of racket he use versus # brands of shoe he's wearing. BTW, yonex dont manufacture rackets.
I'm not sure if this answers your query but I will hazard a guess. I've used a few futsal shoes for badminton and they're made of leather...and they get hot quite easily. The leather seems to trap the heat generated by all the footwork in the toe area. While this full-on padding is okay for the volley kicks that futsal might require, badminton doesn't need this added thickness, hence the different materials used.
Thanks for the feedback. looks like only Yonex knows for sure. I'm going to stick with Yonex shoes bcos i'm very happy with my shoes, but i'll try an upper model and see if they are less hot. cheers
I am using SHB-99LTD. The shoes actually 'breathe' extremely well compared to my Nikes. I have not seen any running or badminton shoes that are made of real leather for a long long time. I remember my last 'real leather' sports shoes were the Adidas Equipment Tennis. A few 'limited edition' Nikes, Adidas or New Balance sneakers are made out of leather, but they are not breathable as they all have the inner cushion and liner in there. Synthetic leathers or what they call PU (poly-urethane??) leathers are much lighter, easier to stitch than real leather, although real leather is becoming cheaper and cheaper to manufacture beacause of the advancement of leather processing methods. The synthetics are also softer which offer more comfort. In the SHB99LTB, they have very large holes on top of the shoes and you can actually feel the cold air blowing through your toes in winter. The drawbacks of synthetics are durability and protection. Modern football (soccer) boots are all made of plastics, that is why there are so many players with the infamous 'metatarsal' injuries. The synthetic offers far less protection against impacts and tackles when compared to real leather. That is why you can only find real leather bikers' overall suits. Sonic, what kind of socks are you wearing with your badminton shoes? 100% cotton? Cotton rich? Or Polyester/Acrylic rich sports socks?
I think the "breathing" problem is due to design (i.e. lower end model) rather than the material. Leather is known to "keep warm" while have great slim look, that's why leather jacket is popular in the winter. For badminton, the shoes need to be durable and light. Of course, cost and price should be considered as well. Therefore, I believe leather is not the best candidate from Yonex point of view. Also, like other posters already mentioned, higher end of Yonex has very good "breathing". If you think your feet suffers, time to upgrade your shoes.
