Anyone ever tried low cut fencing shoes for badminton? Because I see retro Adidas fencing shoes (design from the '60s) selling at fire sale prices at the local sneakerhead store and to be quite honest, extremely comfortable despite a very thin sole. Any disadvantages when compare to dedicated indoor court shoes or badminton shoes (i.e. Asics, Yonex, etc)? This is what they look like: http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2004/08/adidas_fencing.php
very interesting~ fencing shoes seem to have wider and flatter base, i imagine it will be hard to move around fast... but stable tho.
I've been told by my fencing friends that they use badminton shoes as a "cheap alternative to fencing shoes." Just something to keep in mind.
When I was younger, I was fencing on top national level in Switzerland, also attending worldcups for some years. My fencing experience helps for my reflexes, arm-agility and footwork. But there is an essential difference in fencing footwork and BM footwork: In fencing, your feet are normally always pointing into a specific direction, front foot towards your opponent, back foot sideways. Thats why todays fencing shoes have a different design for the front and the back foot. Thus the front foot is always aligned with the direction you are moving, the front shoe does hardly provide any sideways stabilisation. Same for the old ones, no sideways stabilisation on both feet. BM's footwork is a lot of stepping sideways, so I would in no way recommend fencing shoes for Badminton. Vice versa works fine.
