What's wrong with Mizuno? Bought the Wave Gate 4 and after about an hour of play, the area in front of my ankle bone hurts on both feet. The tongue of the shoes press down on it causing it to hurt! This pair was supposed to replace my Wave Angle H1. Great pair of shoes while they lasted, 6 months on 1 to 2 games a week! I got Yonex SHB-101MX now.
The SG3 looks great. But not available locally. Wave Gate is the entry level shoe and it was good! The Wave Gate 2, that is. Worked properly and lasted about 18 months. Wore out 2 pairs before getting the H1 - which I bought 'coz Wave Gate was no longer available. Asked a friend to buy Wave Gate 4 from abroad thinking it would be just as good as the previous version but ..... dang! Quite frustrated with local dealer as they don't have any of the new models! Their latest model is Wave Vaster! Which will probably hurt my feet as much as the Wave Gate 4. But they don't have it in my size anyway so ..... dang!
Try ordering from Japan. That's what I did to obtain my SG3 since none of their badminton shoes is available in North America. I'm not sure about the Philippines but it is possible that Mizuno badminton shoes is not available there but your dealer just imported it. If that is true, that would explain why the dealer is unable to get the latest shoes. Wave Vaster? I never heard of that and I looked at Mizuno's site and 2010 catalog. Have a look at the link below http://www.mizuno.jp/catalog/category/111006001/ - There are new shoes listed along with the current line. There is also a Wave Angle L1 which is not shown on the site but is in the catalog.
My mistake, L1 is listed on the webiste as well. Most likely the reason is that the Wave Gate and Wave Angle are two differnet designs so your foot probably was not suited for the Gate, therefore hurting your feet. If you get the L1 or go trying Wave Smash series, I think you will have better results.
Check if you strapped up the tongue. IIRC, wave-gate has the traditional tongue and that needs to be strapped down at the hoop -- I use the cross between 2nd and 3rd highest lace. I agree with Matt that you should probably go all the way and just switch to the WaveSmash SG. I do not think there are any difference between the SG1, 2 or 3 than colour. The WaveSmash is more stable, lighter, cooler and better fit (for me) than the WaveGate. It gives up a bit of cushion being a lower ridng shoe. Mine's still good as new after 1 year of almost 7 hr a week play.
Thanks for the tips, guys. I really should've gone for the Wave Smash. Which I'll probably do when these SHB's wear out. The L1 looks like an update to the H1. Same outsole, too. And it'll probably last as long. But I'm liking the SG3! Time to save up for another pair of shoes.
Can you show us a pic of how you tie it? I do not cross the laces all the way up because of the same problem.
I lace all the way up, feel like I'm getting good support that way. Hope this problem is only on Wave Gates; feels like they're using cheaper material. Leaving it a bit loose also seems to help but then, it doesn't feel right. I lace the same as the picture on the catalog: http://www.mizuno.jp/catalog/product/7KM040/111006001/ Except for the top where the laces go out instead of in. Tried it as seen on the picture and got the same result.
Where did you buy your wave gate 4? There are lots of imitations nowadays. I have the same mizuno running shoes with yours but it lasted longer. Infact its very comfortable.
Mizuno running shoes are quite good, I'm told. The shoes I'm referring to are badminton specific. The wave gate 4 were purchased for me by a friend in Hong Kong. I no longer think that Mizuno badminton shoes are bad, some models just don't fit me properly.
