Weird Hole? My SHB 90MX are quite old now but is it weird to have a hole on the side of the racket foot? on the outside... Has anyone had this problem before? BTW Its on the racket foot, I did this to show where the hole is.
that is totally common... i have holes on the outside of my shoe for both left and right on my shb98...
The small hole on the inner side of the non-racket foot, near the ball of the large toe, is a sign of proper foot technique when braking during a lunge. The holes (or even tears) that develop on the outer side of the shoes (can be either foot) are a sign of the fabric beginning to wear down from use. These tears can also develop along seams. These tears occur near the bend that forms from the toe. To see the stress on the shoe caused by the toes bending, you can place your foot flat on the ground, then raise the heel such that the toes (all the way up to the ball of the toes) remain flush with the ground. You should notice that there are crease marks in the shoe or bends.
As you can see I suffer from the same bad habit as well and these shoes are around 6 months old. Aside from obvious hole, the integrity of the shoe is still intact though. My right shoe still looks brand new. I really don't want to buy a new pair of shoes just yet. Is there anything you guys can suggest I use in the future to prevent this from happening again? I'm too old now to change my footwork now. I've used duct tape before but found it ineffective.
I think professional players would have the same "problem" but we will never know because they change their shoes every 2 weeks or something like that ^^ I have my new Yonex SHB-86 since 3 months and I already have a small hole on the left non-racket shoe. The hole is not complete "through" yet, but it already doesn't look that nice. I tried it with the yonex grip sticker(to hold the grip on the cone) over the hole, but after one game it was already gone. Best tape would be hockey tape as I guess! Any other solutions for this "problem"?
I've got some yonex shoes now and found I was wearing a hole in them pretty quickly. Before each session I stick some duct tape there with a folded square of paper underneath where the hole was forming, by the end of each night the duct tape is worn down but the shoe is fine.
I find it difficult not to get a hole there... But I think it's nice to have one actually. Feels like a "battle scar" of sorts These are my SHB-81W. I'm not using them anymore, but I only used them for like 7 months.
I like your opionion But...how on earth...did you get the hole on the OUTSIDE of the shoe? This is the right shoe, isn't it? I play right-handed and the shoe hole is always and only on the left shoe on the inner side. How did you get that on the out side????
*Edit For some reason I managed to double-post. Can't seem to find the "delete post" button anywhere...?
Hahaha ahh okay. It may looks a bit like the right shoe from this camera angle - sorry I already thought - how on earth is this possible?! Imagine a footwork where you get holes in your shoes like that LOL
Would've probably twist one's ankle - or even broken something if such footwork was used But I can see it now as well though, it looks like the right shoe because the front of the shoe is also worn down.
There are three stages generally to a badminton players footwork; the first is where he knows nothing and it is really easy if he plays often to twist his ankle in the wrong way or damage his hips, rip his hamstrings etc. There is no obvious damage to his shoes so he feels okay. Once the footwork becomes more professional, we tend to use our non-dominant foot to scrape along the ground, and this is where we get the distinctive hole. Professionals have this issue corrected because they learn to slide with their non-dominant foot rotated a little more so the rubber section closest to the sole of the shoe (the corner of the shoe so to speak) is sliding on the ground. Have you ever noticed on most Yonex models the rubber extends upwards on the inside of both soles? That's because that's where professionals put their weight during their movements. Why isn't it so easy for most players to correct? because putting your weight on a smaller, more narrow section means a better sense of balance which the body isn't use to. So conclusion : You could patch up the 100+ shoes for a while, or you could learn to do the motion correctly, and save for the rest of your life
Interesting input! I guess it's a good thing then that my shoe tend to wear down faster around the sole nowadays compared to before (hence the big hole on my old shoe). However, looking at pictures of players, they do use the whole side of their shoe though...
wingsair - sounds like rubbish to me. This 'correction' you speak of doesnt help balance - in fact it hinders it. So what, exactly, does the professional player gaiin from this 'correction'??
amleto - that's the thing, the correction hinders balance, which makes the player faster as the body tends to be in motion longer - think of it like modern fighter jets, are built purposely un-airworthy so that they have better maneuverability. The players training gives them far stronger calf muscles to deal with the added unbalance.
But that doesn't explain why they use the side of their foot, which you can clearly see during games and even better on pictures.
Wingu - I've seen a lot of video, and it does appear that way. But with their kind of force scraping along the ground at that angle, they should have noticeable marks at the end of the game - it doesn't look like it, and I don't think they would get new shoes for every single game - AND we're all fanatics and get their shoes *guilty*. The view that I expressed is just what I see the local chinese provincial and national team players exhibit on court - could be wrong.
I assume the pros live in their shoes so change them frequently whereas most are not sponsored or part of the national set up so can't afford to change our shoes as often. I tend to change my shoes once a year or when the soles start to collapse and the uppers have stretched too much.