I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my pair for the last 8hrs or so of play and training. Two aspects that these better my previous pair of Yonex SHBSC6LDEX is the P8’s heel hugging design, and heel shock absorbing ability with forward lunges. I’m a medium to wide fit and these shoes do cater to that. My previous pair of Yonex do fair better in grip and overall cushioning though. Those last pairs lasted me a little over a year with about 4-6 hrs of on court time per week. The P8 like the Yonex look well made though time will tell how these hold up.
Ever since I had seen this shoe a couple of years ago when it was first released under the Adidas Specialty stuff in the green/blue design, I somehow had it in the back of my head as a candidate that I just had to try at some point in time. I’m using Adidas Boost running shoes for a while now and I found that Boost stuff is the best cushioning material ever used in a shoe. In the meantime, the shoe has been re-released in a new blazingly bright yellow color with bits of light blue (hooray Sweden!) but still, it was not available in Europe. Right after I got in contact with the new Adidas Badminton team regarding their rackets, I also asked them regarding a potential test *cough* of the Wucht P8 Boost shoes, but sadly, the shoe development is handled completely by the Adidas AG mother company, so there was no chance to get my greedy fingers on them through this channel either. And as my previous pair of Yonex Comfort Tours (the red ones) slowly but steadily started to disintegrate, it was time to seriously start the hunt. Long story short: I picked them up from the local customs office about three weeks ago. Credits to the team at Racquetforce who, once again, showed awesome customer service and made me a really great promotion price to compensate for the expensive shipping and import tax. General things Since there is so little information on this shoe available yet, I’d like to add some pictures and experiences I’ve made so far. First of all, here are some pictures: [click to enlarge...] As you can see, the upper materials used appear to be really sturdy. It has kind of a plastic cage around the heel and ankle that provides solid stability. For me, the most interesting feature and highlight of the whole shoe the Boost cushioning material under the heel. And hands down, to have this stuff in a badminton shoe is like a match made in heaven. And as you can see, you can see the material also from the inside of the shoe which shows that it’s indeed a massive thick layer of it instead of those mostly thin layers of Power Cushion or comparable stuff that other manufacturers put in their shoes. It also has the usual enforced material on the inside of the big toe area to prevent early damages from dragging the shoe on the floor on lunges. I haven’t measured the weight, but it’s a tad lighter than the Comfort Tours. The stock insoles are thin, but noticeable more rigid than the flimsy things that come with Yonex or Victor shoes these days. Upper and lower surfaces are grippy. We will get to the downside of their rigidness later on though. On court! I would describe the fit as mid wide with a noticeable “waist” around the mid foot area. So I’m afraid that it’s not a shoe for people with a truly wide foot and/or flat arch. Sizing is about 0.5 UK sizes smaller than Yonex or Victor, so consider to go that 0.5 sizes bigger when choosing the Adidas P8 Boost. I’m expecting that once they are broken in decently, they will develop more of that sock-like snug fit that worn in shoes have. First thing I noticed wearing them on court was the grippy sole. Wow, that is like you are walking on big pieces of chewing gum. And I was even more pleased that the grip was still top notch with a first layer of dust sticking to the sole (it’s a dust magnet!). After only a couple of minutes into warm-up, I started to notice some pressure and the first signs of pain at the outer egde of both feet. I’ve had this as a temporary issue with other new shoes during the break in period so I just went on with the session and didn’t think much of it. During the following 2 hours, the pain got worse and worse so that I was very relieved to put them off at the end of the session. Even the day after, both feet still hurt, so I was seriously concerned about my expected dream shoes becoming a complete fail. For the next session, I put in my trusted Spenco Crosstrainers and had my fingers crossed that they will at least improve the issue. And boy, they did. I played another 2 hour session and felt not the slightest signs of pain or even significant pressure in that area at all. I knew before that those Crosstrainers are awesome insoles, but I had never imagined that they could turn a potential instrument of torture into a comfortable shoe. With the Crosstrainers in, I started to love the Adidas P8 Boost shoes instantly. Great stability on movements in every possible direction, great grip and the heel cushioning is one of a kind. The cushioning at the forefoot is not overly excessive, so that’s where they clearly differ from the Comfort Tours. On the plus side, I get a more direct feedback from the floor and somehow the movements feel less “laggy” compared to the Comfort Tours. Summary Oh yes, Adidas knows how to make good shoes. And in case anyone of their development team is reading this: Keep on using the Boost material for your future badminton shoes! I haven’t seen any of the more recently released badminton shoes from Adidas in reality yet, but so far none of them seems to be equipped with it. And apart from that, I can only hope that Adidas will be smart enough to finally release their badminton range in Europe and other parts of the world. Cause what I’ve witnessed again one thing: Buying shoes unseen and untested over the internet from half a world away always carries a big risk that you will end up with shoes that don’t fit you properly. In my opinion, Adidas definitely needs to do something about the stock insoles being that rigid. On the plus side, it makes them a lot more sturdy and durable compared to those pieces of cardboard that other manufacturers put into their top end shoes these days, on the downside it seems to apply a lot of pressure on the foot and might cause some unpleaseant incidents. I have witnessed what a difference a change of insole can make, so to come up with high level insoles is definitely a point in which one manufactuerer can still stand out from all the others at the moment. A fair bit of warning: Choosing the right shoe is even more personal than choosing a racket. So I’m afraid that all you other BC’ers out there reading this have to take it with several pounds of salt. But if you’re on the hunt for you next pair of shoes and if you happen to find these yellow/blue beasts shining from a store shelf, then make sure to give them a try. The price is far from cheap (128 USD at Racquetforce: http://racquetforce.com/adidas_BY1820_wucht_p8_badminton_shoes?) but the build quality and the materials used directly put them in the top league of badminton shoes. The next couple of sessions will decide for me if they will remain the only pair of shoes in the bag or if I might want to add another pair of Yonex Comfort-Z or maybe Victor P9200 for the moments in which I want to have that extra-extra-comfy level.
Good review! P9200, comfort Z, comfort tour, P8... Can you please rank those in terms of best cushioning? Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
That's tough. Mostly, because I haven't actually used neither the P9200 nor the Comfort-Z yet. P8 vs. Comfort Tour (CT) forefoot cusioning: CT >> P8 heel cushioning: P8 > CT The P8 is fairly low cushioned in the forefoot area, especially with the stock insoles. Reminded me a bit of the Yonex Aerus 1. Gen. With the Crosstrainers in it was fairly acceptable though. What feels really, really good is the heel cushioning on big lunges that you land with a certain impact force and with the heel first. That's when you feel how much energy that Boost stuff does take away from the joints.
Just a sidenote that the bridge architectures between boost running shoes and P8 are totally different.
Talking about Adidas shoes, what do you think about Adizero Feather old model ? I could buy one pair for only 30 €, but I read it's not a good shoe, cushioning is weak and durability is not good too and the shoe becomes soon larger. so if someone had a good experience with this model, please share it.
As with probably all badminton shoes, you need a stable bridge to give the necessary stability on all those hard stop and go motions. That's why you see the carbon plates there in other Yonex and Victor shoes. I do enjoy a super flexible sole on running shoes, but I would hate it for badminton.
It has been quite a while since this was announced, I wonder what happened to Adidas to suddently quiet. But anyway I was very interested in purchasing this shoe and having read that wonderful review only made me hyped up on it but I according to racquetforce the only colorway with my size is the yellow one... which I'm not a big fan off so I'll just wait until they got some stock on the blue one. Props s_mair for the great review, just throwing question to anyone who can hopefully help me about sizing are Adidas badminton shoes similar in sizing compared to their running shoes? My size is usually US 11.5 even with my ultraboost and alphabounce.
I have the Adidas Supernova running shoes and wear them in the same size as the P8. A with almost all Adidas shoes, I need to go 0.5 sizes bigger than may other brands. Speaking of colors, I've just recently seem the announcement of the Wucht P8.1 (not kidding...) which comes in a blue'ish green (or green'ish blue, whatever you prefer...): Looks like have changed the whole construction too and added a sock like ankle area.
Thanks for the reply and I also have the same observation as you when it comes to sizing compared to other brands, I always go for bigger sizes when it comes to Adidas. As for the 8.1 I really dig those colors and it seems they are going for a more mid cut approach this time around. I was kinda hoping that when they announce something they would also include the release date for the shoes.lol
Hi all, there isn't much discussion on Adidas's badminton shoes around. Most of the discussion & reviews are either yonex, lining or asics shoes. May I know if anyone tried adidas Ueberschall F4 before? Sports direct in my town is having a sales and they're offering this at a good price.
If the store is so close, why not simply go there and try them? Shoes is always a very personal thing, so it's impossible for other to say if they will fit you or not. If they fit your foot and the price is good, then I don't see any reasons why you should not go for them. Quality wise, Adidas is definitely on the same level as comparable Yonex and Victor shoes.
I'm planning to, but I just want to know if anyone experienced it before. I also notice they also offers Adidas Barricade Boost which is a tennis shoe, will they work on badminton?
Tennis shoes is not for badminton, no reason to buy a tennis shoe instead of a badminton one if you will just use it for badminton! Tennis shoes are generally stiffer in sole, and also heavier because you need more stability to the ankle sideways in tennis, but not suitable for badminton when you for example jumps and do lunges. Grip differ to, tenniscourts has a total different surface compare to badminton, and built to work for that surface...in the end a tennis shoe can actually be dangerous to play badminton with. Buy badminton shoes!!!
Here's a little update on my P8 Boost shoes. I've spent maybe 20 hours on court in them so far (we're just back from summer break...), and that's what I've discovered after the latest session: This is not good.
What a shame. Guess we found the reason why they haven't used the Boost material on any of the other badminton shoes. Maybe the movement between the soft Boost and the outer sole is just too big to be handled by a standard glue.
