Good insoles for badminton

You are in the UK, the Aldi chain does some budget sports insoles which can be cut to size. I bought the outdoor inserts which although labelled medium cushioning and arch support were very springy, but I got used to them quite quickly.

Just checked their website and there aren't any, but there might be some in the shops.

 

Following this thread because I am also in need of insoles.

I don't throw away my old shoes and with the amount I play I melt through insoles in the same manner as the provided pictures within 3-6 months of getting a new pair of Yonex Shoes. Currently using an old Powercushion 35 and powercushion 65 insole in my Aerus 3s (uk size 8)

As awesome as Yonex are, the official website says powercushion insoles exist, but there is no where I can find them for purchase!

 

Yes Yonex PC insole are available to be sold.
But there is also Victor & Lining insole.
For pricing YY are like 2x or more of Victor insole while LN just abit cheaper than Victor.
I tried LN insole & nothing special about them. Currently i use Victor one & due to me being heavy man, i also put a gel insole on the heel. Pretty much help with my heel pain issue before.

 

Spenco Cross Trainers. Great cushioning, very robust and not expensive (depending on where you live). I tried several (higher priced) insoles over the years but the Cross Trainers beat them all.

 

I use "Scholl Gel Activ Work Shoe Insoles" for 6 months now (4-6hr per week court time). They need to be trimmed - easy - I took the ones that come with my Yonex shoes as template.

I've used different types over the years from the expensive Superfeet (green) to el-cheapo supermarket ones. Superfeet's top quality & lasted 2-3 pairs of shoes, but they're hard to find where I live, has no cushion & expensive. The supermarket ones peeled/ disintegrated after a few hours. These Scholl ones were a gamble (there was a discount) that pays off. If availability/ money is not an issue, I'd still go Superfeet (probably blue ones), but the ones I got now is probably best value. Time will tell how long they'll last.

 

They are like 10 EUR per pair around here which is even cheaper than the Cross Trainers. Wow, I will give them a try.

 

Yeah, they're affordable. Hope they work for your feet

I've spent so much on sports insoles before realising I don't have to LOL. It's silly no matter how much my badminton shoes cost, they always come with poor quality insoles which need replacing.

 

I got the Scholl ones (stumbled over them in the local drugstore which is supercool) and put them in my daily worn Adidas trekking shoes. The insoles are thinner than an average piece of cardboard in those too. It's beyond ridiculous if you look at the price tags for all these higher end sport'ish shoes - especially if you consider the effect that good insoles have on the overall feel of a shoe.

Initial feel and quality impression of the Scholls is good. Nice big gel cushioning pad, no stiff plastic support pieces anywhere - so there is not much arch support which I like but as a note to all those who need it. Let's see how they will perform over time.

 

I use the Sidas 3Feet Activ (High), and they last pretty well. I like that they have different heights for support. They're about €30-35 a pair, but to me, that's well worth it. They last about the same as a pair of shoes for me. This may wel differ on a personal usage level.

 

Phew.... that's quite a stiff price, so they have to be reeeeealy awesome. I mean, that's like 30% of the whole (high-level) shoes added on top. I'm just a cheap b@stard, sorry.

Luckily, I don't need any kind of arch support, so I could get away with a simple layer of PU foam or any other kind of cushion material. Add a grippy clothlike surface and I'd be happy. I got those to use in some regular sneakers and they were working fine (and seem to last forever):
https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/B000S6GBI6/ref=psdc_3780121_t3_B000G1IL7M

For badminton, I need a bit more cushion though, that's why I always went back to the Cross Trainers I've just noticed how much they have increased the prices over the years. I think I got the first pairs for around 15 USD iirc.

 

After a long journey with various insoles which you can buy, I personally decided to get custom orthopedics a few weeks ago. Motion analystics, feet analystics, correction, several appointments, tailoring for my badminton shoes later, I payed 100€ for sensomotoric insoles due flat arch which help to built up muscles in my feet to correct them.

The center for orthopedic technology I visited have only insoles, were specialized for sports, and have various pros in soccer and basketball as clients. They have a huge impact in my motions beeing more balanced, notice that my motions are more fluent, more stable and natural. I will never play without. I can really recommend to do this step, because buying spencos, and so on are a great value for money if you just want to replace the stocks, but if you have any feet issues like me, I highly recommend to go this step and never forget 50% is always the right shoe. change them if the cushion is worn out even if the look quite new. Never be cheap, because you can't replace your body.

 

very good point, 100% agreed. As of today, I'm lucky enough to have neutral feet and no issues whatsoever so I can get away with fairly simple ones.

With all the effort and work behind it and them being fully custom made, I think that's a reasonable price. Do you have to replace them completely once they are worn-out or is there an option to only change the cushioning pads or stuff like that? And how long can you make them last on average?

 

Honestly, I always thought my feet are also neutral and frankly I never got issues directly located at the feet. I started with my achilles tendons, after that I had some issues in my right ankle which caused sometimes pain, sometimes not. I struggles with my patella tendon on the left knee. Than I got issues with my lower back. I got issues on my left leg with the abductor, issues with my right side abs, issues with my right knee. Never any series injury always a small period in the last 7 years. I always justified it by overuse, too much training. We often talk here in techniques about kinetic chains, and your whole body is connected. Your feet influence your ankles, the motion of the tendons, the motion of the knee, the position of your hips and so on.

The price is quite low due the fact that my health insurance pay around 50% of it. The worth of the insole is 200€+. The lifetime is around 1 year. If they are gone, you get a new custom ones, because my body will be corrected and learn to built muscles in the parts, which were weaker before and caused all this issues. One day I don't need them anymore. The cushion is pretty minimal and the insoles are quite hard, look awkward, feel awkward like walking on wooden balls. 50% is the shoes. It's not the insole VA use, but also he use custom insoles:

timecode

 

Yep. My feet are normal too. They don't need arch support which is why the Scholl insoles are fine.
Would be interested to see how they serve you as mine's still going strong. Looks like they'll last my current shoes & the next pair.

Did you get the sport specific Scholl or the work one like mine?

 

I got the work ones. The Sport seemed to be just a little bit thinner, so I thought to go all-in in terms of cushioning.

 

All of the original insoles of my Asics shoes are destroyed at the big toe and should've changed it a lot sooner. Played in a tournament yesterday and playing singles, although I pushed through, was painful

The only insoles I bought before was the Sorbothane Double Strike and I found that it was fairly comfortable, but was too thick and lost too much feeling with the court/lateral stability and my heel would occassionally pop out of the shoe.

I have flat feet, but don't have any issues with ankle strength/stability, have never needed arch support and would sacrifice cushioning for a close to original insole thickness.

Reading this thread and some others, I bought the Scholl Gel Activ Work insoles, the Sport version of them, the Enertor Performance Sport insole (I couldn't find the Comfort model in stock in my size; I think they've discontinued these two as I can't find them on their own website) and Sorbothane Sorbo Pro (because apparently they're slightly thinner than the Double Strike).

I avoided buying the Spenco Total Support and Cross Trainer because they seem thicker/more cushioned over the ones I've bought? And the Cross Trainer ones seems hard to find anyway.

I'll try the ones I bought, and if I still find them too thick, I'll try the Sorbothane Full Strike. Or if there's any others that I've missed that you think might work?

 

This isn't normal at all. Sounds like you have a bigger issue than insoles. Wrong shoes/ socks perhaps?

Back to insoles - I think you've got enough to try for now Superfeet's not on your list but they're rather expensive. They're hard insoles (no cushion), green ones have high arch support if you have flat feet.

 

Never happened before so not sure, I just put it down to a much thicker insole and a fairly low cut shoe. ?? I haven't played with those particular shoes in a couple of years now so I'll give it a go tomorow and see what it's like again.

Edit: Ohhh.. now that you mention it, I think I'm getting my memory mixed up with some new socks that was pretty slippery, not the shoes aha

I did have a look at the Superfeet Blue but read a couple of comments saying the top surface is a bit slippery, plus the price. It's an option, but yeah I'll see these 4 are first.

 

So I've only had 3 sessions with them so far and doubles only, but here's my impressions so far.

The Sorbothane Double Strike that I mentioned buying previously isn't in fact the Double Strike, for some reason I thought that's the one I bought. Whilst looking for the prices, I in fact bought the Spenco Cross Trainer a few years ago, probably based on a recommendation here

First thing to say is I have fairly flat and somewhat wide feet so what may work for me, may not work for you. And what I'm looking for mostly is something fairly thin so I'm close to the ground, and also comfortable enough to accommodate my flat feet (and good value for money).


Scholl Gel Activ Work - £10.99
Despite saying it will fit sizes 7-12, it was fairly short, maybe a good cm off the original Asics Gel Blade insoles (size UK 11.5). I could have sent it back but thought I will try it, as I can still give a good review and comparison of it for anyone else. Decent cushiony heel, maybe borderline too thick, but the quality of the forefoot part is thin and lacking in quality even compared to it's Sport brother which you can pick up for the same price. Pretty comfortable though, just not for me due to it not being large enough and thin forefoot material.


Scholl Gel Activ Sport - £16.99 (You can buy these for £10/11 but I bought the 'new' version as there's a mixup in description on the old page on Amazon so wasn't sure if it was the right size)
Like the Work version, it comes up a bit short on the length although just a little bit longer than the Work version. Thinnest on the heel of all the insoles but has a decent thickness on the forefoot bit which is fairly important in the longevity as that's where I wear out first. General quality is much better than the Work version. Despite it being slightly short, I didn't really feel my toes go over the front edge like I did with the Work version. The downside to this one is that it has a plastic moulding for arch support and because I have flat feet it was slightly digging into the 'arch' of my foot. After the first session I flattened this plastic support as much as I could by bending it/leaving something heavy on it for a couple of days to flatten it. It actually worked to some degree and a lot more comfortable the second time round. Due to being low to the ground I like this one especially for the price. It could be a little wider in size though (as well as longer).


Sorbothane Sorbo Pro - £22.67
Very decent quality. A big plus on this insole is that it's oversized, so I needed to trim a little from the top and side to fit my shoes. So even if you have wide shoes, you shouldn't have an issue with this fitting once you spend a bit of time to cut it down correctly. Decently low to the ground, not as much as the Scholl Sport, but I don't feel significantly high. Comfortable ish. The only thing I didn't like with this insole is that it does have arch support, and has a fairly 'aggressive' cupping to the heel, which again, being flat footed took away some of that comfort.


Spenco Cross Trainer - £18.99
Decent quality. Very comfortable due to having the most cushioning out of all of the insoles I tried, plus it has a flat profile so good for my flat feet. Downside is that it's just way too much cushioning and puts me up too high off the ground and therefore lose lateral stability on changes of direction.


Enertor Performance Sport - £30
The quality of this insole is excellent, and easily the best compared to the others. I was a bit hesitant at first because the images of it looks like the arch support is quite high, but it's not actually that high and can't really feel it when in use. Really easy put into the shoe and I didn't need to trim anything, it's almost exactly the same shape as the original insole. Feet in and instantly comfortable.

The ONLY thing, is that for me it's just a smidge too thick. I was thinking if there was a version of this but thinner, I'd be sold. I looked at the Enertor Comfort again and lo and behold it's back in stock. From the pictures it looks thinner than the Performance Sport version? So I bought it, and well, I'm glad I did.


Enertor Comfort - £24.99
Same excellent quality as the Performance Sport, but without the arch support. Much thinner heel (second thinnest here) but with a fairly decent forefoot thickness, and a super flat foot profile, so excellent for those with flat feet. No trimming needed (this one is a little narrow than the Performance Sport, but no issue), instant comfort. And even cheaper than the Performance Sport. Even though this is one of the more expensive ones, it's definitely worth the price, especially if you want something low profile, and have flat feet.


A TL;DR version:
Easily the Enertor Comfort insole is the one for me, low and flat profile and super comfortable.
The Scholl Sport, despite being short in length for my shoe size, is comfortable and I would take it over the Scholl Work if you don't have flat feet.
Same issue of not really being made for peope with flat feet with the Sorbothane Sorbo Pro due to it's arch support and heel cupping.
Enertor Performance Sport has the same excellent comfort as the Comfort version and if I needed more cushioning this would probably be my choice of insole, but this one and the Spenco Cross Training and just about the Scholl Work, is too thick for me.
The Scholl Work I would avoid anyway because, although not bad, lacks the quality of the others, even compared to the same price Scholl Sport (if arch support agrees with you). However having said that, if you did have flat feet, have shoe size 10 or under, and wanted something a bit more cushiony and cheap and cheerful, it would be great for that.



Heel Thickness Thinnest First
Scholl Sport - Enertor Comfort - Sorbo Pro - Scholl Work - Enertor Performance - Spenco Cross Trainer

Forefoot Thickness Thinnest First
Scholl Work - Sorbo Pro - Enertor Comfort - Scholl Sport - Enertor Performance - Spenco Cross Trainer

Overall Quality
Enertor (Both) > Spenco Cross Trainer = Sorbo Pro > Scholl Sport > Scholl Work

Comfort
Enertor (Both) > Spenco Cross Trainer > Scholl Work > Scholl Sport > Sorbo Pro


My Preference
Enertor Comfort > Scholl Sport > Sorbo Pro = Enertor Performance > Scholl Work = Spenco Cross Trainer