Hello all, I have been shopping around for a new pair of badminton shoes, and I have seen a lot of shoes from Salming, Asics, Adidas and Head that are advertised as "court shoes". A lot of these shoes look like more like running or tennis shoes, but I thought if Direct Sports and Tennisnuts would list them in the badminton shoes, how bad could they be? I really don't know. I'm not looking for any specific recommendation, I just want to know if these shoes are even viable for badminton at all. I know that there are plenty of good dedicated badminton shoes out there from the likes of Yonex, Babolat, Victor, Li-Ning, Forza, etc. The reason for this is that my choice is restricted due to a return from a previous pair of shoes only giving me a voucher (not monetary refund) to the seller (Direct Sports). They have a strange warranty policy. Thanks for any help! Here are some examples of the shoes I am talking about:
Hi hurricane478 the term court shoes is generally referring to any non-marking indoor appropriate shoe which tend to have better grip that running shoes due to the material and design of the sole. These are not running or tennis shoes - all of these are intended for volleyball or squash which are similar to badminton. Personally without other options I would pick up a pair but it depends on your situation - skill level and how often you play, etc. The Gel Tactics 2 might work since asics have a badminton shoe line and the gel series is popular. At the end of the day, the best thing to do is try the shoes on and simulate playing badminton to see how you feel about them. Hope this helps!
If I had to pick from the photos available, I would pick the Salming since they have the little lateral supports for side to side movements. As for the grip, I would pick the gum (brown) sole since they seem to do best for me in terms to not picking up dust.
I just upgraded from my ASICS Gel Tactic which is about 3 years old to the latest Gel Tactic 12, I did order ASICS Blade FF which is a bit lighter but the ankle support is less than Tactic 12 as it has slightly lower heel drop. As Baddiechan mentioned, indoor court shoes are for sports which are played indoors, so they're not for running or Tennis, which have their own shoes. I always Choose Asics as they're high quality shoes, in the past I used to buy Yonex which were non supportive but recently they might have got better. Blade FF is for Squash & Badminton. Tactic can be also be used both sports. Both of these shoes are latest so only available direct from ASICS.
Hi guys, thanks so much for this help. I was able to pick up a higher end pair for a big discount in the end so I am pretty happy. Thanks!
