Choose a Perfect Badminton Shoe

It can be very difficult for a person to choose a badminton shoe if you do not know the basic component which you need to look at while purchasing a shoe but don’t worry in this guide you will learn every component a badminton player needs to know before buying a badminton shoe

This guide contains a lot of helpful information but here are the components to look for in badminton shoe

• Non-Marking
• Breathable material
• Toe Box
• Cushion
• Ankle Support
• Weight
• Material
• Size
• Sole
• Companies
• Flexibility
• Price

Now let’s talk in detail about these components

Shoes must have Non-Marking Sole

Non-Marking sole means that it will not leave marks on the surface which is necessary when you are playing on a wooden or synthetic court

Most of the matches in badminton are played on these courts and if you are using any normal shoe it will damage that surface by leaving so before buying a new shoe check it is a non-marking shoe

It is pretty simple to find whether a shoe is non-marking or not, most of the manufacturer print on there sole that it is a non-marking shoe

Or check the feature mentioned by manufacturer

Conventionally non-marking sole comes in clay color but it is not always the case so looking at the print on sole is an easy way to know its feature

If you play on a cement court then using these shoe will do no benefit to you

Breathable material of shoe

Before going further into other steps to choose a shoe here are the shoes which i recommend if you do not want to read the whole think , Yonex Power Cushion 65 X (Amazon.in)

For international audience (Amazon.com)

Badminton is a very physical sport and if you live in a like mine where in summer temperature reaches 45 degrees Celcius it becomes a necessity to have a shoe which allows air to pass through the material

One benefit of using a breathable shoe is that your shoe will not become smelly

So now the question is how to know if a shoe is breathable?

There are couple of things which you can look for to know how much a shoe is breathable

• Look at the upper material of shoe whether it has small pores in it or is there any space through which air can pass
• Look whether collar of the shoe (mouth of shoe ) is made of fabric which does not absorb water

Choosing Right shoe based on your Shape of feet

Toe box is the front part of the shoe where your toe rest when you wear a shoe

The ball of your feet should fit the widest part(it is the part just before toe begin) of the shoe

Mainly people have two types of toe shape

• Wide
• Narrow

Before buying a shoe always pay attention to the shape of the toe box because you have a broad toe then buying a shoe with narrow toe box is not a wise decision

I personally feel that Victor makes shoes which are more comfortable for wide feet person

Cushion to select badminton shoe

In Badminton, you will be jumping and lunging a lot and it becomes necessary that your shoe should provide some cushion while landing your feet on the ground

If your shoe has good cushion then it will protect your knee from getting injured

Different companies in market advertise their cushions by various name

• Yonex: Power Cushion
• Victor: Cushion+
• Lining: BOUNCE
• Asics: Gel
• Mizuno: Wave technology

One thing to note that these cushions are only available in high tier shoe

So if have money to invest just look for these terms when buying a badminton shoe

It is not necessary that a thick cushion means that it has good cushioning because if it is too large(mainly in running shoe) then there is always a chance of getting your ankle twist

Cushion of a badminton shoe must be thinner, softer and extended so that you can move sideways without any hindrance

Ankle support in a shoe

The mouth of a shoe also known as collar should be mid-cut and not low cut which is mostly in running shoe

Always buy a shoe which has mid-cut collar because it will cover your ankle and in that way, your ankle will be safe especially when you are performing lateral movement

One more feature to look at while selecting a badminton shoe is that quarter of your shoe should be solid

Area pointing in the picture is called a quarter of a shoe and it should be solid because here your heel and bone joining the footrest so it must be sturdy to prevent from ankle twisting

Weight of shoe

In Badminton, weight of your shoe is very important because it is one of the fastest racket sport and if weight of your shoe is too much then you will get tired easily, also chances will be great of you to get injured

Typically a badminton shoe weighs from 250 g to 330 g

Material of shoe

Even though we have talked about the breathable material but here I am talking about the overall material of shoe

If you have been playing badminton for a while now then you may know that most of the badminton shoes get damaged from one place

This is because of the dragging of non-racket leg

I would suggest buying a shoe whose toe box is not completely made of one material but these should be a mixture of two material

The upper part of material should be thick which prevent the foot from sliding out when you are moving from side to side

Size of your shoe

This is the aspect which most people does not take seriously

Some points to consider while deciding size of shoe

• Always measure the size of your foot in cm at home instead of going to a shop and asking the shopkeeper to give shoe of size. Every company has a different length of shoe in the same size number so always measure your foot size in cm
• Measure both of your foot because some of the people have unequal foot and if you are one of those then go for size of your larger foot
• Don’t plan on shoes stretching over time that rarely happens, they should fit well when you buy them. If you are thinking that over-usage it will stretch in length then you are wrong
• There should be a gap of half-inch between your longest toe/thumb and tip of the shoe

Sole of the shoe

In this section i will discuss two things which you need to look for in sole of a shoe

First thing to look for in the sole of a shoe is that whether the mid sole is deep enough

Some shoes sole are flat which is not suitable for badminton so always buy a shoe whose mid sole is deep (deeper the mid sole the better it will be)

Second important thing to look at is the pattern of the sole

The outsole of a running shoe is made to grip the surface more strongly so that when you run chances of slipping on track is low whereas the outer sole of a badminton shoe has lower profile thread

Because it should not grip the surface very firmly otherwise when you try to move sideways you will twist you feet and eventually fall

You can see in the above picture that outersole of badminton shoe has winding channel patterns(strips) it helps in moving sideways with faster response

Companies best for badminton shoe

There are a number of factors which will affect what company you should go for while selecting a badminton shoe

Some popular badminton shoe companies

• Yonex (personally used)
• Victor
• Lining
• Mizuno (personally used)
• Adidas (personally used)
• Asics (personally used)
• Nivia

Points to consider while selecting a shoe company

• Level of skills:- If you are a beginner who just started taking badminton coaching then buy a shoe from companies like Nivia because you will be spending most of the time on court learning techniques which demands less movement like swinging technique etc. But if you are a recreational player and not taking any coaching session then go for shoes from Yonex, Lining, etc.
• Regularity:- If you are a person who likes to use shoes from big companies like Yonex, Lining then you are not going to like my answer, In terms of durability there is no doubt in my mind that Adidas and Asics are best in this scenario they might not be as good in terms of comfortability but if you are like me you want his shoe to last at least 7 months then for these two companies.

Flexibility of shoe

There are two types of flexibility you need to look at while buying a shoe

• Vertical Flexibility
• Twisting Flexibility

Vertical Flexibility:- It refers to the tendency of you shoe to bend from the toe box which is necessary because in badminton a lot of bending of the toe is needed and if your toe box material is not flexible then pasting of the shoe will come off

As you can see in the picture that toe box of shoe is made with net to avoid any cut on the upper region of shoe

Twisting Flexibility:- We have talked about how frequent you have to move laterally while playing badminton and if your shoe mid sole does not have support to restrict the excessive twisting of shoe then you are more exposed to an ankle injury

As you can see in the picture above that a transparent material is attached on mid sole to restrict twisting of shoe

Price of a badminton Shoe

A badminton shoe range from $30 to $250 depending on the features it has but now you might be thinking that which price range is best for me?

Here are some things you need to consider before going for a high priced shoe

• Blind Follower:- Don’t go for big companies all the time explore the market and see if there are any cheap options available with same features, I found bought my Adidas quick force 7.1 this way (good for practice session because of durability)
• Level of technique:- There are some complex facilities which a high tier shoe provide which you might not utilize if you are just a beginner, For Example, if you do not perform jump smashes and play singles then buying a shoe with top-end cushion is useless so keep that in mind before buying a shoe

Can you use Running Shoe for playing badminton

The quick answer to this question is no, you should not use any other shoe to play badminton except the one’s which are specially made for badminton and there are a couple of reason for that

Length of Midsole

This is the midsole of a running shoe and you can see that the height of this sole is pretty big which is a bad thing when it comes to playing badminton

You are constantly changing direction while playing and if you foot is too much elevated from the ground due to the midsole then chances of twisting your ankle is high

Whereas this is a badminton shoe and you can clearly see that midsole of the shoe is not too big

Sole of Shoe

This point I have already talked in the earlier section but just to summarize

Sole of running shoes are made to provide a strong grip to the ground whereas in badminton change of direction while playing is common so badminton shoes should have a less firm grip on the ground to avoid falling

But if you play on a cemented court(which you shouldn’t) then running shoes is perfect for you

Benefits of Using a Badminton Shoe

Provides Better Grip:- All Badminton shoes have non marking sole which provides better grip on court and it becomes necessary as you speed of movement increase on court

Prevent Injuries:- A good badminton shoe protect your ankle and knees by providing better comfort and cushion to absorb the shock produced by hard movement

Conclusion

I have done this research to help you find a perfect badminton shoe so that you can improve your game

If you want to what i personally recommend then check out my recommended shoe

Thank you for reading…

Measure shoe size(wikihow article)