Maybe you’re like me and you started playing pickleball about a year into the COVID pandemic. You’re instantly obsessed, but now you need gear. Shoes being one of your first purchases aside from the paddle. But, what shoe? Which brands fit feet true to size? Which shoe brands offer wide or narrow?
If you’re also like me, maybe you suffered from pandemic foot. Meaning you worked from home, which meant you were barefoot. I was barefoot constantly on hard floors. Well apparently that caused my high arch narrow foot that always worked well with Nike to flatten out wide. Nike my go-to shoe was surprisingly tight and uncomfortable. So down the rabbit hole I went. Thankfully, there’s an incredible resource right on youtube with Foot Doctor Zach. You’ll find knowledgeable and entertaining hard court shoe reviews where he literally dissects them informing you of all the tech that may or may not benefit your feet and overall performance.
From having gone through my own shoe research and testing out multiple brands, I can at least get you started in the right direction. Keep in mind all feet are different, and it’s important that you begin your process by finding your foot type. It’s easy. You’ll use this to purchase shoes that are better for specific foot types and invest in some orthotics.
Foot Type Test
Grab a piece of printer paper or cardboard that’s big enough to make a couple footprints. Next, wet the bottom of your foot and step onto the paper or cardboard. Now do the same for the other foot. If you have a high arch, you’ll see the front of the foot and heel marks with nothing in between. Medium arch will see a narrow imprint between the front and heel marks. The more narrow, the higher your arch. If you have flat feet, you’ll see a full imprint of your foot including the sides.
High and Medium Arch
For the high arch players, you’ll want to focus on Nike, Yonex, Adidas, and Asics. They’re known to fit more narrow fit, which usually correlates with a high arch.
- Yonex Eclipsion
- NikeCourt Air Zoom Vapor
- NikeCourt Air Zoom NXT
- Adidas Ubersonic 4.1
- Asics Court FF
Flat Feet
My fellow flat feeters. I’m here to tell you there are actually comfortable shoes for us. My favorite shoes have been with New Balance, which surprised me because I thought New Balance shoes were for middle aged dads with khaki pants.
- New Balance FuelCell 996v5
- New Balance X CT-Rally
- Adidas SoleMatch Control
Insole Orthotics
To make things easy, I’m going to recommend two insoles. The Move Game Day Pro will be great for medium to high arches. For flat feet, you can’t go wrong with Move All Day or Superfeet Green. Superfeet Green also comes in a wide version and is the one I’ve been using. Just FYI, the title on Amazon may list this as a high arch support, but it’s flat and provides great flat foot support.
A note on Skechers, Selkirk, and Babolat Shoes
You will see people on the court with Skechers, Selkirk, and Babolat shoes. I found each of these to be uncomfortable and low on quality materials. Other players in my normal group with these have all complained that their shoes didn’t last long and were uncomfortable. That said, the Babolat Jet Mach 3 had some positive impressions among the players I’ve asked. Your mileage may vary, and it’s worth looking up return policies or going to your local running shoe or tennis shop. These shops can help identify foot types and any issues you may have based on your foot profile.