How to choose men's padel shoes?
To play padel tennis there are several types of footwear, the main difference among all is the sole, it is where shoe manufacturers compete to manufacture the best compound that offers the best grip and the greatest durability, of course cheap padel tennis shoes will have less performance than high-end.
The second point to take into account is perspiration , the more perspiration the footwear has, the better you will be able to withstand the rhythm of the game, and of course, at the end of the game the foot will be more rested.
Another characteristic that we have to take into account when choosing a men's padel shoe is cushioning , normally cheap shoes do not have cushioning, or they only have in the back. If you have a budget, the ideal is to choose a model that has cushioning both in the front and in the back.
We only have to choose the brand we want, we work with the main padel shoe manufacturers:
- Asics
- Bullpadel
- Adidas
- Nox
- Head
- K-Swiss
Any of these brands is a safe bet, now in addition to the price we will only have to look for the one that has the characteristics we are looking for.
Types of soles in padel shoes
- With omni sole : It is a sole that is no longer used much in padel tennis, it has little grip and wears out very quickly, when it began to play padel tennis in Spain, it was the most used type of sole, today it has remained totally deprecated. It is characterized by being formed by small dots, the problem is that the salt destroys this type of sole by friction.
- With clay sole : It is the best-selling sole , the one used by all of them today, they have a herringbone shape, like the ripples of the sea, the grip is very good and above all the durability is excellent, they hardly suffer abrasion from the salt of the padel tennis courts, practically all manufacturers are using this type of sole. This type of sports shoes is also used to play tennis, they are made of clay that have exactly the same sole as padel tennis shoes, the most famous manufacturer for the quality of its soles is undoubtedly Asics.
- With allcourt sole : It is a mixed sole , it has a lot of similarity with the clay or herringbone sole, but it incorporates different patterns in several areas of the sole, it has less grip and it is for a slower or less aggressive game , it is the type of outsole that we usually recommend for older players or those who are more static, also suitable for those players who like to slide down the court at times, Wilson, Adidas are some of the brands that have this type of soles.
What cushioning is there in padel tennis shoes
Each brand uses its own technologies in terms of cushioning, Asics being one of the favorites by most players on the World Padel Tour.
- Cushioning with Gel : The one used by Asics, the mid-range shoes have a rear gel and the higher-end ones usually have both front and rear, it is a kind of gel that is incorporated into the midsole and cushions the impact reducing possible problems in the joints.
- KPRSX : It is the cushioning chosen by Babolat, it is an EVA rubber plate that is inserted in the part of the heel and has absorption properties.
What are the favorite shoes of padel players?
In the market you will find many brands of footwear to play padel tennis and above all kinds of prices, for us the best padel tennis shoes are those that have a long duration , that the sole uses little, and also that they are very comfortable , that they are good padded inside and that the foot is above all well fixed inside to avoid injuries.
Today we can say that the best brand in this sense is Asics, the best-selling brand and the one preferred by all padel tennis players, to a lesser extent we have other important brands such as K-swiss and Adidas.
If we had to highlight a model, that model would be the Asics Bela, which would be the best, closely followed Asics Gel Padel Lima, on the other hand if we were looking for some with a great value for money we would stay with the Asics Gel Padel Pro.
Which sole is better in padel shoes?
The Clay sole is the best sole there is to play padel tennis, any padel shoe should incorporate a clay sole if we want to fully enjoy padel games, it has three great advantages compared to the allcourt sole or the omni sole
- Longer duration , the clay sole lasts longer since the salt does not impact so directly on the rubber and in this way there is less abrasion.
- Better gliding , it is much better due to the layout and pattern of the sole, since in lateral movements it glides better and offers a faster game.
- Better grip , it is contradictory with the previous advantage, but it has been shown that the pattern makes it grip the padel tennis court better and we get better starts.
- Intensive use , as it lasts longer, it is suitable for playing every day and that they wear very little, generally a padel tennis shoe breaks through the areas where there is greater friction or the instep area, in the past all shoes died from the sole, already that ran out of sole and had to be thrown away.