How to choose the right shoes padel ?

Our equipment expert Stéphane Penso shares with us all his experience in racket sports to help us choose our snowshoes. padel !

Snowshoeing… but not only!

Many players think that racket is the only important accessory for the practice of padel and mainly focus their research on acquiring the perfect weapon. The pala is indeed very important, and it will be determining as well in the improvement of the performances on the ground as to avoid certain muscular inconveniences.

But let's not forget other accessories padel like shoes, which can also have a big influence on our level of play and our progress. The padel being a sport combining agility and constant movements, wearing good shoes becomes essential in order to avoid injuries and especially to support the fluidity and movement of the player.

3 essential criteria

All sports shoes, in general, must meet 3 criteria main :

1- Protect the foot

2- Help prevent osteotendinous incidents of the foot and upper articular stages

3- Encourage the sporting gesture to favor performance

Know your feet well

But before getting to the heart of the matter, let's first summarize what a good pair of shoes means to you, the players of padel.

You must first know what kind of body type you have (in order to best guide the seller).

Do you have a universal, pronator or supinator stride?

This is a crucial question to ask yourself before purchasing a pair of athletic shoes.

Indeed, manufacturers can sometimes offer models adapted to each of these 3 types of stride and it is better not to make a mistake to avoid any risk of injury (tendonitis of the knee in particular).

La overhand corresponds to a sagging of the foot inward, the supination tilting the foot outwards, and the neutral stride (universal) to a perfect alignment of the foot when running or walking.

How do you know if you are pronator, neutral or supinator?

If the pronation or supination of your stride is not obvious to the naked eye, you can study the signs of wear on the front of your shoe soles (street or sports):

a stride pronator use more inner part
a stride supinator use more outer part
a neutral stride or Universal use more central part (see associated sketch below)

In general, athletes are distributed as follows: 45% neutral, as many pronators and 10% supinators.

Shoes from padel of good quality and especially adapted to your style of stride are therefore capitals. They directly impact competitiveness, comfort, and can drastically reduce your risk of injury.

Shoes from padel... to play padel !

To play padel, it is not advisable to play with padel, he is ESSENTIAL to play with shoes from padel !

In addition to all of the criteria listed above, there are six important “for the buyer” elements that come into play when the purchase is triggered:

1- Convenience

2- The cushioning

3- Dynamism

4- Stability

5- sustainability

6- The price

Other important features

The weight

Lightweight sneakers for quicker take-off or heavy shoes for more grip. The lightness of the shoe padel is one of the main points on which the brands of this sport are working so hard. Indeed, the shoes of padel require many reinforcements which increase their weight and that is why it is advisable to choose models using a maximum of flexible materials. This will allow us, in addition to limiting sweating, to be more comfortable in our movements and especially to tire us less.

Adhesion

You come from tennis and the clay is your garden, you will love to slide on the slopes of padel thanks to the sand.
You come from squash, you are going to seek maximum grip, because skidding, chasing or skating is not part of your vocabulary.

The style

Of course. Design is an essential element of fashionistas of all stripes for whom cosmetics are the number 1 purchase criterion.

Below you can see that brands have different resolutions when designing a new product!

As you can see, buying a pair of sports shoes is nothing short of anecdotal! The padel is a sport that requires a lot of lateral movement. This is why the shoe should neither be too wide, in which case our foot will swim in the shoe, causing friction and blisters, nor too narrow, which would cause discomfort and increase sweating.

Size

Which brings us to talk about the size , finally the absolute element which will determine and validate all the other parameters. I advise you to take a ½ size above your usual size because the padel is a sport where we have to brake sharply and change direction constantly. This ½ size larger will prevent your feet, and your toes in particular, from suffering repetitively (personally I take 1 size more, coupled with thick socks). Also check the seams of the shoe: a badly placed seam can be a real ordeal, and become an omnipresent discomfort in our shoe.

Brands are clearly betting on shoes

As you will have understood, it is essential to have good shoes to be able to perform at best on the slopes. padel. The brands have understood this well and today they offer ever more technical and comfortable shoes. Whether it be Babolat, Head, Wilson, Kuikma, Dunlop, or now Nox, everyone understood the importance of offering shoes that allow players to feel great in their sneakers.

We will come back soon to the best models of 2021. In the meantime, you can always ask for advice in the shops of your clubs or for more information. from our partner sites !

Stéphane Penso

Fan of padel, Stéphane has become the official tester of the planet padel in Europe. Everything goes through his expert hands. Thanks to his extensive experience in the snowshoeing world, he is able to scan your gear from head to toe!