IF THE SHOE FITS WEAR IT, SO SAY THE HOLABIRD SPORTS SHOE EXPERTS

"IF THE SHOE FITS WEAR IT"

There's so much jibber-jabber going around about pickleball court shoes, I have decide to stick my shoe in my mouth and join the fracas.

First and foremost, I am not a footwear expert. Nor do I claim any expertise in sport shoes. And I have not had the distinked experience of selling footwear. I do have some expertise in buying sport and outdoor footwear. However like most of my blogging commentary, I rely on my past experience, and a little help from my friends in the sport shoe business.

For me, your humble servant, I did not pay too much attention to proper pickleball court shoes, until I took a 9.5 rated "header," and landed on my right elbow and the cheek of my right buttock (TMI). At that time I was wearing my favorite sports shoe, the "Brooks Beast." Fantastic footwear for power walking, strength training and everyday use. But NOT FOR PICKLEBALL!

Since I am a frequent customer of Holabird Sports on Pulaski Highway in Rossville, Baltimore County, that would be my first stop. The Holabird staff calls me "Pickleball Joe" because I would spend an hour or more every week, doing performance tests on all their "demo" pickleball paddles. 

Holabird Staff members, Jason and Mike, listened to my concerns and enlightened me with a "court shoe 101" class. They showed me the difference between a court shoe, and the walking/jogging shoe, that I was wearing. I also learned that some court shoes are better than others for playing indoors on wood courts versus playing outdoors on synthetic surface courts.

Staff members' Jason and Mike, also informed me that many tennis players have two pairs of court shoes, one for outdoor play and another for indoor play, due to the court surface variations that wear the Herringbone Pattern Outsoles.

OK guys, I'm ready to try on some court shoes! When I said, "I wear a size 11/Wide: 4E," I saw that "Oh Crap" expression on their faces. "Not too many "extra wide court shoes available, especially if you want a specific brand," they replied. "If a customer favors a specific brand, we sometimes have to go one size larger to fit wide feet." But the New Balance 806 'flag ship' Tennis Shoe comes in 4E widths, with a herringbone outsole for lateral motion traction, forward split steps and quick pivoting."

Lets's give 'em a try, I said, I laced them on, grabbed a demo paddle and went into the practice court to test their performance and comfort. The rest is history! I purchased two pairs of the "806's," one for indoors, and the other for outdoors. It's been over a year and I am extremely pleased with the performance and stability of these court shoes. They have helped my mobility issues, and (knock on wood), I haven't taken any tumbles.

   

The "New Balance 806," is the NB Flagship Tennis Foot wear. 

For tennis players looking for superior stability and support

Herringbone Outsole allows increased traction for lateral motion and

quick pivoting.

Sorbothane Insole SorboAir Insole has a moisture wicking non slip surface and high performance memory provides additional sshock absorption.molded structured base provides cushion comfort, Sorbothane Heek Ubsert absorbs up to 94% of impact.

"Holabird Sports" provides their racquet sport customers the unique experience of being able to test a racquet or paddle, before they decide to buy. David Hirschfeld, the "owner" had the foresight to install a downsized practice racquet sport court just for his customers buying convenience.   

On their instore practice court, always searching for that one perfect paddle.

Looking at this from a Pickleball Coaches' perspective, proper pickleball foot wear is as important to a player as selecting their open play pickleball paddle. Probably just as expensive if not more. 

In my rookie pickleball years, all I was concerned about was getting on the court and playing. If I only had a pair of ankle high steel toe work shoes to wear on the court, I wouldn't have cared. But I'm sure the loud roars of righteous (Are you crazy or stupid?) indignation, from other players and gym managers, would have declared me as "mentally unfit" to play pickleball. Sound familiar? 

I was "bewitched, bothered and bewildered" by "that old black magic" called "pickleball." The gleaning glow of the paddle in my hand, and the acrobatic antics of the mystical yellow whiffle ball traveling through the air, had captured the inner me spell and nothing else in life seemed to matter

consists of an entire system of footwear and foot care products that accompanies the proper pickleball court shoes.

Some say you should only use a soft gum soled racquet ball shoe to play pickleball on wood indoor court floors. Their reasoning is predicated on the gripping ability of soft gum as opposed to the standard tennis shoe with a synthetic material sole.

Another factoid in favor of the gum sole shoe is the sole extends upward along the side of the shoe.  This is intended to keep you upright when making those quick right and left side lunges for the ball.