Playing tennis with the right gear- SHOES

I started playing tennis with an absolute beginner’s racket in terms of quality and pricing. It was a Kuaike.  But to play with it now, especially after I switched over to n-code from Wilson is like watching a black and white Crowne TV instead of a 72 inch wall mounted flat screen.  You get the point, don’t you?

If I remember right, I wore a pair of sneakers and later heavy soled running shoes to move about on the tennis court.  Bad choice, in fact terrible choice. I didn’t realise it then but that was the reason why I stumbled every time I had to so a Serena from one end of the court to another or had to rush to the end. I got to the ball but couldn’t hit it because I tripped. Every single time!
Now I wear a solid pair of Reebok with flat soles that do the trick of protecting my knees, at the same time are supple and thin enough for me to feel the surface I am moving on. Running shoes with fancy sole like mine- Reebok Verona II DMX ride were great for running, had wonderful cushioning (like a stuffed leather chair) but were awful as tennis shoes.  I literally had excess baggage that hampered movements on the court. My toes and sole could not get the feel of the court they were supposed to run on. They were completely insulated and you certainly do not want that. 

So when the sole came off and I had to buy a new pair, I tentatively asked the salesman for Tennis shoes and he pointed me over to a whole rack of delicious shoes waiting to be worn.  I was in seventh heaven. When I tried one on, I practically wept for the relief that my feet felt.  I could feel the hardness of the ground, the many layers that protected my joints did not inhibit that connection. ‘Thinking on your feet’in the literal sense is important for any racket sport- tennis and badminton especially and the right pair of shoes will help you enormously in upping your game. So get a pair that has a flat sole, not a chunky one.
Illustrated here for difference-

This is the Vapor Tour 9 from Nike, Roger Federer’s shoe of choice and he wore them for Australian Open. It is designed like a running shoe but with the support and stability of a tennis shoe. Because you don’t run mindlessly on the court. The shoes need to be designed for sudden starts and stops and changes in direction that enables you to reach the ball.  Your opponent has sliced the racket so you rush toward the net anticpating a volley, but the next moment the ball hit an arc high above the net, a lob. And you are suddeny running toward the baseline with all that you have got. The shoe needs to go with this flow.The Vapor Tour 9 is priced at USD 130 on http://www.tennis-warehouse.com

These are Ziglite Electrify running shoes from Reebok.  Look at the sole, it is thick, inordinately so for playing tennis.  So the natural choice for this sport is a shoe type like the Vapor and not the Ziglite. 

Since we are on the subject of shoes, might as well see what other top tennis players like Nadal for instance endorse. The bright pink shoes also from Nike are Air Max Courtballistec 4.3.  Bit more clunky for my liking, but I am thinking for Rafa’s intensely physical style of play, these shoes work as the cushioning takes the sting out of heavy landings.  The sole is still flatter than that of a running shoe. Priced at USD 130, these are available for sale on http://www.tennis-warehouse.com. I haven’t seen them yet in Nike stores in Chenai.

Rafa playing in Air Max Courtballistec at the VTR Open in Vina Del Mar in Chile

I also like the shoes that the Williams sisters wear. Both endorse Nike.  What you see is the Nike Air Max Cage, priced at USD 115 on http://www.tennis-warehouse.com







Bottomline- Get a shoe that is flexible, flat-soled and is able to negotiate movement patterns on the court that emulate the cardiogram. Don’t wear shoes that make you a leopard. Wear something that turns you into a hunter!