Hello all, I'm 5'6" and about 73 kgs in my mid thirties, play MD mostly, play mostly at the back but being more agile than my partner I have to cover the stray/pressure shots etc too. I'm fighting this urge ever since I tried the new (for my city) Yonex Aerus Z2 WIDE at my local store. It took me more than a month to feel comfortable in the Yonex Eclipsion Z2 (My first expensive footwear ever- the red black model) which was not a perfect fit for my wide feet. It's been about 3-4 months and the shoe is doing well. I always struggle when it comes to buying the right shoes. 1) I would like to know if you guys have different shoes for Training & Tournament days ? 2) How effective do you think the change to lightweight shoe would be ? Is there a cheaper alternative for wide feet (same weight/support) ? Thanks
I didnt do tournament but just competitive club games. Now my main shoes are P9200CC. Get new one coz my old A950 glue are giving up, & some outsole weardown on the thumb area. But after i sew it, it still useable so sometimes i rotate between P9200 & A950. Between the 2 shoes, P are heavier than A. You would notice the different if you wear both at the same times (left P, right A) but wearing a pair, you wont feel to much different especially if you already kicking on the court. Its not like racket, wearing heavier shoes, i just need little bit of adaptation & didnt ruin my games much. Maybe heavier shoes are abit tiring to use but not by much yet for me a big panda, the extra protection are very welcomed & its stable footing makes me confident to push harder.
The local dealership doesn't supply Victor shoes. I was looking for the Yonex Shb 65 z3 wide but they are out of stock everywhere.. i don't know if the Yonex shoe models get back into circulation again. Anyways, given a choice would you be willing to sacrifice some of the stability/support for the increased speed that lightweight shoes provide ? I know it's a subjective choice. I'm also anxious that my feet would probably eat through the Aerus within 6 months
Yes its very subjective. As for me, Consider my panda belly i would prefer support over speed. I didnt goes again a pros that require me move extremely fast nor i would force myself excesively as i didnt bet for wining but just serious hobby fun games. So on some extend i would let go off the shuttle. This consider if i want to enjoy badminton for longer periode than having bad injury & i need to retire forever.
Hello budi I totally get your point. It's serious hobby fun games for me too. But I do try to continuously push myself like a dive here & there for a 40-50 shots rally etc. Today during the morning session i started off with my relatively lighter indoor court shoes (which aren't a good fit for me, i bought them for training/ slow pace games). But because my teammates were already warmed up, i had to really bring it from the get-go. We won the first two set but the sides of my feet started aching, so i changed to my Eclipsion Z2 & i could immediately feel the slight delay in the movement (like trying to net kill, or taking the shuttle early in mid_court & doing a body smash. I went back to the store & tried the Aerus but a size smaller. My little toes were touching the inner shoe surface (not the big toe). I loved the shoeless feeling, still didn't buy.. would try to search for a Victor store in a 100 miles radius first.
I have had quite a few ankle rolls in the past and either I have no ligaments or very lax ligaments in my ankles. I reduced the rolls by improving my landing footwork. I have to say I still go for stability rather than speed. The difference is not that great for badminton and with a more stable shoe, you’re more confident with your lunges. The p9200 series have been great for me. My kid couldn’t get her usual lightweight shoe and we changed to a P9200 version and she immediately said it was great. It was so good we bought another pair as a spare since badminton shoes have supply chain issues. Definitely sucks that in your area there aren’t any Victor shoes
Yeah. Another pair as a Spare ? I believe shoes if kept unused lose its structural integrity. I hope to find the sweet balance between stability and speed. Thanks.
Since several people commenting here using Victor P9200, I just want to say that I am also using it. Mine is the red one. It is as Budi said, although I know for sure it is on the heavy side (compared to other badminton shoes out there), once you are on the court, you will not feel that it is heavy. Well, at least that's the case for me since I have been using it for several years. I also have relatively weak ankle, had injured my ankle before, but I didn't have ankle roll since using my P9200, at least as far as I can remember. So in summary, while I cannot say if Victor P9200 is better or worse than other shoes, I have to say I don't have any complaint so far, except maybe that they are smelly (but I guess it's because of my sweaty feet + the shoes' lack of ventilation)
It’s a trade off between having a shoe that you like and not being able to obtain it again. Luckily, the P9200 series seems to be quite consistent over the years even with some redesigns. I get spare pairs of shoes that I like. I haven’t really noticed a problem a with structural integrity. If there is one, it is too small for me to notice.
Give some times with it. It wont be much but still need some adaptation. Ur foot might not used to extra weight & extra padding of support type shoes.
Hello, In my experience, the adhesive loses its power first followed by other shoe components rendering it unusable(within couple of months). Then again, i have never used flagship shoes before so may be they are built to last. Why not use all the pairs in rotation? For me the fear of damaging the shoe is also one of the reasons I never wash them.. just dry out in the shade.
It's been almost 06 months now. Eclipsion is now showing some signs of wear with regular use.. that's why I had bought the separate training shoes in the first place. And only after that I realised the effects of weighted shoes on the game... Otherwise I was oblivious & thought it's just my aging self.
I have rarely had a problem with the glue becoming loose on the second pair (or if it happens, it happens after quite a bit of time). In fact, I have still have an old Forza pair from a few years ago that I keep for ordinary gym. For me, it’s other things, mostly wear and tear after a very reasonable amount of time. Definitely not within a couple of months. How often are you playing and what’s the court surface like? I remember back in the 90’s my shoes would only last a few months. Back then, shoes were much lighter and sturdier. My ankles are a bit unstable so I prefer the sturdier shoes. If I need speed, I prefer to do some additional indoor speed exercises away from badminton time to make my legs faster rather than use a very light shoe. I never use my playing shoes away from court. I will use older badminton shoes in the gym. It’s a definitely good idea to use shoes in rotation if you have two pairs of the same model. I have a pair of expensive insoles which I don’t want to keep swopping between two pairs of shoes
Aaahh.. I'm relatively new in the shoe world. Precovid, i used to play on ground (park) or concrete 80% of the time. Then i tore my ligament in right knee in an accident. Now I only play on a wooden court. A total of 3.5 - 4 hrs 6 days a week. I also keep my playing badminton shoes in my locker. For a brief period my right foot used to slip forward while lunging. For unknown reasons it happened so many times that i developed soreness in my Achilles tendon and surrounding areas. I used to rotate Asics gel blade and Nike basketball shoes at that time. The problem disappeared on its own, if i remember correctly. For speed:- I once tried training / playing with some ankle weights. It definitely FELT a lot lighter & quicker once i removed the added weights but it's too risky, time consuming, ? temporary & i have nothing to substantiate. I'm currently getting back to skipping rope, trying to squeeze in atleast 2k skips everyday (Target_above 5000). I usually avoid gyms and prefer jogs, cycling, bodyweight exercises. Do you weight train before or after badminton sessions? What is ideal timing? I have suppressed my impulse to go for Aerus right now. I will try Victor/ Asics/ Lining/ Babolat. Thanks.
I try to avoid concrete floors as far as possible now. Knee issues. Playing on a wooden court is good. If you have a ruptured knee ligament , that’s a lot of badminton without much strengthening work to protect the knee. Ankle weights during actual court badminton training are quite out of fashion. Maybe if you were doing ladder exercises that sounds ok. It is a bit risky if your leg muscles aren’t built up properly. Gym work comes in many forms. You can train stability- that would help you be more stable when lunging. More stability means recovering better in your movements and that translates to improved speed. Ok to play badminton on the same day if you have done this type of work. You would have to adjust your expectations and accept a lower level of badminton that day. If you’re gym training with heavier weights for explosive technique to increase the acceleration, this produces more micro muscle tears. You should probably rest or adjust your badminton training with less running and power shots but more technique training. This is where it’s important to have a trainer who is knows your expectations. Overall , you want to both left and right sides to be pretty even. For example , my preference is to do an extra set on my left non dominant side.
Hello, I play on concrete may be once/twice a month with my seniors who are above 50 yrs of age. My lower body strength is decent.. but after the injury the lateral movement has definitely suffered + any explosive movement which would shift all weight to my right leg is not possible. Also, I can't recover from a deep lunge just with the power of my right leg. Such situations are less common, so i manage with just a snug knee brace (non metallic). Never done ladder exercises before... But I have seen one at the academy. I will try after the session next time. Gotta look up tutorials. Thanks.
