I bought a new pair of Yonex SHB-03z badminton shoes and I love it. LCW fan here. The feel was lighter and I could run faster in my games but after 3 weeks of playing (I play 3 days for 4 hrs per week) I started noticing tenderness on top of my left leg’s ankle - fibula. This started to happen on week 2 from when I started using the shoes. My mistake was to ignore it and continued to play. I could still play and the tenderness would go away but after the games it would hurt. I’m narrow footed and I don’t think this pair of shoes is selective of whether you’re narrow or flat footed. Last year (and previous years)I played with shb-01’s and the Aerus shoes. Never had this kind of injury before with the shb01 shoes. I stopped playing after the 3rd week as it got bad. And it’s been a week an a half now of not playing badminton and I’m slowly recovering as I was limping for 4 days and now I can slowly walk normal but still feel a little bit of pain and tenderness when I put weight to the injured leg. I plan to go to the doctor soon to have it looked at. My question is if whether it’s from changing shoes or because I played too much and my pivot foot ankle just decided to give up on me? Never rolled or sprained it and I stretch before playing. I’m worried that this might not be the pair of shoes for me but I really like it. Does anyone have the same experience?
I'm going to take a guess here as I'm not 100% sure on this. The 03Z shoes are stability shoes and as such I feel that they're wider than aerus 2. I just bought a pair as well (coral red color but should be the exact same shoe), and I came from asics gel rocket which feels lighter and narrower like the aerus 2. I used to have some ankle pain and feel like the asics didn't support my ankles as much as the 03Z and since switching I've noticed a bit of pain still but the shoe is actually supporting my ankles a lot better now, so I think the pain is from my ankles being still a bit easy to roll and tender but the shoe is keeping it in check and it goes away pretty quickly. In a sense I would say that I've had the opposite experience with these shoes and it feels like my ankles are better supported. The only difference then I can think of is that my feet are sort of towards the wide side so the wider base of the 03Z actually keeps my feet more stable. Maybe your feet are too narrow and that they're moving in the shoe, so that each step your shoe has stopped moving but your feet are moving inside and rolling a bit?
It sounds like your foot is slipping laterally in the shoe, putting strain on your ankle. I've not used the shoe, but I've seen some fun clips of professional players losing theirs with this particular model, so I wouldn't be surprised. The other thing to consider is the insole in the shoe, Yonex's stock insoles are absolutely rubbish, and may not be protecting your feet.
Agree with Charlie-SWUK about changing the insole. I always buy a new pair of Superfeet Greens every time i buy a new pair of yonex shoes: https://www.superfeet.com/en-ca/insoles-and-sandals/green I bit pricey, but they have been a God-send for my ankles and knees.
