As you know… badminton is a game where you need accuracy, precision speed. Moreover, it is also very intense and can get you injured if you are not using the right techniques or gears. Believe it or not, badminton shoes do make a difference and can actually help you improve your performance while reducing your chances of getting injured.
Things That Make Badminton Shoes Different
Badminton shoes are made very different from many other shoes since not many sports have similar movements like those in badminton. That being said, there are few things that make badminton shoes special compared to the rest. These few factors make all the difference when playing badminton with shoes made for it.
Soles
The soles of badminton shoes are one of the most unique because they are thin. This allows you to feel the ground more and is fantastic for explosive movements. Furthermore, it also gives you a lower center of gravity so you get better balance and stability.
This alone makes badminton shoes very different from the rest. It can drastically reduce your chances of injury because of the lower center of gravity. In fact, that will prevent you from falling over easily. You can make much quicker movements or change directions in a blink of an eye without having to worry about losing balance.
Technologies in Badminton Shoes
There are special technologies that are built into badminton shoes, at least the good ones. These technologies are PowerCushion and Double Russel Mesh. Let me elaborate on what each of them does.
PowerCushion
When playing badminton, you will need to make countless quick and fast movements in various directions which will create lots of impact. If you do not have shoes with PowerCushion technology or something similar, all the impact will be on your knees and feet. In fact, this can get ugly in the long term since you are putting unnecessary stress on them. With PowerCushion technology, it will absorb most of the impact and put little to no strain on your knees or feet.
Most Yonex shoes have this technology in p.lace. So, you don’t have to worry about the harsh impact. This is why I always recommend people to buy a great pair of Yonex shoes for badminton unless you are on a shoestring budget
Yonex is so confident in how much impact or shock their PowerCushion can absorb, they made a video dropping an egg on the PowerCushion technology. Guess what? The egg actually bounced right back up without breaking!
Double Russel Mesh
We all know that playing badminton can get sweaty, especially on our feet. This can get uncomfortable. Ideally, you want your feet to be as dry as possible the whole time you are playing badminton. It will make you move faster, better, and more comfortably.
This is exactly what the Double Russel Mesh does. It increases the airflow of your shoes as much as 8 times more! They are ultra-fine mesh that is both lightweight and durable.
With this, you will never have to worry about your feet getting sweaty anymore. Furthermore, you will also get blisters if your feet are not dry, which I will explain in more detail in the next section.
Injury prevention
If you want to keep yourself injury-free as long as possible, a pair of good badminton shoes is a must! This is where they REALLY shine. There are 2 feet injuries that are common among badminton players, sprained ankle and blisters.
Sprained Ankle
Sprained ankle sucks, it can keep you out of badminton for 6 months if it gets serious. Luckily for you, badminton shoes can help lower the chances of that happening drastically.
This links back to the lower center of gravity. When you have better balance and stability, you will not tip over so easily when you run across the court and make an immediate stop. If you wear shoes with higher soles, you could easily lose balance and sprain your ankle.
Blisters
Most shoes do not come with as good of airflow as badminton shoes. Adding friction from your quick moments on top of the moisture on your feet is a surefire way of getting blisters.
Performance Improvements
A good pair of badminton shoes will boost your performance on the court. This is because they are usually lightweight and flexible.
Lightweight
Badminton shoes are made to be lightweight because it’s such a fast paced game. You cannot let the weight of your shoes hold you back.
A pair of badminton shoes weigh anywhere from 250 grams to 330 grams. Compare this with the weigh of an average shoe of 900 grams to 1.2 kg. That is a drastic difference, hence will allow you to move faster across the court.
Flexible
If you play badminton, you’ll know how important having flexible shoes are. There are a variety of movements in a game of badminton. This means your feet got to change into various shapes to perform those movements.
This is why badminton shoes need to be flexible, they have to adapt to different shapes as you make different movements. If your shoes are not flexible, you will not be able to perform those movements as quickly as you would like to.
Good Traction
The soles of badminton shoes are made of gum rubber, unlike many other shoes. This material provides fantastic traction, especially on synthetic or wooden courts where badminton is usually played on. Not to mention they are soft, light, and non-marking.
Badminton is a game that involves many stops and starts. For example, lunging in front of the net, then springing back to the center of the court. With good traction, you can stop quickly where you need to and change directions.
Lastly, it will prevent you from slipping on wet spots on the court which links back to injury prevention.
Conclusion
To conclude, badminton shoes DO make a difference when playing badminton. They improve your performance and help with injury prevention at the same time.
This is achieved with the techs such as PowerCushion and Double Russel Mesh built into modern day badminton shoes.
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