I have been told that i need to wear badminton shoes, but what is the difference between those and normal running shoes? Aren’t they designed for grip on a court surface?
These are great questions. In fact, you’ve probably been seeing more players wearing court-type shoes lately. They’re now considered standard equipment by many pros. But why?
So, Why Do I Need Special Shoes for Badminton?
Well, it’s because the surface of a badminton court is quite slippery. It has lots of bounce to it, which means you can’t rely on your shoes gripping the ground like they would on an indoor running track for example.
You must have heard stories about badminton players falling over all the time. That’s because they were wearing the wrong shoes.
You probably don’t realize it, but you use your feet in badminton a lot! Just imagine what happens when you try to block an overhead smash and misjudge it completely. You start running for the shuttlecock to smash it back – only to find that there’s no grip whatsoever. You slide and fall flat on your face!
If you’ve got used to wearing court shoes in badminton, these kinds of incidents won’t happen. You can anticipate shuttlecock direction better, and will feel more confident about smashing or blocking the shuttlecock. This means that you’ll get more power into your shots (and it won’t go flying out of the court).
So, to sum up: badminton shoes are specially designed for badminton. They’re lightweight and agile so that you can move quickly around the court. Also, they have sticky rubber soles to give you good grip on the surface.
Courts type shoes are now becoming popular everywhere, especially since top players like Lee Chong Wei wear them. You should probably try one out the next time you play badminton – you won’t be disappointed!
