Searching for the best Pickleball shoe is like trying to find the Holy Grail. When you search for Pickleball shoes on Google or Amazon, you’ll notice that none of the shoes appearing in the search results are actually Pickleball shoes. Instead you’ll find tennis and volleyball shoes as an alternative. It’s not to say those shoes don’t work for Pickleball but they are not shoes made specifically for Pickleball.
Still, you can find court shoes which work well for Pickleball whether you play indoors or outside on hard courts. If you play indoors, I would suggest a volleyball shoe as they are made to maximize performance on wood gym floors. If you have weak ankles, you can also try a basketball shoe as low and high tops provide more support. On the other hand, if you play outside stick with a tennis shoe for best performance.
In my analysis of the best Pickleball shoes, we read the reviews on hundreds of court shoes on Amazon. The ones which ended up on the top of our list actually received good reviews from Pickleball players. While we read the reviews of people using the shoes for other sports, our focus was really on Pickleball players.
Here’s a summary:
Best Indoor Pickleball Shoe for Women
The Asics Women’s Gel Rocket 8 Volleyball shoe is at the top of the heap for indoor shoes in 2019 on Amazon. I’m not surprised by this result as I played volleyball in high school and college and I wore Asics back then. It’s great to hear they have kept up the quality of their court shoe. Volleyball players rate the shoe 4.2 stars out of 5 compared to Pickleball players who rate it 4.1 out of 5 stars. So, it’s clear the performance of the shoes are top notch regardless of which sport you play. One reviewer who played Pickleball did mention the shoes wear out more quickly outdoors so it looks like the Asics Gel Rocket 8 should only be used indoors.
Overall the fit of the Asics Gel Rocket 8 is excellent with 82% of reviewers saying they fit as expected. This is an exceptionally high percentage for shoes, especially for an athletic shoe. Two reviewers who were Pickleball players said they used their orthotics in the shoes and that worked well. Others said the arch support was excellent.
Pros
- Exellent arch support
- Good grip on gym floors
- Fits true to size
- Good Price
Cons
- Limited selection of styles as only very small or large shoes came in a color other than pink and grey
Best Outdoor Pickleball Shoe for Women
It was actually hard to find a highly rated shoe for women playing outdoor Pickleball in 2019. The best I found is the K-Swiss Women’s Hypercourt Express Tennis Shoe.
The shoe had 99 customer reviews on Amazon including 8 from Pickleball players. The reviews were positive from Pickleball players with reviewers giving 4.1 out of 5 stars. Tennis players rated the shoes even higher at 4.4 out of 5 stars. 82% of customers said the K-Swiss Hypercourt Express Tennis shoe fit true to size, equaling the Asics Gel Rocket 8 Volleyball shoe.
Pros
- Good selection of color and sizes
- Excellent fit for wide feet
- Good arch support
- Comfortable right out of the box so no need to break them in
- Lightweight
Cons
- The shoe is pricey with many sizes/colors over $100
- The sole of the shoe wears out quickly
Best Indoor Pickleball Shoe for Men
The ASICS Mens Gel-Rocket 8 Volleyball Shoe has a whopping 382 reviews on Amazon and it ranks as the best indoor Pickleball shoe for men in 2019. The shoe overall has 4.5 out of 5 stars so it is the best ranked shoe of all Pickleball shoes reviewed in this article. Many people have purchased these shoes specifically for indoor Pickleball and a number of customers like the shoes so well they have purchased them multiple times. The shoe fits as expected 85% of the time and this is the highest percentage of shoes being reviewed for Pickleball in 2019.
Pros
- Lightweight
- Comfortable
- Excellent grip on a gym floor
- Good traction
- Good value for the price
- Wide selection of colors and prices
Cons
- Little arch support
Best Outdoor Pickleball Shoe for Men
The ASICS Men’s Gel-Dedicate 5 Tennis Shoe ranks at the top of the list for the best outdoor Pickleball shoe for men. The shoe overall has 222 customer reviews so I think you can trust the feedback from purchasers. It has 4 out of 5 stars with the Pickleball rating at 3.9 out of 5 stars and the tennis rating at 4 of 5 stars. The shoe fits as expected 72% of the time.
Pros
- Good value for the price
- Wide toe box so your toes are not pinched together
- Comfortable
- Lightweight
- Wide selection of colors and sizes
Cons
- Runs small for some people
Here’s a quick summary:
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