If you’re a heavier guy there are special considerations when choosing your shoes for pickleball.
Many court shoes have very firm soles, which is great for changing directions. A harder sole also usually doesn’t wear as fast. But the firmer the sole, the more jarring it will be for your ankles, knees, hips, and even your back.
Here’s my journey attempting to find the best pickleball shoe for big and tall men.
Because court shoes are harder, there’s less margin for error in terms of fit. The uppers are not stretchy fabric or even leather that will stretch to fit your foot. The top-performing shoes are made of synthetics and composites to provide maximum support under later acceleration.
You want to know your toebox width in millimeters. You can use a ruler to measure it in inches and then convert it to millimeters. I used tailor’s tape with inches on one side and centimeters on the other.
Simply place the measuring tape on the ground and stand on it, lining the edge of your foot up with the “0” mark.
My toebox width is approximately 102mm. I wear a size 13 and I’ve found the shoes labeled “Generous Medium” or “Slightly Wide” fit me the best.
Some sites list the toebox sizes on them when you’re purchasing your shoes, you want to pay attention to that. Find a width that you like and go for it.
When I first started playing, I just used my workout shoes, Adidas Alphabounce.
These shoes are very comfortable. They have a ton of cushioning, which is great for sore knees. The problem with using shoes like this for pickleball is that they have a knit upper. I knew this was the wrong shoe for the sport when I went to change directions and my big toe was touching the court through the fabric next to the sole. The upper stretched so far, part of my foot was no longer on the shoe!
My second pair of pickleball shoes I purchased in October of 2022 from Tennis Point.
I chose these as I had a really good experience using their tennis shoes for playing racquetball in the past. I wanted something similar.
I really like these shoes, but I had two issues. One, the sole and insole are very firm. Going from cushy Alphabounces to this was jarring to my knees and back. I added Dr. Scholl’s Sport Insoles and they really helped, but overall it’s a pretty firm combo.
The other issue is that because they are white, they quickly become dirty. I tried to clean them with soap and water and that didn’t work. I tried a magic eraser pad and that helped on the soles, but the outer material is super perforated, providing lots of nooks and crannies for hiding dirt.
The sole wear is pretty good. I used these for 5 months of heavy play (8-12 times a week for 2 hours each session.) The inside of the right toe is starting to wear down, but I think a year of normal use would be no problem.
After 5 months of playing, it was clear that I became obsessed with pickleball, so I decided to up my game with a dedicated pickleball shoe from Acacia. The “TYLER” Signature Edition Pro Shoes from Acacia are the pro model designed for pickleball pro Tyler Loong. They are bright orange and cost $139 at the time of writing.
I originally was going to opt for the slightly less expensive Proshot series in royal blue but there is a key difference between the Proshot shoes and the signature shoe. The Proshot model lacks the extra eyelet that allows for heel lock lacing. Setting up your laces in the heel lock configuration ensures your foot remains locked in the shoe under extreme acceleration in any direction.
As you can see, these shoes are very orange. They are hard to miss. I get a lot of comments on them, mostly tongue-in-cheek. “Wow, your shoes are so bright.” So if you want everyone to notice your shoes and comment on them, these are for you.
I had problems with these from day one. First of all, I have a slightly wide foot. Nike shoes are too narrow, and Adidas are usually perfect. These shoes are known for having a wider toebox. The width feels right, but the volume of the shoe is massive. My foot is shaped like a wedge, thicker towards the heel, sloping down to my toes. This shoe feels like it was designed for feet shaped more like a log of salami. I put thick insoles in them and got it to where they’re tolerable.
Another problem I noticed is that the tongue in the left shoe was folded over towards the end of the shoe. I had to unlace them completely, untuck them, and insert my foot in a specific way to keep them from folding over again. Super annoying.
The last problem I had related to the volume of the shoe. Even with thick insoles and thick socks, I had to cinch the laces so tight I ended up with weird folds at the bottom of the laces.
I also feel link my heels are lower than my toes, causing me pain in the backs of my knees. I don’t seem to have this issue in the other shoes I wear.
The soles are high quality and will probably last a long time.
Overall the shoe feels high quality but just doesn’t seem to fit my foot.
Next, I purchased a pair of the 2022 Barricade tennis shoes. While not technically a pickleball shoe, you’ll see many pros on the PPA tour wearing this exact model. In fact, Collin Shick wore these shoes when he took a game off of Ben Johns at the PPA Florida Open. They updated the colorways for 2023 but I liked this combination better. Since they’re last year’s shoes you can find them on sale for under $90 if they have them in your size.
These shoes are unique in that they have a non-symmetric lacing pattern. I was a little skeptical at first, but after putting them on and adjusting them, I really like it. These shoes are high quality all the way around. They fit my foot well, but they do require a slight break-in period.
I only had one issue, and it was the tongue on the right shoe had a pronounced crease where your foot articulates behind your toes. I had to unlace the entire right shoe, tug on it multiple times, then put the shoe back on my foot. It seems to be fixed now. I’m starting to really love these shoes.
UPDATE: Ok so I figured out these shoes have tab where you can tug on it and it pulls the tongue up from the toe area. You’ll see the tabs where it says “Barricade” in the top view. So much better now! I’m really liking these shoes for pickleball.
After my experience wearing the white Head Revolt 2.0 Evo shoes, I ordered shoe protectant this time. Once these shoes have some more wear on them I’ll update on how well they clean up. Here are some pictures in their current state:
A final note on these shoes: The product information calls the highlighting “Solar Red” but it’s really more orange in my book. So if you’re looking to match up the colors with some red Adidas sportswear, it’s going to be tough.
In my quest to find the best pickleball shoe for big and tall men, I just ordered the Babolat Propulse Fury 3 tennis shoes. I’m super excited to try them out and give you all feedback.
UPDATE
I received these shoes. They are so sweet. You can tell they are well made by a company that really knows paddle and racquet sports. These shoes have a similar asymmetric lacing pattern as the Adidas Barricade shoes. However, they don’t hug my foot like the Adidas Barricade. In fact, I’m hesitant to really crank them down because the strings that one side of these laces go through do not look very robust. I’m worried if I used too much force, one of them will pop, and the shoes will be worthless.
The width is perfect for my foot, but I’m having the same problem with the Acacia Signature Pro shoes. The volume of the toe box is very high. The laces don’t start until well behind where my foot articulates, so there isn’t really a way to adjust it. I put the heavy-duty soles in them and that helped, but was not quite right. Next, I put in the original insoles and the heavy-duty ones on top, and now the toebox fits perfectly, but my heel is too high in the back.
I’m still tinkering around with them to get a perfect fit because they are an awesome shoe with the perfect amount of cushioning. I really want to make them work.
I wore this pair in the tournament we played in this weekend and they were pretty good, but I felt like there was just too much slop in the toe-box.