How to Choose Tennis Shoes

Video Transcript

JEFF COHEN: Hi, I'm Jeff Cohen. In today's segment, we're going to talk about how to choose the right shoe. There's about a half a dozen or so features you want to look for in a shoe. First, let's talk about fit. You want to make sure that your foot feels comfortable in the shoe. Second, let's talk about the size. Size is very, very important. You don't want your foot moving around too much in the shoe. Then we have comfort. Is there enough cushioning in the midsole? You want to make sure that it feels very comfortable. You don't want it to feel like you have to break the shoe in, in order for it to be comfortable. So comfort is very, very important. Then we have durability. Durability is very, very important. How long would the shoe last? You also have price, that's something that you have to determine. Usually, the more expensive the shoe, the more features the shoe is going to have. Also, for those of you who play on clay, you want to make sure that you have the right sole. So most shoes that are good clay court shoes have what they call like a herringbone-type sole. So usually there are little ziggly lines in the bottom of the shoe and that helps your footing on clay courts. Another feature that's real important is stability. So you want to make sure that the court has good stability in the shoe. When you play tennis, there's a lot of lateral movement. That's why I wouldn't recommend using a running shoe if you're going to go out and play tennis. I've seen a lot of ankle injuries with people playing tennis in running shoes because running shoes have no lateral support. So make sure that you buy a tennis shoe, a specific tennis shoe. So obviously, you want to make sure that you have some support when you're sitting down on this shoe. I've always felt like the best shoes are the ones where I feel low in the shoe. If you feel kind of high in the shoe, you're more prone to turn an ankle and you're not going to feel like you have the support that you need. And last but not least is the guarantee. So you want to make sure--you know, check to see if the shoe has a guarantee, and most companies do guarantee their shoe. Some of them have a six-month warranty. Some of them have a 12-month warranty depending on whether it's the outside of the shoe or the sole of the shoe. So remember, there are a lot of shoes out there, just like there are cars. You want to make sure that the one that you find is a tennis-specific shoe and it's within your price range.