Shoes less likely to sprain your ankle (Barricades Currently)

SFeigl · Mar 15, 2011

Hey Guys,

I'd never ever had a problem before with rolling ankles, in tennis... squash... basketball, anything. I was wearing Barricade 5's and felt really secure in them, but I did have a massive sprain in my left ankle which left me out of the game for about 2 months. I wore ASO braces when I came back and after a while, I was able to take them off and my ankles got quite strong again. It'd been about 9 months and I upgraded to the Barricade 6 shoes. In that time, I get occasional moments of ankle instability and I've rolled both my good and bad ankles twice each while not wearing braces (albeit not as badly), but I've felt the shoes to be the most responsive and fastest. I'm in a dilemma as I firmly believe that these shoes are what is affecting my ankle stability, but I'd like to have a shoe that has a high level of performance. I'd bought the Lunarlite Vapor Federer shoes (even though he has his own custom shoes) and while they were flexible and flimsy, I felt like my ankle was quite secure and I never wore braces with these shoes either.

I'm thinking that with the B6's, I might just have to wear braces until I eventually kill the shoes. But when I do need a new set of boots, what would you recommend for performance and ankle stability. I was thinking that perhaps the CB3.3's would be good due to their wide footprint.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated by my poor and very sore ankles (freshly sprained). Thanks in advance.

XFactorer · Mar 15, 2011

It could be the shoe. It could be that you've rolled your ankle once already that's causing the continued insecurities. And who knows what would have happened if you were wearing a different pair of shoes on that unfortunate day.

I'd suggest just continue playing in the ankle brace(s) and get whatever you want. I personally love both the Vapors and the CBs (for different reason).

SFeigl · Mar 16, 2011

Yeah - I could understand the weakness to the ankle undoubtedly. However, the first ankle to be rolled with the Barricade 6's, was actually the ankle that I'd not had a problem with. There've also been other occassions when I've had instability in the ankles on landing, moreso than with other shoes which is quite disappointing. I'm just wondering whether this is part of the reason why many of the pro's don't like the B6's and revert back to the B5's (Murray, Wawrinka, etc).

I'll undoubtedly play tennis always in my ASO braces while I've got the Barricade 6's, but when I buy my next pair of shoes, I'll go for something else.

dr325i · Mar 16, 2011

wore Barricades for the last 4 years (B2, 4, 5, 6), played on the HC, Red Clay, Carpet, Har Tru, that rubbery stuff, and NEVER had the slightest stability issue...absolutely great shoes.

anhuynh16 · Mar 16, 2011

CB 3.3,2.3 - worst shoe for ankle stability. i had a rolled my ankle alot

brownbearfalling · Mar 17, 2011

With the barricade 6 I felt that it has the lowest cut of all the barricades. Even lower than the barricade 2. The advantage is that it does make the shoe faster but many of us dont want to sacrifice ankle support. Im with you in blaming the shoe. It also doesn't help that the barricade soles are the grippiest soles on the market.

So start your search for a new shoe. If you want to stay with adidas, I think the geniuses or the adi zeros might be a little Better. Although they are both pretty low cut, they are a tad lower to the ground which gives you more feel for the court so that you get make sure you have good footing. The best shoe I have worn that had a mix of ankle support and complimenting fast cuts was the Nike breathe cage 2. The lacing went pretty high up and the shoe's cut was a little higher than other Nike shoes.

brownbearfalling · Mar 17, 2011

anhuynh16 said:
CB 3.3,2.3 - worst shoe for ankle stability. i had a rolled my ankle alot

I don't know about the 3.3 but I have to say the 2.3 and 2.1 ballistics were pretty bad for ankle support. I rolled my ankle very badly one time and I haven't played competively in my 2.1s since then. I stick with vapors for matches and 2.1 for practice and training

Which reminds me, OP,

You shouldn't use your barricade 6 for matches or times that you are playing hard if you are not confident in them. My advice would be to buy another better ankle support shoes NOW, and use those for matches. You can slowly wear out your barricades for practice or training. Remember you can not put a price on your health.

JT_2eighty · Mar 17, 2011

brownbearfalling said:
With the barricade 6 I felt that it has the lowest cut of all the barricades. Even lower than the barricade 2. The advantage is that it does make the shoe faster but many of us dont want to sacrifice ankle support. Im with you in blaming the shoe. It also doesn't help that the barricade soles are the grippiest soles on the market.

So start your search for a new shoe. If you want to stay with adidas, I think the geniuses or the adi zeros might be a little Better. Although they are both pretty low cut, they are a tad lower to the ground which gives you more feel for the court so that you get make sure you have good footing.

Out of the Barricade V, Genius II, Feather IV, Propulse 2, and various NB's... Geniuses were the best for me in terms of stability. That big plastic "speed cut" thing really does prevent rollover, it's virtually impossible. Genius II was the only shoe I didn't have to wear my ankle support with. That said, as you can see, I have no Nike experience to compare. But this is what I've used so far. Only downside to Genius is a bit narrow fit and the arch support is much more forward than any other shoe I've worn... so it feels weird initially.

SirGounder · Mar 17, 2011

The Vapor VI's didn't seem to be a "stable shoe" out of the box but after playing with them I realized they are rock solid. I figure the Barricade 6.0 would be rock solid too but didn't get the same feeling. I think maybe the Vapors are lower to the ground so they feel more stable? I also like the Breathe 2k10's for stability.

LeeD · Mar 17, 2011

Wear your ASO's or by some hi top Vipers.
You never died before, but you WILL DIE!
Stuff happens, and new stuff happens all the time.

XFactorer · Mar 17, 2011

anhuynh16 said:
CB 3.3,2.3 - worst shoe for ankle stability. i had a rolled my ankle alot

On the flip side, others might say both shoes have GREAT ankle stability.

The_Question · Mar 17, 2011

I personally found Barricade 6.0 is a vast improvement over 5 in forefoot stability.

Personal experience feels that most Nike shoes are good in forefoot stability, such as the Vapor series, zoom Advantage, Court Mo, Breathe Cage series, Breathe Free II, but can't comment much on CB, since I've only used 1.3 once for an hour...

Annika · Mar 20, 2011

If you use the Shoe Finder in TW and click on ankle support, they will give you a list of shoes.

Maroon_Tenniskid · Mar 21, 2011

I've had the same experiences with the 6, I rolled my ankle the other day, something I've never done with any of my other shoes recently. I think a good shoe would be the propulse II, idk about the 3's but I bet they're also good for stability. The barricade 5's were by far the best though, and even though they're discontinued now, you can still get the team competition and it's the same shoe on the bottom, with an improved upper

aznfatmonkey · Mar 25, 2011

I agree with brownbearfalling. Breathe Cage 2s are nice.

You said that you felt that the Lunarlites were more stable? I find that really weird. On the third time using it, I sprained my ankle pretty badly, and it kept me away from tennis for a couple of months. Personally, I feel that the Lunarlites are the worst tennis shoes I've tried. No support, No cushioning, and No traction. On the other hand, I felt that Barricade Vs had a lot more support than Lunarlites. I haven't tried Barricade 6s though.

SirGounder · Mar 25, 2011

I'm thinking these will be pretty solid along with the Prince Viper V 3/4 shoes.

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Prince_Viper_II_Mid_WhNavyGrey/descpageMSPRINCE-V2MBK.html

jelle v · Mar 26, 2011

In my experience Nike has shoes that are "lower to the ground" because they have thinner soles (especially the vapors). I never like Adidas because they have thick sole (especially under the heel) which tends to make your ankle more instable (in my experience anyway). So my advice would be "stay away from Adidas shoes if your ankles are easily sprained".

LPShanet · Mar 26, 2011

SFeigl said:
Hey Guys,

I'd never ever had a problem before with rolling ankles, in tennis... squash... basketball, anything. I was wearing Barricade 5's and felt really secure in them, but I did have a massive sprain in my left ankle which left me out of the game for about 2 months. I wore ASO braces when I came back and after a while, I was able to take them off and my ankles got quite strong again. It'd been about 9 months and I upgraded to the Barricade 6 shoes. In that time, I get occasional moments of ankle instability and I've rolled both my good and bad ankles twice each while not wearing braces (albeit not as badly), but I've felt the shoes to be the most responsive and fastest. I'm in a dilemma as I firmly believe that these shoes are what is affecting my ankle stability, but I'd like to have a shoe that has a high level of performance. I'd bought the Lunarlite Vapor Federer shoes (even though he has his own custom shoes) and while they were flexible and flimsy, I felt like my ankle was quite secure and I never wore braces with these shoes either.

I'm thinking that with the B6's, I might just have to wear braces until I eventually kill the shoes. But when I do need a new set of boots, what would you recommend for performance and ankle stability. I was thinking that perhaps the CB3.3's would be good due to their wide footprint.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated by my poor and very sore ankles (freshly sprained). Thanks in advance.

Rather than changing shoes, your best bet may be to get a qualified sports physio to give you a good ankle region strengthening regime. The bad news about ankle sprains is that once you've done it, you never really recover completely, as the tendons and ligaments that are stretched out don't snap back completely...ever. Even if you feel more stable, that is because of muscles taking up the slack where the connective tissue used to work. This means that you'll always be at least slightly more prone to ankle sprains in the future. The best course of action is to get an exercise program that strengthens all the muscles around the ankle so that they can do most of the job that the ligaments used to. Shoes may have a subtle effect, based on what angle it presents the joint at, but ultimately that is fairly minor compared to support strength.

Jonny S&V · Mar 26, 2011

jelle v said:
So my advice would be "stay away from Adidas shoes if your ankles are easily sprained".

I haven't heard nearly as much problems with Adidas shoes (particularly the Barricade series) and ankle problems as I have with other shoe companies (Babolat and Nike being more popular, but also heard more horror stories related to them).

scx · Mar 26, 2011

I've twisted my ankle ( for the first time ever ) seven days ago during a tournament, in my Breathe 2K10s. Hard court surface. Can't say much what happened exactly but the right shoe obviously decided not to move any inch more to the right, during a rather slow fh crosscourt exchange.
Heard the cracking sound, but in the end, hopefully nothing was broken.
From Sun till Wed it hurt badly, but now I can walk normally. The plan is
not to play for five more days and then I'll find out how much the ankle will be affecting the planned tennis activities.

jelle v · Mar 26, 2011

Jonny S&V said:
I haven't heard nearly as much problems with Adidas shoes (particularly the Barricade series) and ankle problems as I have with other shoe companies (Babolat and Nike being more popular, but also heard more horror stories related to them).

What would be your theory then to argue that Adidas makes the more stable shoe. Stories are just stories in the end and the number of stories you hear are not quite a strong argument imo :neutral:

LPShanet · Mar 26, 2011

I'd say generalizing about ANY brand is a mistake. All the major brands have multiple different shapes/lasts in their line, and picking one that fits your personal foot shape and configuration the best is the most sensible strategy. Any comment along the lines of adidas or Nike suck, or one sprains your ankle more is usually mostly a waste of ink. To make the discussion intelligent, you have to specify the model, the foot type in question, and the reason. Further, you sometimes even have to specify the generation, as different versions of the same shoe have very different support properties (e.g. Barricade V vs. 6.0).

So let's put to rest the idea that EITHER adidas or Nike should be avoided completely for ankle safety.

Jonny S&V · Mar 27, 2011

jelle v said:
What would be your theory then to argue that Adidas makes the more stable shoe. Stories are just stories in the end and the number of stories you hear are not quite a strong argument imo :neutral:

So I should believe the manufacturer over prior experience, and other's experiences, because the shoe is "Rafa Nadal's shoe of choice"?

Torres · Mar 27, 2011

SFeigl said:
I've rolled both my good and bad ankles twice each while not wearing braces (albeit not as badly), but I've felt the shoes to be the most responsive and fastest. I'm in a dilemma as I firmly believe that these shoes are what is affecting my ankle stability, but I'd like to have a shoe that has a high level of performance.

I'd suggest a consultation with your doctor. I played alot of soccer when I was young and rolled my ankle 3 or 4 times in the space of 2 years which stretched the ligaments and caused rubbing on the wrong part of the cartilage leading to an osteochondral defect in the talus (foot bone). Basically, the ligaments was too lose and causing problems elsewhere. If your ankle ligaments have been stretched too many times so that they're no longer providing ankle stability you have a Bostrum repair done on the ankle which prevents this from happening and restores the stability to the joint (they knit the ligaments so that they're not as loose).

Annika · Mar 27, 2011

You would think the shoe manufacturers would get the hint hearing such terrible stories about tennis players (just in the last year) having rolled their ankles, etc. :evil: Even the pros seem to be having that problem.

marosmith · Mar 27, 2011

Almost all Nike's should be fine they have more width on the outer-toe to avoid inward torsion/twisting.

Djlpenguin · Mar 27, 2011

scx said:
I've twisted my ankle ( for the first time ever ) seven days ago during a tournament, in my Breathe 2K10s. Hard court surface. Can't say much what happened exactly but the right shoe obviously decided not to move any inch more to the right, during a rather slow fh crosscourt exchange.
Heard the cracking sound, but in the end, hopefully nothing was broken.
From Sun till Wed it hurt badly, but now I can walk normally. The plan is
not to play for five more days and then I'll find out how much the ankle will be affecting the planned tennis activities.

IF YOU HEARD A CRACK GET IT CHECKED OUT. PERIOD. It might not hurt, but still may be damaged, and if it is, you're just making it worse by walking on it. Better safe than sorry.

scx · Mar 28, 2011

Thanks for the advice. The tournament doctor/physio checked my leg and said that nothing was broken. After I arrived home, I was under constant care of a doctor ( family member ) and he also said that I should be fine in a couple of weeks. Current situation, after +8 days... still feeling some pain in certain movements but I'm able to walk normally without any discomfort.

The plan is to get another check tomorrow and start with additional exercises/therapy if needed. I'm in no hurry and hope to recover soon.

If all goes well, I hope that I'll be able to compete again from 2nd weekend in May.

jelle v · Mar 30, 2011

Jonny S&V said:
So I should believe the manufacturer over prior experience, and other's experiences, because the shoe is "Rafa Nadal's shoe of choice"?

Never trust the manufacturer.. but your experience differs from my experience. And as I said, I don't see the point of saying something like "I've heard a lot of stories about sprained ankles in reference to Nike shoes". If you cannot produce a logical reason why Nike shoes are more injury-prone than Adidas, I think your argument of hearing stories amounts to zero.

I think the theory of Nike having lower to the ground soles (at the heel-area) is quite a feasible theory on why Nike would be less injury-prone than Adidas. The higher the heel, the quicker you will sprain you ankle.

theyhatethecans · Mar 30, 2011

OP - had same issues with same exact shoe and I've never had an ankle problem in my life (once you reach a certain angle with this shoe, it flips the shoe over sideways dramatically). Just saying. Played with Nike high tops for a year after and they were bulky and hot. Found the Prince T22 mids and haven't looked back.

Shoes less likely to sprain your ankle (Barricades Currently)

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