Barricades and knee pain

[TNT16]

When the B4 came out the pro at our club warned me that he tried them and immediately experienced knee pain which went away once he switched back to the B2. I thought he was crazy and forgot about it and got the B4 which was just fine through spring and summer. Then I was unfortunately reminded of that conversation.

Towards the end of the summer season I developed knee pains, first in my right knee (which I blamed on old partial cartilage tear injury), then almost worse in my left knee (no excuses) - both on the inner edge of the knee cap suspected as tendonitis. This happened while I was using B4s, I changed the insole but pain persisted.

I had completely worn out B3's in the closet and figured there would be no harm in checking to see if it was possibly the shoes. To make a long story short, my knees are completely fine now after I switched back to B3's (TW has some and I have stocked up now!). The B1 (which I tried before deciding to switch back to B3) is a nice (and light!) shoe, decent support, crap tongue though (as others have observed). The B3 (although heavy) absolutely rules in terms of support and it certainly worked wonders for my knees! Needless to say I have decided not to go to B5 - no need since I found the knee protector model in the B range.

Anyone else have similar experiences with B4 (or out of curiosity B5)?

 

[TonyB]

I had a very similar problem with some Yonex SHT-304s. I only used the shoes twice for about an hour each time and my left knee got so bad that I had to stop playing tennis for about 3 months just to heal up. My knee actually felt like it was on fire, just on the inside of the knee joint.

My knee still isn't 100%, even after more than a year now. But at least I can still play tennis without a significant amount of pain.

The wrong shoes can absolutely destroy your joints. Beware!

 

[Bad Dog]

Customize with separate inserts?

Very interesting to hear similar symptoms from two completely different shoes.

My understanding is that the ideal is to find shoes with the best/softest cushioning, then separately buy and insert “hard” orthodics (like Superfeet green or NB Pinnacle) which both cup the heel and provide arch support. This may sound counterintuitive.

Both the Barricade and Yonex come with thin but very flimsy foot inserts, which I removed and replaced from the beginning. After that, the Barricade is still wearable, but I much prefer the Yonex for tennis. Yonex absorbs so much more pounding from hard courts, whereas Barricades allow the shock of hard landing to jolt all the way up through my knees.

As somebody else indicated in another thread, many of us customize our racquets and strings, so we might as well customize our shoes, just like the pros do.

 

[bad_call]

Very interesting to hear similar symptoms from two completely different shoes.

My understanding is that the ideal is to find shoes with the best/softest cushioning, then separately buy and insert “hard” orthodics (like Superfeet green or NB Pinnacle) which both cup the heel and provide arch support. This may sound counterintuitive.

Both the Barricade and Yonex come with thin but very flimsy foot inserts, which I removed and replaced from the beginning. After that, the Barricade is still wearable, but I much prefer the Yonex for tennis. Yonex absorbs so much more pounding from hard courts, whereas Barricades allow the shock of hard landing to jolt all the way up through my knees.

As somebody else indicated in another thread, many of us customize our racquets and strings, so we might as well customize our shoes, just like the pros do.

i'm in the same camp. thanks for the Yonex comment. may check those out for my next pair.

 

[leon505]

Some people may just respond poorly to the way the adiprene is done in the barricade IV. I know for myself when i got mine that they gave me shin splints and knee pains 80% of the time when i was playing in them. You have to keep this risk in mind, as adiprene is a shock deadener and needs somewhere to disperse the shock.

 

[ClubHoUno]

How does the Yonex shoes size up compared to the Nike and Adidas top line of tennis shoes ?

 

[Circa]

I got shin splints thanks to my barricades.

I'm just going to wear my Feathers on hard court from now on. I don't care if they're not as durable.

 

[Bad Dog]

How does the Yonex shoes size up compared to the Nike and Adidas top line of tennis shoes ?

I have wide feet and wear the same size, with orthotic inserts – in Yonex, Adidas Barricade IV, Nike Breathe Free II and Breathe Cage.

To answer your question in more detail, here are some comments from a different thread earlier today, slightly out of order:

Yonex is the most underrated shoes in the market. If you guys trust Japanese technologies in cars, then do it with the shoes as well. Yonex is great, and Asics is not far behind. They both make excellent shoes.

I agree with Shintan – Yonex with PowerCushion are probably the best-cushioned tennis shoes on the market today, with the best knee protection from pounding on hard courts.

I've also worn Barricade IV, which is like a clunky SUV for the foot, with what feels like about 467 grams of lead tape coiled up in the big heel – instead of cushioning. [But they look great, especially with jeans. ]

And I've gone through the Breathe Free II and Breathe Cage I, both of which have a bit better cushioning than Barricade IV – but still nowhere near as much knee protection as Yonex.

It's interesting that players who have worn Yonex, then try something else, almost inevitably return to Yonex. But players who have worn other brands for a long time, but then finally get an opportunity to try Yonex, almost never leave.

[I've heard that Asics shoes and Prince T-20 also have good cushioning. And for best results, orthotics like Superfeet Green or NB Pinnacle are recommended for most shoes.]

 

[montx]

I love B3's, my favourite shoe.

 

[TNT16]

Very interesting to hear similar symptoms from two completely different shoes.

My understanding is that the ideal is to find shoes with the best/softest cushioning, then separately buy and insert “hard” orthodics (like Superfeet green or NB Pinnacle) which both cup the heel and provide arch support. This may sound counterintuitive.

Both the Barricade and Yonex come with thin but very flimsy foot inserts, which I removed and replaced from the beginning. After that, the Barricade is still wearable, but I much prefer the Yonex for tennis. Yonex absorbs so much more pounding from hard courts, whereas Barricades allow the shock of hard landing to jolt all the way up through my knees.

As somebody else indicated in another thread, many of us customize our racquets and strings, so we might as well customize our shoes, just like the pros do.

Completely agree that customizing shoes/using different insoles is a must.

After much experimenting what works for me is getting shoes 1/2 size larger then adding sports insert (I like the ones with some gel content) underneath the original insole (in other words 2 insoles). That way I get quite a lot of cushioning and a nice beefy arch support. This setup "settles" after a 2-3 sessions on the courts (it feels a bit awkward at first) and then feels absolutely great. I am not a fan of the hard insoles -- that seems counterintuitive for hard court play.

 

[vinnier6]

the barricade 3 was my only outing with an adidas shoe, and my knees hurt with the 3's...i went back to nike air breathe 3's and pain was gone....

 

[siow_a]

the barricade 3 was my only outing with an adidas shoe, and my knees hurt with the 3's...i went back to nike air breathe 3's and pain was gone....

I have to agree....Played in the b3 and hated them. Yonex 304 and 305 are great shoes. The BII mid are nice but the BI feel better.

I use the superfeet orange insert topped with the shoes insert that came with it. I go up 1/2 a size. I have 2e-3e foot size.

I am curious about the Asics...wonder if anyone ahd any luck with those shoes.

 

[Sangria Munky]

I believe that the knee injuries are the result of the lacking of cushioning that the Barricade 4 offers. The solution to that problem is Nike Breathe cage or Babolat Propulse