Cheap tennis shoes vs cheap basketball shoes

[dman72]

After playing regularly for the last 3 years and toasting more than my share of shoes, I have come to this conclusion: if you are going to go cheap on shoes for tennis, you are better off getting basketball shoes. A $40-50 pair of mid-rise basketball shoes is superior in comfort and ankle stability to any like priced pair of tennis shoes, and the soles are just as durable. Even the weights are very close.

I just played with my cheapo Nike overplay 4's (basketball), and they are way better than the New Balance, Nike, Wilson,and Adidas I've had in that price range (around $40.) that were supposed to be for "tennis"...they were really glorified cross trainers with a bit more toe coverage.

If you are going to spend upwards of $80 on shoes, then get good tennis shoes. Otherwise, I think they are a waste.

 

[The_Question]

Eh...okay...

 

[S H O W S T O P P E R !]

I could have posted a picture of a train on here, but this is just another level of fail.

 

[_mats_]

I play in my flip flops

 

[iplaylikeyourgrandma]

Did you blow all your money on a $200+ racquet that you can't get a decent pair of shoes?

 

[EPaps]

I play in my flip flops

me too man

 

[Ambivalent]

I play barefeet. I've saved over 2000 dollars doing so.

 

[Deleted member 21996]

I play in dutch wood clogs...

 

[dman72]

Did you blow all your money on a $200+ racquet that you can't get a decent pair of shoes?

Nope, I've never paid more than $90 for a racquet.


I was fully expecting flames on this.

If you read between the lines, what I'm saying is "get good tennis shoes", but...that wouldn't have generated any feedback.

 

[The_Question]

I was fully expecting flames on this.

TROLL!!!!!!!

 

[TF40]

A racket lasts forever, a pair of tennis shoes only last me 4 months or so.

 

[Deleted member 775108]

A racket lasts forever, a pair of tennis shoes only last me 4 months or so.

You just resurrected a thread from 4690 days ago. Must be some sort of record. Nice!

If tennis shoes are not available then I would do basketball shoes before any others. I used them for sometime thinking the ankle stability would be useful but wasnt... Eventually went for tennis shoes + seperate ankle stabilizers. Once the ankle issues went away - I went to straight tennis shoes.

 

[d-quik]

resurrected

 

[smboogie]

While b-ball shoes can be used on court (mostly because they are non-marking) and can provide good stability I find them to be heavier/bulkier than tennis shoes and not as cushioned for longer tennis sessions. Tennis shoes are designed for longer sessions and more abrupt directional changes, while basketball is designed for more vertical stability. I agree tennis shoes are getting WAY up there in costs and from what I have been hearing prices will continue to increase, I would rather spend $100 on tennis shoes then go cheaper, get injured and not be able to play for a while.

 

[pete101]

After playing regularly for the last 3 years and toasting more than my share of shoes, I have come to this conclusion: if you are going to go cheap on shoes for tennis, you are better off getting basketball shoes. A $40-50 pair of mid-rise basketball shoes is superior in comfort and ankle stability to any like priced pair of tennis shoes, and the soles are just as durable. Even the weights are very close.

I just played with my cheapo Nike overplay 4's (basketball), and they are way better than the New Balance, Nike, Wilson,and Adidas I've had in that price range (around $40.) that were supposed to be for "tennis"...they were really glorified cross trainers with a bit more toe coverage.

If you are going to spend upwards of $80 on shoes, then get good tennis shoes. Otherwise, I think they are a waste.

I was thinking this too but for a different reason: i have wide feet.

The old basketball sneakers from the 90s generally were wider so was thinking if there arent many wide nike tennis shoes i can choose from (vapor x (discontinued) or the vapor cage 4) i have no choice but to look at basketball shoes if i want to stick to nike.

The only issue is the basketball shoe designs are narrow the past 10 years or so.

So may need some old retro ones from a re release

 

[runningforehand21]

I shouldn’t be saying this on a forum that is mostly full of adults, but there is a reason why Basketball shoes have the word basketball in the name and tennis shoes have the word tennis in it too, obviously because they are specifically designed for that specific sport, otherwise the name would include more that one sport, like Tennis & Basketball shoes. Come on people

 

[silverwyvern4]

Do tennis shoes work for pickle ball?

I shouldn’t be saying this on a forum that is mostly full of adults, but there is a reason why Basketball shoes have the word basketball in the name and tennis shoes have the word tennis in it too, obviously because they are specifically designed for that specific sport, otherwise the name would include more that one sport, like Tennis & Basketball shoes. Come on people

 

[amoeba]

Is the point of this thread that:
- basketball shoes are cheap because basketball is perceived to be played by less affluent people
- tennis shoes are expensive because tennis is perceived to be played more more affluent people

??

To all the detractors: are tennis shoes REALLY that specialised compared to other types of trainers? I once bought asics volleyball trainers by mistake, and thought they were great.