I'm looking for an alternative to tennis shoes.

[AndreBtr]

This may sound weird but the thing is that I don't like tennis shoes, neither running or basketball.

Is there any alternative? Can I use a casual shoe i.e. the Adidas tennis pro for playing tennis?. By the way I just play once a week just for fun on clay court.

I don't care too much about confort (but durability) in fact I'm used to wearing converse and things like that.

Of course It would be much better if you know about an actual tennis shoes with a minimalistic appearance.

 

[Ramon]

If you're used to Converse, why don't you just wear one of them? Really, if you're not going to wear a modern tennis shoe or basketball shoe, and you just play tennis casually, something like the Converse One Star or Chuck Taylor would work. You can also go with classic Adidas (Stan Smith, Rod Laver) or classic Nike. The big thing to avoid is running shoes with protruding waffle type treads. They will mark up hard courts and tear up clay courts, and you might get kicked off for wearing them.

 

[airchallenge2]

Agreed: Stan Smith sounds like a viable alternative. Pretty clean, even cleaner looking than your Converse.

 

[Ramon]

These would be 2 good choices:

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/adi...ith_White_Green/descpageMSADIDAS-AMOSSWG.html

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Nik..._White_Black_Pink/descpageMSNIKE-NMCUWBP.html

You can find them in other colorways if you don't like these particular ones. I actually like the Nike Tennis Classic with the blue swoosh like McEnroe wore.

 

[NuBas]

Adidas Superstars?

K Swiss has a lot of nice looking casual shoes.

 

[AndreBtr]

I'll consider those sneakers, both nike and adidas seem pretty to me. Thank you all.

 

[Seth]

For minimalist aesthetic:

Adidas Stan Smith
Adidas Rod Laver
Nike Tennis Classic

Anything else would be inappropriate on a tennis court.

 

[Chotobaka]

Here are a couple more that fit the bill: KSWISS X Court (specifically described as an off-court shoe) and any of the Lacoste shoes offered here at TW. Or, you could just go with good old Chucks.

 

[TahoeTennis]

if you don't wear tennis shoes you'll be looking at an alternative to walking because your ankles and knees will get hurt in the long run.

 

[Ramon]

if you don't wear tennis shoes you'll be looking at an alternative to walking because your ankles and knees will get hurt in the long run.

That may not apply to everyone, especially casual once a week players. A lot of it depends on age and running style. There are people out there who actually ditched their modern running shoes to go barefoot running and they'll swear they have less injuries! These classic shoes actually appeal more to that minimalist audience.

 

[heninfan99]

 

[TahoeTennis]

I used cross training, basketball and even skate shoes for tennis when I was learning and my ankles, toes and knees paid the price. Stick with shoes made specifically for tennis, there are all kinds of different brands, widths and i'm sure the OP can find a good one. Otherwise you're putting your health at risk if you play with any consistency more than once a month.

 

[ultradr]

i use basketball shoes (partly because ankle support).
generally hoop shoes are tad less durable than tennis shoes.
some geared toward outdoor/street basketball are pretty sturdy though.
generally there are much more choices in hoop shoes and easier to find cheap deals.

 

[Ramon]

I used cross training, basketball and even skate shoes for tennis when I was learning and my ankles, toes and knees paid the price. Stick with shoes made specifically for tennis, there are all kinds of different brands, widths and i'm sure the OP can find a good one. Otherwise you're putting your health at risk if you play with any consistency more than once a month.

Putting your health at risk? By your definition McEnroe, Connors, and Borg were all putting their health at risk because their shoes were no better than cross trainers or skate shoes that are sold now. They all ran around the court a lot harder than 99.9% of the people on this forum.

 

[AndreBtr]

Putting your health at risk? By your definition McEnroe, Connors, and Borg were all putting their health at risk because their shoes were no better than cross trainers or skate shoes that are sold now. They all ran around the court a lot harder than 99.9% of the people on this forum.

True

 

[lstewart]

Of course most of the casual shoes being mentioned were the standard shoes being worn for tennis in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I've got several pair of casual cloth upper / rubber sole Nike / Converse / Fila shoes I wear with jeans which are basically the same shoes I wore for college tennis in the 1970's. They don't have nearly the support or cushioning of the current competitive tennis shoes, but there is no reason you could not play in them. I can remember buying the Stan Smith's, the Lavers, etc back in the mid to later 70's.