Oh crap, I accidentally bought clay court shoes!

[GrandSlam45]

I recently ordered a pair of Lotto Raptors and tried them out for the first time last night. I was really excited because it was my first time using Lotto and the shoes fit perfectly!

About 20 minutes into my match I suddenly couldn't hit a forehand or backhand. It seemed like my footwork was all screwed up and I was stopping slightly short of the ball. The shoes had waaaay too much traction.

I got home and looked at my TW order and realized I bought CLAY court shoes! Arggggh!

Is it possible TW would accept a return of shoes that were only worn once?

I'm sooooo bummed. These seem like really great shoes, but I can tell you from experience that clay court shoes definitely don't work on hard courts!

 

[federering]

This seems laughable

BR

 

[GrandSlam45]

I wish I was joking but sadly, this is a true story.

Thankfully last night was only a practice match. If I had worn them to a USTA match, it would have been really tragic.

 

[TW Staff]

GrandSlam45,

Unfortunately, once the shoe has been worn (outside of carpet) we are unable to take them back and offer a refund as they are considered used. However, please contact our customer service at info@tennis-warehouse.com and they can try to help you come up with a solution.

Brittany, TW

 

[GrandSlam45]

Ok rather than focus on my stupidity, let me change the course of this discussion...

Is there big difference in traction on a hard court between hard/clay shoes?

The Lotto clay shoes definitely affected my game in a negative way, but now I'm wondering... was it because they were clay shoes or because Lotto generally has more traction than other shoes?

I'd like to clarify this before buying another pair.

 

[Chotobaka]

Yeah, the 30 minutes old clay court shoes were the reason you couldn't hit a FH or BH...

 

[tennissavvy]

TW should color out description in RED color or make image or text obvious to customer who pay less attention while ordering.

 

[GrandSlam45]

TW should color out description in RED color or make image or text obvious to customer who pay less attention while ordering.

I agree. Or put the clay court shoes in a separate section on the page.

 

[imajica77]

TW should color out description in RED color or make image or text obvious to customer who pay less attention while ordering.

Hey it says right on the page it is a clay court shoe. Open your eyes people. Never buy blind. TW keep up the good work.

Besides I don't think the clay court sole makes a difference on the hard court. I will wear my Raptor Clays on hard courts and have no problems. Besides you shouldn't really be trying to slide into a shot on hard courts!

 

[kcmiser]

I accidentally bought a pair of clay court shoes once, too. (Adidas, though, not Lotto.) They were on deep discount locally, and I told a couple of guys what I paid, and they bought them, too. We all played just fine, and I'm actually the only one of us that eventually realized they were clay court shoes. Seemed same as regular shoes, but with a herringbone pattern on the sole.

If you find these overly grippy, it has to be either the tread pattern or rubber compound (or it's in your head). I found no problems like you describe with the herringbone pattern. As far as outsole compound, you can look into compounds on models before buying your next pair and compare them.

 

[GrandSlam45]

I accidentally bought a pair of clay court shoes once, too. (Adidas, though, not Lotto.) They were on deep discount locally, and I told a couple of guys what I paid, and they bought them, too. We all played just fine, and I'm actually the only one of us that eventually realized they were clay court shoes. Seemed same as regular shoes, but with a herringbone pattern on the sole.

If you find these overly grippy, it has to be either the tread pattern or rubber compound (or it's in your head). I found no problems like you describe with the herringbone pattern. As far as outsole compound, you can look into compounds on models before buying your next pair and compare them.

kcmiser... thank you for giving an intelligent response to an unfortunate situation. (rather than a dumb snide comment)

As I mentioned in my original post, I felt like I was always stopping short of the ball. It screwed me up to the point where my footwork totally fell apart and I couldn't hit the ball. I'm a strong 4.0 player, so footwork and strokes are usually on autopilot. The fact that I couldn't hit the ball really freaked me out. It had to be the shoes.

So either Lotto shoes aren't the right shoes for me, or they require a long break-in period, or it's because I was wearing clay court shoes on a hard court.

Whatever the reason, I'll never know. I'm going back to Nike Zoom Vapors. This Lotto experience has been too traumatic for me.

 

[tennissavvy]

Hey it says right on the page it is a clay court shoe. Open your eyes people. Never buy blind. TW keep up the good work.

Besides I don't think the clay court sole makes a difference on the hard court. I will wear my Raptor Clays on hard courts and have no problems. Besides you shouldn't really be trying to slide into a shot on hard courts!

OP made the mistake not me....

just saying that clay or grass (not that many) should be with little different title.

It can be done easy at software level no big deal at all..

 

[Chotobaka]

Hey it says right on the page it is a clay court shoe. Open your eyes people. Never buy blind. TW keep up the good work.

Besides I don't think the clay court sole makes a difference on the hard court. I will wear my Raptor Clays on hard courts and have no problems. Besides you shouldn't really be trying to slide into a shot on hard courts!

A rare voice of reason in these parts...

 

[Fintft]

Out of curiosity do the clay shoes actually help with better footing/changing directions on clay?

B/c on clay (with regular shoes be them Barricades, CB's 4.3, GR5s) I feel like I'm skating and my results are much worse then on hc, where I can move more aggressively and change directions.

 

[imajica77]

OP made the mistake not me....

just saying that clay or grass (not that many) should be with little different title.

It can be done easy at software level no big deal at all..

First off TW doesn't offer grass court shoes. I had to get mine from a UK website. Second they don't offer that many clay court shoes. I for one don't want to have to surf thru different pages to compare shoes from the same company. You can use clay court shoes for hard courts. It is that plain and simple. The problem of the OP was in his mind and not with the shoes. Lotto makes great shoes. Not as good as Yonex but still great shoes over all.

 

[imajica77]

Hey Fintft, yes most clay shoes have a herringbone pattern on the sole. This does give better traction on the clay compared to regular soles. You will still will not have perfect traction though. That is not possible. But if you play on clay I would suggest giving them a try.

 

[hugree]

Funny thing

Some people prefer Clay court traction even on hard courts... I remember Rafa wore his CB 4.3 with Clay court pattern at the end of last year.

 

[Fintft]

Hey Fintft, yes most clay shoes have a herringbone pattern on the sole. This does give better traction on the clay compared to regular soles. You will still will not have perfect traction though. That is not possible. But if you play on clay I would suggest giving them a try.

Thanks! Come spring time I'll order some from US and pick them up while going hiking in the Adirondacks at Lake Placid In order to make sure that I get warranty from TW (the only one I use, not Nike, nor Addidas etc)

 

[BLX_Andy]

kcmiser... thank you for giving an intelligent response to an unfortunate situation. (rather than a dumb snide comment)



As I mentioned in my original post, I felt like I was always stopping short of the ball. It screwed me up to the point where my footwork totally fell apart and I couldn't hit the ball. I'm a strong 4.0 player, so footwork and strokes are usually on autopilot. The fact that I couldn't hit the ball really freaked me out. It had to be the shoes.



So either Lotto shoes aren't the right shoes for me, or they require a long break-in period, or it's because I was wearing clay court shoes on a hard court.



Whatever the reason, I'll never know. I'm going back to Nike Zoom Vapors. This Lotto experience has been too traumatic for me.

One simple mishap with Lotto shouldn't keep you from buying their shoes again. You said the shoes fit great right? Just order the same shoes again with the regular sole and you might enjoy it!

 

[kcmiser]

The Tennis Warehouse listing for the regular (non-clay) Lotto Raptor lists the outsole as being made of "Longlast 40" rubber. It does not list a compound for the clay version, but I Googled that model, and other retailers selling the clay version list that as having a Longlast 40 compound, also. That makes me suspect that it's the same material, just a different tread pattern as the regular Raptor.

To be sure, you could shoot Lotto an email, or find out the Lotto sales rep' for your area and contact him/her to verify. I think you'll get used to the amount of grippyness, but if you never do, you'll know for sure whether or not the sole is "Longlast 40" and therefore if that is something you don't like.

By the way, I really hate that sporting goods manufacturers come up with brand specific terms for the same materials (like calling this rubber "Longlast 40"). If they used consistent terms across the industry, then you could compare items much more easily across brands.

 

[Dave M]

Brilliant use of the word traumatic by the OP there, if they fit well try their hardcourt shoes but wearing clay soles on a hard court isn't going to mess up your game that much (maybe in your head obviously.)
I once had to buy some pimpled shoes as mine got really wet and they were in my size.They didn't last long on the hard surface but they were comfy while they did!

 

[10smonkey]

Anybody know where I can return a hammer, I bought a left handed one by mistake.

 

[LiquidWhip]

To the OP, do you think it could all be psychological? I mean we all have bad days on the court and often look for excuses where we can find them (in this case the new shoes). I understand that clay court shoes are going to be a tad more grippy but in my experience the difference shouldn’t be so vast that it completely destroys your fundamentals, especially at your level. Perhaps then, you were having one of those days and after one or two bad points you capitulated and ended up blaming the shoes?

Might be worth giving them another go given that you seem to like them and try to remove the stigma you have attached to the shoes.

 

[Moz]

Anybody know where I can return a hammer, I bought a left handed one by mistake.

No need to return it. If you hold it head first it will behave like a right-handed hammer.

 

[Chotobaka]

Anybody know where I can return a hammer, I bought a left handed one by mistake.

Just get some left-handed nails and you will be fine.

 

[Nostradamus]

Hey it says right on the page it is a clay court shoe. Open your eyes people. Never buy blind. TW keep up the good work.

Besides I don't think the clay court sole makes a difference on the hard court. I will wear my Raptor Clays on hard courts and have no problems. Besides you shouldn't really be trying to slide into a shot on hard courts!

After extensive research, I found out that CLAY court shoes makes NO difference on how you play on hard courts... HOWEVER, it makes a big difference on Durability. Tread on clay shoes will WEAR out much faster than Hard court shoes so durability will be much shorter on hard courts. That is what I have found.

AND People, Clay shoes will NOT help you slide better on Hard courts.........

 

[SCRAP IRON]

Just play on clay courts from now on...

 

[richw56]

I doubt the tread pattern is what caused the issue for the OP.
I like Raptors (I happen to be using 'regular' treads) and find them to have extremely good traction.
Regardless of which tread pattern he was wearing, I think the OP may have initially been a little surprised at the traction level on a hard court. Perhaps it was different enough from what he was using previously for it to get into his head and mess up his timing, at least until he had a chance to adjust to it.

 

[willkho]

just my 2 cents...

I play on different surface from time to time.
I notice that if you wear hardcourt shoes to clay court then it will give you problem...slippery
But not the other way around...the problem I don't use clay court shoes on hard court is because hard court will chew the clay court shoes easily...wasting money.

Regardless what shoes you wear, it won't affect much on the stroke.

I think OP problem is not because of clay shoes but more because of new shoes.
new shoes always give me problems even if I get the same brand, same series....
Just keep wearing it for few hours and it will be fine.

 

[Rozroz]

durability is the main issue here.
i also have only clay Lottos available here in Israel,
for some stupid reason (no clay courts here at all).

so i have to wait till they'll ship HC shoes.

 

[Carolina Racquet]

Out of curiosity do the clay shoes actually help with better footing/changing directions on clay?

B/c on clay (with regular shoes be them Barricades, CB's 4.3, GR5s) I feel like I'm skating and my results are much worse then on hc, where I can move more aggressively and change directions.

In my opinion... yes.. Though some non-clay versions have a herringbone pattern, the tread is not very deep and the particles clog up the sole very easily.

I recently bought the clay version of the ASICS Gel Solution Speed and I'm very happy. Also love the Yonex Clay court versions.

After you wear the clay tread shoes, wear conventional sole shoes feel like bowling shoes to me. I will practice with them, but not play a match with them.

 

[Fintft]

Ha, I just got the Barricades 8 regular, to play on clay....
Also b/c they might feel too clunky for hc (as opposed to CB.s 4.3):

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/adidas_Barricade_8_WhiteSilverBlue/descpageMSADIDAS-AMB8WSB.html

 

[willkho]

Got Barricade 7 clay play perfectly fine on clay
and Barricade 8 regular to play on synthetic grass/clay/HC...

Mind to let me know your complete opinion on Barricade 8 performance on clay?

Thx

 

[racertempo]

Yeah, the 30 minutes old clay court shoes were the reason you couldn't hit a FH or BH...

TW should color out description in RED color or make image or text obvious to customer who pay less attention while ordering.

Or you could actually pay attention to what you order

I agree. Or put the clay court shoes in a separate section on the page.

They all say it in the title, and even when you add them to your cart you see it clearly marked in the item description/title.

My opinion, I agree with Chotobaka, come on now, I really have a hard time thinking that the clay shoes messed up your timing for your ground strokes. I personally prefer clay shoes on hard courts, unless my feet are sore and I need the extra arch support that most hard court shoes offer. The Yonex clay pattern is one that I prefer on hard courts.

 

[GrandSlam45]

just my 2 cents...
I think OP problem is not because of clay shoes but more because of new shoes.
new shoes always give me problems even if I get the same brand, same series....
Just keep wearing it for few hours and it will be fine.

Yes, you are spot on here. After realizing I couldn't return the shoes, I played with them on hard courts a couple more times and once they broke in, I finally got used to them. I still don't think they're the greatest shoes I've ever worn... they seem to generally have a lack of padding and support.

If there's really no difference between the clay and hard version of this shoe, then I have no interest in trying the hard court version.

 

[GrandSlam45]

Or you could actually pay attention to what you order

Under normal circumstances, yes. However, it was a Friday night and I had a couple of beers before I went online to make the order.

The current way the pages are set up, they are assuming their clients are both intelligent and sober, not to mention detail oriented. In my case, I was dumb and drunk.

Therefore, the ordering pages should be idiot and drunk proof. I am a shining example that they are not.

 

[mhkeuns]

Under normal circumstances, yes. However, it was a Friday night and I had a couple of beers before I went online to make the order.

The current way the pages are set up, they are assuming their clients are both intelligent and sober, not to mention detail oriented. In my case, I was dumb and drunk.

Therefore, the ordering pages should be idiot and drunk proof. I am a shining example that they are not.

Don't stress over it, and don't let people make you feel bad. Everyone makes mistakes. I just ordered a few baseball caps that would cost me less than $12 wholesale to pick it up..., but because I was half asleep and pressed the wrong tab, I made an order for the COD delivery that cost me $45.:shock:

I'm glad you got used to the shoes...

 

[martini1]

OP, if the shoe is giving you so much bad vibe. Just buy another pair and use the clay shoes as walking shoes. I made a mistake on buying the B7 1/2 a size too small. Gave me black toe. I know I couldn't return used shoes so I just change the lace to a more fashion and shorter one, wear it like sneakers. Never look back and got another new pair of shoes a few months later.

Sometimes even if you got the right size and right sole, it can still be a bad pair of playing shoes for you for many reasons. Same with rackets.

 

[racertempo]

Under normal circumstances, yes. However, it was a Friday night and I had a couple of beers before I went online to make the order.

The current way the pages are set up, they are assuming their clients are both intelligent and sober, not to mention detail oriented. In my case, I was dumb and drunk.

Therefore, the ordering pages should be idiot and drunk proof. I am a shining example that they are not.

This falls under a category of a "you-problem" not TWs problem. They are not going to buzz-proof their website because you were too hammered to actually read on the screen that you ordered from, then again on the screen in your cart, then again when you got your e-mail order confirmation.

 

[federering]

^^^ To add... then, yet again, on the invoice when you receive them.

BR

 

[GrandSlam45]

This falls under a category of a "you-problem" not TWs problem. They are not going to buzz-proof their website because you were too hammered to actually read on the screen that you ordered from, then again on the screen in your cart, then again when you got your e-mail order confirmation.

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Amazing you failed to see the humor in my post. It's called "Sarcasm".

 

[racertempo]

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Amazing you failed to see the humor in my post. It's called "Sarcasm".

I had a hard time seeing sarcasm since at 4 points you did not notice that the word Clay was in the title. I still agree with the others though that it would not effect your game, just on the durability of the shoes.

 

[Fintft]

Got Barricade 7 clay play perfectly fine on clay
and Barricade 8 regular to play on synthetic grass/clay/HC...

Mind to let me know your complete opinion on Barricade 8 performance on clay?

Thx

Thanks will do, but you'll have to wait another ...6 months until winter is over in Canada :O(

 

[improv1take1]

Would it be a better choice to always pick the All Court version of tennis shoes?

I am wondering because practically all outdoor courts are clay ones in my country, so I spend most of my time on clay, but sometimes I'm simply forced to play on an indoor court, which usually isn't a clay one (hard court, synthetic gravel, carpet,... basically anything but grass).