Babolat Jet Tere Playtest Review
Tennis experience/background:
37 year old former Div II college player. I usually hit with local DII college team kids at least twice a week in summers and time-permitting in winters and colder months. I have played with a variety of tennis shoe brands and I'm currently using Adidas Solecourt Boost. My backup in my bag right now is a pair of Babolat SFX3 which I love for the comfort. I was lucky enough to playtest those and purchased later as well from TW at a killer price. I have a ton of other tennis shoes in the closet as well which I rotate depending on my mood mostly.
Would like to mention that last summer I found out that I had torn meniscus in my left knee. Went for arthroscopy in Sep and even though was back on court after 4 months, it is still recovering and I'm still not feeling fully back to 100%. But definitely getting there. Has not been a quick sort of recovery as I expected. Many ups and downs even though everyone said it is just a meniscus tear.
My preference since then has shifted a bit from pure performance based shoe, to maybe more of a balance between performance with cushion/comfort.
Describe your playing style (i.e. serve & volley):
I am an aggressive baseliner with a consistent game. Tend to avoid netplay and usually consider that as my weakness. I rate my forehand as my primary weapon. I hustle a lot all over the court. Have good movement. Even though my serves are not extremely huge, I have decent groundies.
My game mostly relies on well-placed flatter 1st serve and I can generally get away with a slower but well-placed 2nd serve setting up a put-away forehand. I have a one handed backhand that will always be a work in progress. My favorite shot is the inside-out forehand which very rarely lets me down. I am a chronic toe dragger on serves and splits, and that is where I can tell how durable the shoe is going to be.
Current shoe:
I am wearing Adidas Solecourt Boost these days. Was using the Barricade Boost 2018 before that. In lighter and faster shoes, I liked the Vapor 9 and 9.5, and original Head Sprint Pros before the Vapors. That said, I have played with nearly every flagship shoe of the current major brands available in US.
How many hours did you play with the shoe?
Twenty hours total on indoor hard. Out of the twenty hours, roughly 14 hours were singles play, rest were practice, drills and and warm-ups.
Normal size:
9.5
Playtesting size:
10 (thank you to TW for advising to go up half a size). I will recommend the same to everyone because this shoe runs a bit short.
Comments on shoe performance:
Comfort:
Right out the box, this shoe was extremely comfortable. I got half a size bigger as advised by TW and fit was great. Not snug, not loose, just perfect. I have medium wide feet and width was just right as well. I heard that it ran narrow but surprisingly, my feet were happy with the width.
By comparison, I was in actual pain wearing Zoom Zeros of my true size because of how narrow that shoe is. These Jet Tere are not as wide as Solecourt Boost, but still comfortable for anyone with medium wide feet or even slightly wide feet. The upper knit material is very soft and conformed to the shape of the foot (posted pictures underneath). Overall cushioning is also good. It is a minimalist sort of a light and fast shoe but even then, the shoe did not feel hard.
Arch support:
I have medium/normal arches and I had no issues whatsoever. I used the stock insoles and felt very good support. I might think about swapping out to more thicker gel insoles later on.
Stability/support:
My biggest concern as soon as I put these shoes on was the stability aspect because the upper part of the shoe is very soft. I was worried that the foot was move inside too much on lateral movements and also on sudden stop and go sort of movements. I do not think that the stability was sacrificed however in any way. The foot felt secure throughout the shoe from the heel to toe. Lacing system was doing its job. Cinched up, the foot wasn't going anywhere.
Ventilation:
Even though I played indoors temp comtrolled environment for the duration of this playtest, I could tell that the shoe had great ventilation and breathability. The upper soft mesh lets air pass through keepin feet cool good. Gets full marks here.
Sole durability:
If you have read my views on Babolat shoes in the past, you know that I am a fan of the Michelin tread Babolat uses. Having used SFX and Propulse in the past, I knew that these shoes will be able to take a beating. This shoe does not come with a six month warranty and is light and fast. You would expect it to wear quick (*cough Vapors cough*). But the sole held it's own. As I mentioned, I hustle alot and even drag feet at times. These shoes took it like a champ. Obviously they won't last like say the Propulse, within their weight class, they punch above their weight.
Toe durability:
The toe was extra enforced with rubber and durability was great in the toe area as well.
Traction:
As expected from Michelin tread in my experience, it had the right amount of give and grip whenever needed. Traction was very good. I was very confident in all movements. Lateral movement was issue free, and front and back movement for serves and reaching for drop shots was fantastic as well. Shoes were noisy in the first few hours but slowly became a bit quieter.
Weight:
I measured on my kitchen scale and the left shoe is 321g and right shoe is 326g. This is a light weight and fast shoe.
General reaction/comments on overall performance:
Here are a few additional thoughts I would like to share:
1. For a light weight minimalist sort of a shoe, the Jet Tere is remarkably soft and comfortable. In fact, I would give it the highest marks for shoes in the light weight slash fast category. That said, you do feel a lack of cushioning if you are coming off more thicker, heavier shoes like say Solecourt Boost or Barricade Boosts. As mentioned in the beginning, after my knee arthroscopy I put a premium on cushioning now and will definitely be investing in some good quality insoles to compensate.
2. About the width. While the width may be average, it didn't feel to me that the shoe was excessively narrow. The shoe in fact was a comfortable fit for my medium wide feet. For comparison, the Zoom Zeros are much more narrower for me and the metatarsal area starts pinching on sides. The Jet Tere stretched after a few hours of intense play as well making for a comfy feeling forefoot. Just do make sure to order at least a half size up, as TW advised. The length will be most definitely short otherwise.
I am also putting up a few pictures so readers can see what they look like from different angles.
Finally, I would like to say thank you very much to Tennis Warehouse
@TW Staff and Babolat as well for this great opportunity. As always, very much appreciated.