Volleyball Shoes

Posted on December 5, 2019January 19, 2022 by Racquet Network

Laser Engrave Your Shoes

Laser engraving your court shoes is one way to protect your property.

If you’ve ever had a racquet bag stolen from your car, you know how frustrating it is.

If you’re a parent, you know how frustrating it can be when somebody steals your kid’s brand new shoes.

In both of these instances, laser engraving can lead to a happy ending.

Laser engraving marks your property in a very inconspicuous way. In most cases, the thieves don’t even notice that it is marked.

But you know. So you can easily identify what is yours. which means that you have an opportunity to recover your property.

Racquet Network offers free laser engraving on many premium products including shoes and racquets.

Shoes are engraved on a back outer face so that the engraving can be seen from behind.

So if a player from your school or club swipes your shoes, they are easy to spot, identify, and recover.

Racquets, meanwhile, are engraved on their shafts making identification simple for players and racquet stringers.

By laser engraving racquets, shoes, bags and other items, we make it easy for police monitoring Kijiji and crooked pawn shops to tie car prowlers to specific crimes and lay charges.

We also make it possible to return property to its owners once it’s recovered.

All you have to do is file a police report telling police how your property is marked.

Posted on June 2, 2018January 9, 2019 by Racquet Network

Help! My Feet are Blistering

For a shoe fitting expert, information about blistering is excellent because it sends a clear signal about what is wrong with the fit of the shoe.

Unfortunately, this awesome information is often tied to equally bad information firmly planted it the customer’s mind about what is causing the blistering. When this happens, it can make it a difficult issue to correct.

Here is the truth about blistering.

Where your feet are blistering will usually indicate what is causing the blisters.

Blistering on the heel, for example, is caused by shoes that are too short. Court shoes that are the correct length will be loose enough in the back not to cause blistering on the heel.

Blistering on the outside of the foot or the side of either the big toe or the little toe is usually caused by shoes that are too narrow.

If blistering in these places is also accompanied by bruised or blackened toenails, then the shoe is to short as well as too narrow.

Blistering on the sole of the foot can be caused by shoes that are too big, but it is most often caused by damp cotton.

Wet skin is weak skin. Weak skin tears. So if you developed a large blister on your forefoot that splits open late in a match, the first thing you should check is your socks.

Wet socks weaken your skin and make it susceptible to tearing.

Either buy some polyester socks or change your cotton socks frequently during your match. Keeping your feet dry is the first step in avoiding skin tears.

We strongly recommend that players with friction issues carry a tube of Body Glide and a tube of Anbesol. The glide can be applied to areas of known friction. The Anbesol can take the sting out of blisters that are starting to develop.

Yonex Men’s Badminton Shoes

A small random selected of our Yonex men’s badminton shoes

Posted on December 11, 2017November 15, 2018 by Racquet Network

Kids Indoor Court Shoes – A Primer for Parents

ASICS GEL-UPCOURT GS C413N 0123 If your kid is playing squash or badminton, you have probably already experienced some of the frustrations common to parents on the subject of court shoes. For one thing, it can be difficult to find anybody who carries them. For another, stores who do carry them never seem to have much of a selection.

We understand. In fact, we sympathize. But as retailers, there is not much we can do except stock what is available and offer it to customers at reasonable prices.

Unfortunately, shoe manufacturers don’t listen to specialty retailers any more than they listen to parents. Nor do the distribution companies. About the only people they listen to are the sporting goods giants and the giants are only interested in things they can sell by the millions. Kids court shoes, unfortunately, are not in the “millions” category.

As retailers, we get the catalogs from the manufacturers three to six months before the season starts. All brands combined, we might have a total of 50 models of indoor court shoes to choose from. Of those 50 models, six might be kids’ shoes. Of those six models, four might be available in full and half sizes. The colours will be divided equally into boys and girls. This means two models for boy and two for girls — if we are lucky.

Obviously, selection for boys and girls is not large to begin with. Once you begin digging into sizes, though, the selection gets even smaller. Yonex ™, for example, manufactures half sizes in Japan, but Yonex Canada does not import them so half sizes are not available in Canada. Asics, on the other hand, offers half sizes, but they generally only import one or two colours in the most common sizes. Sizes like US YOUTH 11 or 5 or 5.5 are often not available at all.

As retailers, we want to be able to offer boys and girls a dozen options in every possible size. Unfortunately, the manufactuers don’t make that possible for us. The best we can do, therefore, is to buy what is available when it is available and have at least some selection on hand when you come to visit.

Here at Racquet Network, our buyer is always on the lookout for kids indoor court shoes. He knows they are not always available, so he stocks up when he can. His goal is to ensure that we have the largest selection possible when you come in with your child.

Posted on November 23, 2017November 30, 2018 by Racquet Network

Downside to Cheap Court Shoes

At least once a week, we see adult men coming into our store to purchase Asics Gel-Upcourt court shoes. Everytime this happens, we issue a standard warning to buyers. While these shoes are attractively priced, there are good reasons why they are priced so unusually low.

Every court shoe company makes at least one model called a transitional model. They don’t always call them “transitional” models. Sometimes they call them “starter shoes” or “entry level shoes” or even “base models”, but regardless of what they call them, these shoes are all in the same category. They are lower quality shoes designed specifically for young players who will likely outgrow their shoes before they have a chance to wear them out.

Budget grade shoes like these are Godsend for some parents who have kids in short athletic programs and who require a specialized pair of shoes specifically for that activity. They know their child will only be wearing these shoes for a short period of time — perhaps only six or eight weeks — so they don’t want to buy something top-of-the-line. They know that even if their child loves the sport, by the time the calendar rolls around to the start time for that sport again next year, their child will have outgrown the shoes they purchased this year. So at best, these shoes will become hand-me-downs.

While awesome for parents of growing teens, budget shoes like these are problematic for a business like ours because adults who don’t know any better see that these shoes come in adult sizes (just like teen feet do) and think that they are a great deal for adults, too. Unforunately, shoes in this category are not built to last. They are not designed to worn over the long haul. So adults who buy them end up being disappointed. Instead of getting a good deal, they get a pair of shoes from which they can’t get their money’s worth.

Rarely is it a good idea for adults to buy budget shoes. Generally speaking budget athletic shoes are a bad deal that buyers end up regretting. In fact, the only time it makes sense to buy budget shoes is when you are trying a sport for the very first time. If chances are good that you will not be playing the sport eight weeks later, then it makes sense to buy shoes that are designed to last a short period of time. If, however, there is a good chance that you will be using the shoes for a extended period of time, then it makes sense to invest in a recreational grade shoe that is built to stand up to athletic punishment.

As with anything else in life, you get what you pay for. Court shoes that are designed for long term use cost more than court shoes that are designed for short term use. So if you buy a cheap pair of shoes, you should expect them to last a short period of time.

Posted on November 11, 2017November 7, 2018 by Racquet Network

Racquet Network carries Calgary’s largest selection of volleyball shoes for men, women, boys and girls. In fact, we have the largest selection of court shoes of all kinds. Come in for a fitting with our experts and leave with the perfect fit for your feet. We are open 7 days a week. Monday to Friday 11:00am to 8:00pm. Saturday and Sunday 11:00am to 5:00pm.