Tag: badminton shoes footer

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Who is Responsible for Sore Feet, Ladies?

Yonex Aerus Ladies Badminton Shoe

There is a constant refrain in the shoe business about the evils of major shoe brands and how their decisions are damaging women’s feet.

The narrative says that generations of women have suffered immeasurable foot damage due to shoe designs that promote style and beauty over health. These decisions, the narrative holds, have caused millions of older women to suffer from hammertoes, bunions, crooked toes, flat feet, corns, callouses and many other maladies of the feet.

To some extent, that is true. Poor shoe design does lead to preventable injuries and painful chronic conditions. But at some point women have to take responsibility for the choices they make.

Yonex Ladies Court Shoes

A random sample of five Yonex ladies court shoes from our online store.

In our store for example, we help hundreds of women try on shoes every month. Many of these women suffer from one or more of these maladies, so we do not hesitate to offer healthier options. Only a small percentage, however, even consider what we are telling them.

Almost every day of the week we have women in our store who insist on buying court shoes that are too short and too narrow. “But my heel is slipping,” is the most common sign that a woman is about to insist on buying a shoe that is too small.

We advise them that a little bit of movement in the heel of an athletic shoe is normal and healthy. We explain that the only way to get an athletic shoe in which there is no heel movement is to choose a shoe that is too short.

Asics Ladies Court Shoes

A random sample of five Asics ladies court shoes from our online store.

Shoes that have no heel movement — in other words, shoes that are too short — lead to hammertoes, bunions, crooked toes, flat feet, corns, callouses and many other maladies of the feet.

“But I am always a size 7,” some women state emphatically. “I have been a size 7 my whole life.”

In fact, from birth to death, the human foot is in a constant state of change. Our feet change grow longer and wider through childhood. For some people, feet continue growing well into adulthood.

Asics Ladies Court Shoes

A random sample of Babolat ladies court shoes from our online store.

Change continues even for those whose feet do stop growing in their teens. As we age, our feet tend to widen and our arches tend to fall. So nobody can ever truly say that their feet are the same size now as they were more than 20 years ago.

We offer expert fittings in our store for exactly this reason. We want to give all athletes, including female athletes of all ages, an opportunity to buy shoes that will not damage (or further damage) their feet.

Unfortunately, we often feel like our good advice is falling on deaf ears. Many women, it seems, are accustomed to the pain and want to continue experiencing it, even into their golden years, in spite of the fact that there are many healthier options right in front of them.

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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