How Should Badminton Shoes Fit? (Tight or Loose?)

Badminton shoes are provided to players for their safety and comfort.  Apart from providing lateral stability and ankle support, the way a badminton shoe fits is probably the most important factor determining if a badminton player will have an awesome or a crappy game.

So, how should badminton shoes fit? A good pair of badminton shoes should not be too loose or too tight. A badminton shoe design should provide the grip for your feet, snug-fitting, and lightweight feel. Your heels should not be slipping around inside the badminton court shoe, and they should always provide a snug fit at the point where they just start hurting.

Also Read: Can you run in crossfit shoes

The Fit of Badminton Shoes Also Depends on Your Game

Your style of movement in a badminton game also decides the fit of badminton court shoes that you should expect. If you are fast-paced and play aggressively, you would have a lot of footwork in your game. This would require a good fit in your badminton shoe so that your ankle remains intact during the game.

There’s a high risk of ankle injury or sprained ankle in a badminton game due to abrupt sideway movements. So, you need to ensure that your feet are not sliding inside the shoes as this could lead to instability. Also, the slight shifts due to too loose fit of badminton shoes would cause blisters on your heel and make your foot sore. Moreover, there should be some room in the badminton shoe for your feet to breathe properly.

On the other hand, if you just want to glide and play an easy game instead of fast-paced and want to be more on a defense side, you would want a loose fit in badminton shoes.

Should I Size Up Badminton Shoes if They Feel Too Tight at First?

As a general rule of thumb, there should be 1-1.5 index finger width between your big toe and the tip of the shoe after breaking in. The margin also depends on your foot shape and type of badminton shoe. But, it is a general suggestion you can still consider. This will prevent your toes from being injured when you lunge forward. Badminton shoes are made of a stretchy mesh fabric with supportive leather overlays. So, there is highly likely that after some days of wear, the badminton shoes stretch. At the start, you’ll get some blisters on your toes due to toes pinching. But, you don’t have to worry about that.

The best way to reduce the chances of blisters due to too tight fit, in the beginning, is to wear thick socks and walk in your new badminton shoes around the shoes before using them actually to play the game. The fit will eventually be better after one to two weeks. So, you don’t need to size up badminton court shoes right in the beginning. Otherwise, when the upper will stretch and conform to your foot’s shape, your feet will start sliding and rub against the badminton shoes lining, which will tear off your feet’ skin.

How Much Should Tight Badminton Shoes Be?

Badminton shoes should provide the skintight fit on the sides, but there should be a clearance on the forefoot area, as I discussed above.

The tight fit on the sides will also provide a degree of cushioning to prevent blisters and other problems while still retaining the firmness needed for stability. Furthermore, the tight fit will not put additional pressure on the feet, ankles or legs, and offer better maneuverability during quick changes in speed and direction.

How to Adjust the Fit of Badminton Shoes?

The foot is a three-dimensional structure, and it might be possible that one shoe that fits perfectly for one person runs narrow or too tight for you, or maybe too wide. For several people, it’s difficult to find a perfect fit for badminton shoes, due to which they have to adopt some necessary measures for getting a stable and comfy snug fit.

If you can’t find wide-fit shoes based on your foot structure, you might have to buy a half size up. In such cases, most of the badminton shoes insoles tend to be misplaced. So, you need to superglue the insoles to your badminton shoes bed. When you start performing powerful footwork, the insoles will move towards the edges of the shoe.

The other method is to use badminton socks. I’ve heard great comments about Yonex socks. They are thicker and have a higher thread count with densely knit fiber. This offers more protection against the blisters and offers firm grip with the badminton shoes.

Mizuno Badminton Shoes Sizing and Fit

Mizuno shoes are generally narrower in the toes, like Nike shoes. Their most of the models have V-shape. Mizuno badminton shoes also take a while to break in. Mizuno shoes are also available in half sizes. For most people, Mizuno shoes run true to size. That is, the size you wear in other shoes like Nike will be the same in Mizuno shoes. However, they don’t fit 4E sized feet perfectly. Mizuno shoes have maximum 2E widths, but these all are available in the running shoes category.

Yonex Badminton Shoes Sizing and Fit

Yonex badminton shoes run quite narrow, but badminton players with wide fit prefer Yonex Power Cushion Eclipsion Z wide due to their inner bootie construction and better all-around fit. However, Eclipsion Z shoes lack ankle support. So, if you’ve previous ankle injuries, avoid them.

Also, keep in mind that whichever Yonex badminton shoe you buy, the wide-fit at the end of its name means it is in 4E width. Aerus line of Yonex badminton shoes runs narrow and is not available in wide-widths. Yonex Aerus shoes are not good for wide feet. So, for Yonex Aerus shoes, you may have to go for a half size up.

Victor Badminton Shoes Sizing and Fit

Victor badminton shoes are available in V-shape (narrow) and U-shape (wide) models. According to the users, Victor shoes have more durability than Mizuno shoes. Some customers have complained that their factory insole moves around a lot after half sizing up narrow Victor shoes. So, you may have to change the insole.

Victor’s shoes width standards are different from other shoes brands. Their U-shape and V-shape lasts are further categorized into different widths.

U-shape last in Victor badminton shoes consists of the following widths:

• 2.5 (Standard width)
• 3.0 (Wide width)
• 3.5 (Square-toe wide width)

V-shape last in Victor badminton shoes consists of the following widths:

• 2.0 (Narrow width)
• 2.5 (Standard width)

Their wide width, i.e., 3.0, is an E width with a rounded toe box. It is not as wide as Yonex Eclipsion Z wide shoes. According to several badminton players, the fit of standard width Yonex shoes is the same as Victor SH LYD shoes which are available U-shaped last and 2.5 width.