Which court shoe with an outsole warranty is actually best for pickleball? I tested the Adidas Barricade, New Balance CT Rally 2, Wilson Rush Pro 4.5, and Nike Vapor Cage 4 to see how they perform for real pickleball movement. I compare traction, comfort, stability, and fit, then share which shoes I’d recommend for pickleball players.
👉 Adidas Barricade:
👉 New Balance CT Rally 2:
👉 Wilson Rush 4.5:
👉 Nike Vapor Cage 4:
All Pickleball Effect codes:
👉 Blumaka Non Slip Insoles (code PBEFFECT):
All Pickleball Effect codes:
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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:43 Preview
01:57 Cushioning & Fit
03:08 Responsiveness & Traction
05:48 Lockdown
06:57My Recommendation
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I keep seeing shoe reviews and shoe tier lists, BUT they exclude the super obvious choices, as in the shoes the pro’s wear. Alshon, Fahey, Daescu, Lea Jansen and others all wear the Mizunos, and they have a six month outsole warranty. Ben Johns, Hunter Johnson, Chris Haworth (sponsored) and others wear the Babolats Jet Mach’s. But they are excluded from pickleball shoe reviews?! I have both and they are *fantastic*. A large proportion of people at my club play with K-Swiss. This selection of shoes to review is very weird.
Barricade 13s are end of life/MFG…14s should have been reviewed.
No asics or babolat in the test. Boo
I’m 6’3″ and wear a 13 wide or 14. It’s really hard to track down shoes in my size and some brands only make up to a regular 13 or have no wide option. I always wear Gain the Edge grip socks. I tried RTP but they didn’t hold up well.
My rankings of all the court shoes I have:
1. Daps mid sole – Excellent cushion, locked in feeling around my entire foot and ankle, great grippy insole. Only complaint is the laces aren’t my favorite.
2. Selkirk Courtstrike 1.0 – I had the first run of the pros but those wore out quickly but I got a full warranty refund on them. The 2nd run seem to be lasting longer and there is no squeak like on the older model from the outer sole.
3. On The Roger Pro 2 – only complaint is they aren’t very breathable and a little heavy. Just put in some new blumaka insoles I am excited to try in them.
4. Montis pickleball Holbrook edition – Like the overall feel but need to break them in a bit more to get a true feel on them.
5. Skeckers Viper Court Pro 2.0 – Feel great but just slightly to small for me since they only make up to a regular 13. The laces sort of bunch up a bit and it’s pretty easy to overtighten them so be careful.
6. Skeckers Viper Court Pro (first version) – Slightly too tight in the toe box, laces bunch up a lot over the tongue.
7. Nike Zoom Vapor Cage 4 Rafa – Great feel around the ankles but not much support and hard to get insoles in.
8. Nike Court Air Zoom Vapor 11- too heavy and not great with lateral movement but decent support. Size up if you’re a wide.
9. Nike Court Vapor Pro 2 – Very lightweight and fast, decent support but not wide enough for good balance on lateral movements.
10. New Balance FuelCell 796v4 – My first pair, lasted about 6 months without a lot of wear. Great for actual tennis court material, terrible for concrete floors. Not a lot of cushion.
11. Asics Gel Challenger 15 – Not good in any way if you’re as heavy as me. My feet were slipping over the edges of the outsole and it tore up two pairs of insoles in like 6 weeks by pinching them in the outer mid section. Not stable but they were comfortable.
Favorite insoles:
1. DAPS insoles that come with their shoes
2. VKTRY insoles Gold edition
3. Currex Pickleball Pro
4. Currex RunPro
5. Haven’t tested yet – Blumaka insoles. Heard good things though.
I am actually Steve that plays too much…