footwear and feet injuries

Hi,

last year I played a match wearing Nike indoor sports shoes. They'd always felt comfortable, and were expensive. The only thing I didn't like to do was run on concrete. But the day after the match, my feet killed me. It is about 3 months later, and I still have sore feet. In past years I have had the bad habit of stomping me feet, but I don't think I was doing that in the match. I think the Nike shoes were to blame, especially since they had bad soles and bad arch support. The internet said that if you exercise with such shoes, you can get into trouble, with your whole feet in pain. This occurs after the feet have been immobile for some time, eg when getting out of bed in the morning. I have since been to a podiatrist and been given some exercises. My feet are gradually improving, although I walk like a duck when I get out of bed in the morning.

I have since decided to wear shoes with more padding and arch support, and am wearing Asics Gel running shoes. This has done the trick for the most part. The floors at the club are wooden boards. Often such surfaces are dusty and slippery, but I think the boards have been sanded down and had epoxy applied to them. This has made my shoes too grippy. Other players have noticed this also, and so it seems that I should change footwear, as a grippy floor can cause injury when your feet stop and your inertia keeps you going.

I find the Butterfly shoes to lack a soft sole and don't seem to have much arch support. In the old days, before Butterfly made shoes, it was recommended to wear Asics. I've seen a new type of Butterfly shoes that are labeled "Gel". I'm sure Ascis would have patented the gel, so I reckon the shoes are made by Asics and have Butterfly's name printed on them. Do you know anything about these new shoes, or have advice or what other shoes (TT brand or otherwise) would be good?

(Many players wear cheap Dunlop shoes, but my practice partner, who wears them, seems to dislike them on the new grippy flooring).

Cheers,

Andrew.

Hi Andrew,

I think it is important to have some support in your shoe.  The Table Tennis shoes of old were very low on the support and tended to lead to a lot of foot damage.  I am not sure about other shoes but the Asics Gel indoor is an excellent shoe that will give you good support.  I am not sure about the link between Butterfly and Gel shoes.  Maybe one of our readers will be able to help.

Any help out there?