Introduction
You might be an aspiring badminton player but don’t know if you have the resources at your disposal in order to make your dreams a reality. Perhaps you have only participated in basketball lately and are hoping that some of their equipment can help carry you over to this new hobby that you are hoping to get good at.
There are a few important questions to ask when thinking about this exact situation. The first and most obvious is whether or not you are able to use basketball shoes for badminton. The answer to this question is yes actually. You are absolutely able to use basketball shoes for badminton because the sport requires a lightweight and flexible shoe that lets you move quickly without injury. Basketball shoes are designed in this exact way, with a ton of jumping, cutting, and side-stepping involved in their game play.
They Aren’t The Best Option
While you can definitely use basketball shoes while playing badminton and do so successfully, this isn’t always your best option. Of course, simply going out and getting shoes that are specifically designed for the sport of badminton will help you out the most. After all, that’s literally their sole purpose.
However, basketball shoes can be used as a type of replacement because they offer the same positive attributes such as ankle support and are relatively stable compared to other options. If you compare basketball shoes with specific badminton shoes straight up, you’ll likely find that the badminton shoes are much lighter and more flexible than basketball shoes. They both excel in these areas, but the badminton shoes are just a tad better in those areas.
While the difference might not even be noticeable for you, others who are super interested in the sport and hope to gain any advantage they can, might take action on that small change.
This Usually Doesn’t Go Both Ways
It’s human nature to wonder if your badminton shoes happen to work during basketball in the same way that the basketball shoes worked during badminton. To answer this particular question, it doesn’t. Badminton shoes can be used on the basketball court, but they aren’t designed for the type of jumping that you do in basketball. The worst part is that you usually can’t play basketball without jumping, because there always seems to be a situation that requires you to leave your feet.
A few examples would be when you are about to take a jump shot, when you’re shooting a layup, when you jump to contest a shot, when you jump for a high pass, or if you’re attempting to block a layup at the rim. All of these situations call for you to leave your feet, which is when wearing badminton shoes gets a little scary. It’s a good chance that using these types of shoes too often on the court might hurt your feet due to how they’re designed.
Some forms of badminton shoes are meant to put your feet as close to the ground as possible, and jumping would obviously mean that you are landing fairly hard on your feet each time that you leave the ground.
The Differences
At this point, you might still be wondering what the difference is between these types of shoes besides badminton shoes being lower than basketball shoes. The real major difference is that they’re intended for different movements.
Badminton shoes are supposed to help people move quickly on the court with great grip and traction. Meanwhile, basketball shoes are designed to provide ankle support with higher designs while supporting jumping significantly more around the heel area, something that badminton shoes do not support.
These two types of shoes can definitely look very similar to one another when you compare their designs straight up, but the performance does play a large factor at the end of the day, and there are absolutely differences to be aware of here.
Why The Right Shoes Are Important
A lot of times people don’t seem to mind what type of footwear they bring to a sport, as long as they feel comfortable and can move around just fine. However, footwear plays a massive role in your performance, no matter what the sport. This includes both badminton and basketball. Bringing the right type of shoes allows for maximum performance and the most reduced injury risk when competing.
Having just a little extra grip in badminton can help you take an extra step in front of the opponent. It’s the same as having better support for jumping in basketball, as it can help you leave your feet more often and impact the game frequently.
Comfort does play a role in the type of shoes you wear, but that also comes with picking the shoes for the right sport. So, be sure to pick basketball shoes for basketball and badminton shoes for badminton. Once you do that, find the ones in that section that are the most comfortable for you, and watch how much better you can perform out there.
Where You Play Matters
Lastly, it should be mentioned that where you plan to play matters just as much. This goes for both basketball and badminton as well. If you are looking to play a significant amount of your games outside, then you should be searching for footwear that helps you in that environment.
If you think that almost all of your games will be indoors in some way, then focus on something that improves movement on that flooring. Bringing shoes that have a great indoor grip to an outside court might not exactly pan out the way you would be hoping. Especially if there are other conditions making matters worse, like rain. When you’re preparing to select a shoe, be sure to choose the one that should suit where you expect to play more, whether it’s indoors or outdoors. The difference plays a much larger factor than meets the eye.