The Best Indoor Pickleball Shoes - The Pickleball Source (2024)

All of us avid pickleball players know that the right pair of indoor pickleball shoes can help prevent injury, improve performance, and affect comfort. If you are a beginner, you should consider trying a pair of shoes designed specifically for pickleball rather than your old pair of running shoes. We promise you’ll see why those of us who have been playing for a while are so particular.

A quick search will give you a ton of options for pickleball shoes, so to make it less overwhelming, we have dug through the reviews, tried a few ourselves, and compiled a list of the best to consider for indoor play.

The ASICS Women’s Gel-Rocket 10 Indoor Sports Shoes are a popular choice because they are reasonably priced, come in a variety of styles, and have a few key features perfect for a game.

This style has the ASICS Trusstic System Technology, which basically means that they have made the shoe more lightweight while still giving you plenty of support. This translates to you being able to move quickly in every direction with confidence that your foot will remain in a good position to minimize the risk of injury.

These shoes also have mesh around the shoe to keep your feet cool, and the insole has a gel for cushioning those hard landings that are inevitable in a competitive match.

The ASICS Women’s Gel-Tactic Indoor Sports Shoes are another option from the same company. Compared to the Gel-Rocket 10s, the Gel-Tactics have more of a focus on cushioning and comfort. However, they do still have the Trusstic System, so you don’t have to worry about not having support.

This style also comes in fewer color options and is a bit more expensive, which is something to keep in mind if you are trying to decide between two similar models.

The FILA Women’s Double Bounce is inspired by vintage sportswear but has modern features to help with your performance on the court. If you take a look at the reviews on these, you’ll see how much people rave about the comfort.

The sole of the shoe has so much cushioning your feet won’t even hurt after a full day of tournaments, and the synthetic leather and high ankle support provide a ton of confidence when moving from side to side. The downside is that these do tend to be a bit heavier than other pickleball shoes on the market.

K-Swiss Women’s Express Light is one of the lightest pickleball shoe options. To keep it lightweight — this style only has reinforcement in high-wear areas and is mesh thermal plastic in every other place for a combination of support and breathability.

K-Swiss calls the reinforcement Durawrap, and it mainly goes over the toe area so you can get the perfect toe drag without wearing holes in the shoes.

The Express Light style also has a liner in the shoe that helps keep your sweaty feet dry and keeps your socks from sliding around. These are mid-range in price when it comes to specialty sports shoes, but they are worth every penny. They also come in 5 styles with a mix of neutral and fun colors as well as both regular and wide sizing.

When you first put on the shoe, it will seem tight, stiff, and sort of slippery on the inside. After about a game or two, the insole conforms to your foot, and the outside of the shoe begins to flex exactly where your foot needs it to. There are other great features, too, like the raised heel so that your heel doesn’t slip out and a flat tongue to prevent uncomfortable rubbing.

The Court Express is lightweight, comes in 7 neutral colors, and is available in half sizes for the best fit. They also go up to a size 15, which is terribly hard to find with any kind of shoe but especially pickleball shoes.

Technically, the HEAD Men’s Sonic 2000 MID Indoor Court Shoes are designed for indoor squash and racquetball. However, if you think about it, there are many of the same movements between squash, racquetball, and pickleball, so they work great as pickleball shoes.

There is mesh around the middle of the foot so it can breathe and synthetic leather everywhere else to hold your foot in place with quick movements. The bottom of the shoe is also made out of non-marking gum rubber, which doesn’t seem like an important detail, but it helps a ton with traction and grip on indoor courts, which are more slippery than outdoor courts.

Unfortunately, unlike others that have several colors to choose from, the HEAD Men’s Sonic 2000 MIDs are only available in black and white with a light blue accent. They do have half sizes, though, and go up to size 14, so that’s a plus.

The Condromly Lightweight Indoor Court Shoes are actually unisex shoes which can be a pro and a con. The pro is that they can work for a larger number of people, but the downside is that since the sizing is combined, it goes up to 12 in women’s and only 10.5 in men’s.

Nonetheless, the Condromly Lightweight Indoor Court Shoes are an excellent choice with some features you’ll love. Most of the shoe is mesh for ultimate temperature regulation (no sweaty feet here!), though there is extra support around the toe and the heel so that you don’t roll your ankles and can still drag your toe.

They have also kept it lightweight by making the insole out of a sponge that is lighter than traditional memory foam yet can conform to your foot for good comfort and cushioning.

The number one pick for the best pickleball shoes for women’s indoor play is the K-Swiss Women’s Express Light, and the K-Swiss Men’s Express Light is just as good of an option for men, too.

They have all of the same features, including the Dragguard around the toe, support thermal plastic in the mesh area, and sock liner for dry feet. There are also five neutral colors to pick from, half sizes, and a moderate price.

The ASICS Kid’s Upcourt 4 is truly designed with kids in mind. From the cushioning that is specialized to be a lower density to accommodate kids’ growing joints to extra support on the sides of the foot since kids’ ankles aren’t as strong for the quick side-to-side movements. Don’t worry. There’s also mesh throughout the shoe, so parents don’t have to deal with smelly feet!

At around $50, with three neutral colors and big kid sizes ranging from 1 to 7 and half-sizes in between, this is overall a solid option for youth players.

Mizuno is known for making volleyball shoes, but the Cyclone Speed 2 Junior has features that are excellent for pickleball.

One of the main features that will keep the injuries down for the kids is the way the overlays are layered. They are layered in a way to provide maximum support for lateral movements. There is also a tall heel cup to keep the foot in the shoe. The bottom of the shoes is non-marking, and the lightweight insole provides comfort without extra weight.

It is important to point out that the reviews on Amazon aren’t a good representation. There are only a couple of reviews on there with an average of 3 stars, but in the pickleball community, many avid indoor pickleball players stand behind these shoes for their kids to get in the game.

The New Balance Kids 696 V4 Tennis Shoe is quite an affordable option which is great cause we all know kids go through shoes like nobody’s business. These are not technically pickleball shoes, but between the durability, excellent traction, and stable heel cup, they are perfect for an indoor youth pickleball game.

Again, there’s also plenty of mesh for breathability and preventing those stinky feet! There are 11 colors, including a combination of fun, bright and neutral ones. This also comes in Little Kid and Big Kid sizes, with wide sizes for wider feet and half sizes available for the best fit.

The HEAD Unisex-Child Junior’s Revolt Pro 3.5 Tennis Court Shoes are one of the most stable and durable options for youth pickleball players.

They may be designed for junior tennis players, but the molded flexible hexagon cage adds durability for toe dragging, support for lateral stability, A.K.A. jumping all over the court, and still allows the foot to breathe since it is mesh underneath– all things the kiddos will need to play pickleball.

The specialized rubber bottom has features for added stability, traction, and wear and tear but is non-marking, so they (and you!) don’t get yelled at by Coach!

The Junior’s Revolt Pro 3.5 Tennis Shoes only come in Big Kid sizes from 2-6 with half sizes in the middle. At a moderate price, you can feel confident when your kids are playing pickleball in these.