A lot of people who play padel nowadays were before tennis players. And when they started padel, they probably used tennis shoes. Should you do the same?
Tennis shoes are not the worst for padel...
When you play padel for the first time, you don't know yet that you are going to be completely addicted to that sport (but you will be soon, trust us, this is what happens to most people). And contrary to activities such as bowling, padel centers don't have shoes for rent. So, for your first time on a padel court, you are usually not equipped with padel shoes, and it's perfectly fine.
Knowing that, the best you could do for that day is to wear some tennis shoes. They indeed offer resistance, grip, and are quite well adapted to the activity. This means that even though tennis shoes are not optimal, they are better than basketball shoes, which are too heavy and not resistant enough to play on the turf, better than running or training shoes that are too flexible, slippery, and don't provide enough ankle support, or better than football boots that... Well, probably nobody ever thought of playing padel with football boots, right?
Basically, you got it: tennis shoes are really not the worst option… but not the best either!
As you already can imagine: padel shoes are really the best shoes for padel. Their soles are made for the specific padel surface, their structure is light enough to enable you to move on the court with ease but also strong enough to maintain your foot locked and reduce risks of ankle injury, they have good shock absorption to allow you to bounce back after a jump... It's quite easy, padel shoes are specifically created to meet the needs of the best padel athletes all around the world, and that's why they should be the one and only option for that sport.
If you want to invest in padel shoes but don't know what brand to target or what model to select, remember that we have a wide range of shoes at padelusa.com to help you make your choice. Options like Wilson Bela Pro, made for legend Fernando Belasteguin, Nox AT10 Lux (and AT10 Lux Nero), or Wilson Hurakn Pro are among the fan favorites.
Conclusion
As a conclusion and as an answer to the first question: you can play padel with tennis shoes during the first times you spend on a padel court, but as soon as you know you want to play padel regularly, you should really consider investing in some proper padel shoes. And when you are ready for it, don't forget to check out all our options at padelusa.com!
