Can Running Shoes Be Used For Tennis (Everything You Need to Know!)

Over the past four decades, the present-day sports shoe has advanced from the flexible and modifiable sneaker to a plethora of sneakers intended for a specific sport. The market is filled with a vast number of sports shoes, giving trainers so many different choices. With the support and encouragement from big shoe brands and sharp shop assistants, it only seems rational to pick out a sneaker that has been specifically designed for the sporting activity that you will take part in.

There are many trainers and professional players who do not compromise on their sports footwear. They have a different pair for each and every sporting activity. However, there are still so many players who own a certain pair of shoes and use the same pair in nearly all the sports and exercise routines that they are involved in.

There are tons of tennis shoes available on the market. The majority of professional tennis players only wear shoes specifically designed for tennis. That is because these shoes are made to provide you with the support, the cushioning and the grip that you will need while moving up and down on a tennis court.

As we all know, tennis does not only involve the up and down running movement, it also demands you to make quick starts and sudden stops. Your feet are required to take part in a lot of lateral motions and your tennis shoes are manufactured to supply you with the kind of support and cushioning that you need.

Running is an excellent exercise routine that also requires a lot of friction just like playing tennis. Running requires you to deal with short starts and stops as well as quick steps, small steps and also longer lunging steps. The running shoe is designed with unique features that will support the athlete during these special situations. All the grip and resistance that you would need for running is certainly quite different from the traction used during tennis.

Often, you will see players wearing running shoes to play tennis. In this article, we unpack all the unique features and characteristics of the running shoe to help determine if the shoe is good for tennis players. If you are one of those players who choose to play tennis in their running shoes, the article will let you know if running shoes can be used for tennis.

The Cushioning and Support of the Shoe

The running shoe is manufactured to help the body manage the rigorous up and down motion of your feet. The shoe is manufactured to support, stabilize and cushion your feet.

The running shoe is packed with cushioning around the toe box and the heel area. This cushioning is required to reduce the hard impact that is felt from the heel-to-toe bangs on the hard pavement. The running shoe is also designed with some lateral stability; however, it is not much because the side to side motion is not so common during running.

The tennis shoe has an out-sole as well as a mid-sole. The out-sole area is the surface of the shoe and the bottom part of the shoe. This part of the shoe comes in direct contact with the tennis court. The out-sole is meant to provide the trainers with a lot of traction and stability that will help them easily make speedy starts and sudden stops. This is the kind of traction that every tennis player needs on the court. The outsole of a tennis shoe also provides more stability than the running shoe.

The mid-sole is the layer that is found right under the out-sole. The mid-sole area is packed with a lot of cushioning. The cushioning is meant to make the shoe as comfortable as possible protecting your body from the hard impact of the ground. The cushioning in the tennis shoe is not as much as the cushioning found in the running shoe. Tennis shoes have less cushioning material allowing your feet to comfortably make swift side to side movements. The less cushioning material also makes your shoe more flexible getting you to move much quicker.

The Support and Firmness of the Shoe

When the running footwear is designed, manufacturers place a lot of emphasis on adding cushioning on the tennis shoe. Tennis shoes, however, pay particular attention to adding a lot of lateral support and stability to the shoe. Having a shoe that can support the player and provide stability is quite important because of the many fast side way cuts. Running however involves the heel-to-toe continuous movement and the cushioning is emphasized to protect the runner from the hard impact on the ground.

Cushioning is major principal to the tennis player; however, it is not as important as the stability and the support. The tennis shoe should provide your body with a feeling of been really close to the ground. The lower an athlete’s feet are to the tennis court, the firmer and more stable they will feel during the rigorous side-to-side movement.

Lateral stability is of great importance and the additional amount of cushioning can only be found in the running shoe. The running shoe cannot provide a tennis player with the required support and stability for all the side to side movement. Tennis demands your feet to arch in different angles and move swiftly. The lack of proper stability in the running shoe could lead to common injuries such as a sprained ankle.

The Light-Weight Characteristics of Both Shoes

As we all know, a shoe with an excessive amount of weight makes an athlete much slower. Both the tennis shoe and the running shoe aim to be very light in weight. The tennis shoe, however, does not compromise on the need of durability, stability and the support provided to the player.

Very light, flexible and cushioned running shoes offer a more relaxing feeling than the stiffer tennis shoes. Players feel so much better and even move quicker when playing around with light cushioned running shoes.

It is okay to put on your running shoes when taking part in light tennis games and exercises, however, if you plan to enjoy the sport regularly and professionally, it is advisable to invest in a more stable and more firm pair of tennis shoes.