Stiga Instinct Shoe!!!! NEW!

Tony's Table Tennis said:

heavy footwork drills especially on the lateral movements. hmmm really? lol

wanted to ask early, whats that 3 black holes in the sole?

Click to expand...

UpSideDownCarl said:

I figured would put some photos of the Stiga Shoes:

It is true that I used these shoes for about 6 months after they started ripping. But, the rips happened within 2 months of me starting to use them. And I have never had any kind of shoe rip like that. You can see that it is the material that they made the shoes with that is weak and tore. The Material could not withstand the lateral movement.

Click to expand...

UpSideDownCarl said:

Okay, so, I was recently using one of the top of the line Stiga table tennis shoes: http://stigatabletennis.com/en/products/shoe-center-court/

They look pretty good. They look like they are made to hold up to the stress of play. I found that this was not the case though. The sole of the shoe was fine. But the upper was no good at all. They were not capable of withstanding LATERAL MOVEMENT. How could they make at table tennis shoe that cannot withstand lateral movement? That question is still bugging me. Within 2 months of starting to use those Center Court shoes, the material on the upper was torn away from the sole on ALL 4 SIDES: on the outer edges of my foot from the little tow to the center of my foot, and on the inner edges of my foot from the ball of my foot to the center of my inner arch. The soles are still fine, but they top is more like a sandal than a shoe at this point.

Now, having wrecked those shoes, I was in the market for something that would perform better and hold up to some of the action and work that happens in table tennis.

I was looking at Mizuno shoes and Butterfly shoes. I was about to buy the Butterfly Energy Force X

http://www.butterflyonline.com/inve...&CatId={91F32EC5-859C-401F-BAB1-5BD9D534F7C6}

I did not like the price, but they were there and they fit. $125.00 USD is a lot, in my opinion for a pair of table tennis shoes. But then I noticed something. On the sole of the shoe it said "Asics". I did not think Asics shoes cost as much as $125.00. But, I guess, Asics shoes that say Butterfly on them do. Now, even in that link above, on the Butterfly website, if you look closely at the pattern on the sole of the shoe, it says Asics. If Asics was selling them, I wonder what they would cost.

Anyway, this got me thinking. I remembered someone, somewhere told me that INDOOR SOCCER (football) shoes have almost the same exact specs as table tennis shoes. So I looked at Asics indoor soccer shoes.

http://www.soccer.com/IWCatProductP...e=c&cagpspn=&gclid=CI-hvYeSnLsCFXHxOgod1xMAnQ

Only $52.00 USD, and those look a lot like the cool Mizunos.

What I ended up getting was Nike Gato II indoor soccer shoes:

http://www.soccer.com/product/?nike-fc247-gato-ii---black/white/metallic-silver-10371383

They are perfect, they are definitely better than any table tennis shoe I have used before. I am sure they are as good as the Butterfly Energy Force X or the top of the line Mizunos, and I paid $50.00 USD.

The sole is Gum Rubber. The sole is thin just like a table tennis shoe, same thickness. Perhaps it is a fraction of an inch thicker. The upper is a mix of mesh and real leather. There is truthfully, not very much mesh though and it is only on the side of the foot near the ankle. And the footbed is way better quality than the footbeds I have felt in any table tennis shoe I have seen so far.

Upsides, more sturdy, sole is stronger sides are stronger. Sole grips just like a table tennis shoe. The shoe is designed to withstand lateral movements. The better footbed makes it less likely that the shoe will give you, or aggravate, plantar fasciitis which some table tennis players I know have gotten from using regular table tennis shoes.

Downsides, because so much of the upper is leather, these shoes are less breathable than any of the table tennis shoes I have used. I think I can live with that for a higher quality shoe that is made to withstand the stress of table tennis and more.

Why didn't I get the Asics. There is a simple reason: the store I went to did not have the Asics. The Nikes were there. At first I thought I would just go home and order the Asics on-line. But then I decided to try on the Nikes. I am glad I did.

I am happy and I think I will be using Indoor Soccer shoes for the foreseeable future.

Click to expand...