OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Hi All,

Just interested to know what people wear when they play TT. I'm especially interested to know if people wear specialist TT shoes and the benefits they have found with them over normal sports shoes, which is what I wear. But I'm thinking about getting some TT shoes. Any recommendations?

Cheers,

Reb.

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

I've always used Mizuno shoes. They're really stable and grippy, quite comfortable, and are actually quite helpful in moving quickly to the sides, something that I have to do a whole lot of for my style of play. Donic makes some pretty good shoes as well. I think it's much easier to shift your weight on thin soles too, which lets me put more power into my shots. With regular running shoes, all of the cushioning keeps your weight all in the center, so you can't put as much of your body into the stroke.

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Jpen: Galaxy 982 juniper 8mm- Darker Provine Tension-50 2.2 or Tibhar Torpedo Soft 2.2
Shake OFF: Galaxy T8 ST- FH: Darker PT-50 2.2, BH: Juic Varites 1.5
Shake DEF: modified Joo- FH: Reactor Corbor 2.2, BH: Globe 979 1.5

In fact any indoor sport shoes can be used. According to what I know TT shoes is low, so your feet is nearer to the ground but they don't offer protection against shock when you jump. I use badminton shoes which provide some protection against the shock.

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Expert II crwi C-Pen
Red Acuda P1

Thanks guys, both comments help as I think I do need something lighter to move more freely but still need some shock protection as I have one crook knee which TT can sometimes hassles with a wrong twist. Hobbes, are TT shoes grippy or a bit slippery to allow movement or somewhere in between, and same question for what you use aeoliah?

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

My Mizuno shoes seem to grip the floor quite well, since there's a lot of surface area in contact with the ground from the pretty flat soles.

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Jpen: Galaxy 982 juniper 8mm- Darker Provine Tension-50 2.2 or Tibhar Torpedo Soft 2.2
Shake OFF: Galaxy T8 ST- FH: Darker PT-50 2.2, BH: Juic Varites 1.5
Shake DEF: modified Joo- FH: Reactor Corbor 2.2, BH: Globe 979 1.5

Whatever I happen to be wearing that day. If it's my work shoes, I may decide to take them off and play no shoes.

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W1 Inspirit Quattro Higher III

Hi...
When I first contemplated returning to TT after having to give it up 7 years ago due to knee problems, I wondered what I could do to protect my knees upon my return, so this is what I did.

I am going to talk about 2 things that to me make a huge difference..the first one is that I took care of the shock aspect by placing some Sorbethane inserts in my New Balance cross trainers and the shoes are very shock free...

and the second thing which has been very instrumental in allowing me to return to TT is something I learned during years of playing golf, and that was if you firmly anchor your feet then something else has to give, like a knee joint, so I used to play in New Balance crosstrainers, and if I swung that hard that my feet shifted or slipped, then I was swinging too hard...so when I came back to table tennis I decided to have my shoes so that whilst they don't let me slip over or lose my footing, they don't lock onto the floor like herringbone soles similar to Dunlop volley soles...
So, my suggestion is if you want to look after your knee joints, make sure the shoes are not too heavy, but have great shock absorbing ability, and most important as far as I am concerned is that the shoes should not lock onto the floor, causing stress at the knee joint when twisting...so when I twist now, the shoe sole does the twisting instead of my knee joint which did the twisting when I last played when I used Dunlop Volley....

I am sure the Volleys contributed in a big way to me having to give up TT way back then, as they just lock onto the floor and don't move until the foot is lifted...

fosss...

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SETUP
Blade: HM Balsa.
FH = Transcend SP on a MAX Big Slam sponge.
BH = Bomb Talent OX

I agree with the comments about getting the right kind of shoe. Running shoes are also geared towards "forward" movement. Badminton shoes and cross trainers are good for "side to side" movement which is involved in table tennis.

Another thing to consider about knee joints is that one should develop the quadriceps muscles as these support the knee and keep them aligned and not easily twisted. In my overall training with regards to table tennis, I always include quads exercises. Look up Google for specific exercises.

Unfortunately our bodies will deteriorate and we will all get those aches and pains, but doing the right exercise to strenthen the muscles that we most use in table tennis will keep us in the game for a long time.

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BTY Timo Boll Spirit
FH: Tibhar Aurus 1.7mm
BH: Tibhar Aurus Soft 1.7mm

I wear Yonex SHB-99MX badminton shoes.
They're good, but not *quite* suited for tabletennis movement - they're not as good for side-side movement as the tabletennis shoes.

Most popular seem to be Mizunos and Butterfly shoes. Most chinese top players (if not all) wear Mizunos.

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Chasse Patate

I usually have two pairs of shoes, one for training and another one for matches.

My training shoes are some Adidas indoor shoes, quite similar to TT ones but they were bought before adidas stepped into TT, the old Tanglin ones without torsion system. I like those one because adiprene cushioning, when I was younger I hated TT shoes for the thin soles.

For matches, I have a pair of Asics handball shoes, quite light, grippy and they have a good cushioning system too.

I have problems with the arches of my feet if I wear anything with too thin a sole, and I too need shock-absorbing protection for my knees and ankles. I play with high top basketball shoes, they're a little heavier than cross-trainers but are still great for lateral movement and it protects me from rolling my ankles, something that happened too frequently with cross-trainers.

For shirts, I don't wear anything that's not moisture wicking, otherwise the shirt gets soaked within a match or two.

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"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

As far as shoes go. I use Nike multi-court with the yellow "gum" rubber bottoms. I like them so far. Shirts? Well, I always wear a club shirt that I get from the tourneys I go to. I do have a Dr. Neubauer shirt that I had on at the last tourney I went to. You should have seen the looks I got. It was funny. The way I look at it is, i'm not going to wear something for advertisement if I have to pay for it. If they want me wear it, it better be for free.

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Equipment:
Victas Koji Matsushita, Yasaka Rakza 7 2.0, TSP P1r Curl 1.5-1.7

USATT Rating: 1869

MOLON LABE!!!

Hey basketball boots sound a good idea dwruck as TT lateral movement is a bit similar to BB. I think Arlenes advice of leg muscles strenghtening is a good one, but I gotta say I suck at exercising my leg quads. Been told for a long time by docs to do it, and I do for a while and get sick of it. Even got my own weight bench that allows me to do it. Hey, I really appreciate the input here by everyone.

Foss, whats so good about the New Balance XT's? I usually avoid NB because most wear quickly in the back with cotton inner as opposed to say Brooks that use a tougher mesh inner. But if you have found a secret in them for TT I'd love to hear it. The neoprene inserts is a good idea too. Although they make you feel like there is less room in the shoe I think. I do like the idea of feeling taller though. Hey there's an idea for a thread, does height help TT or is being shorter an advantage?

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I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

I think Basketball-Boots are vey heavy in weight compared to
Table-Tennis shoes.

I tryed many shoes (Adidas, Andro, Nitakku, Donic usw...) and
my favorites are "Butterfly Energieforce 1".
They are light, flat, compfortable and look great.

The worse shoes were Donic Waldner.
They were light and compfortable...
But after 2 Months they had big holes on the sides
and the sole started to solve itself from the rest

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Timo Boll Spark
Bryce Speed 1,9 black
Feint Long III 1,3 red

i use light running shoes... ascics.

as for shirt and shorts... gym attire...?

My friend always says my shorts are double the length they should be for table tennis...haha

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Stiga OC CR - no WRB
FH: Globe 999t, 2.0 40 deg Quattro Sponge
BH: Palio 9800CJ, 2.0 40 deg Quattro Sponge