OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So I just play in some flat Converse shoes, and I see people with TT-branded shoes all the time. I'm just curious, is basically any athletic shoe with side support the same for the purposes of playing table tennis?

_________________
Custom Blade 'Hard Justice' w/ Yasaka Cobalt a
Tatco Hornet w/ ATP Leland Era

For TT it's essential to have low sole shoes. With too tall shoes, it's harder to do sideways movement as you need to lift your legs more. You also need the right amount of grip depending on the floor.

So while there is no need to buy specific TT shoes, it's usually a safe choice.

_________________
Blade: Victas Yuto Muramatsu
Forehand: Dignics 09c 2.1
Backhand: Curl P1V 1mm

My blog

Inexpensive special TT should be more durable for specific table tennis activity (the higher your level the more important it is). Expensive shoes are more comfortable for your foot especially if you have overweight.

Volleyball, badminton, squash are also just fine for TT.

Sports shoes that grip better than a standard sneaker? Definitely necessary if you're doing any kind of footwork.

What about table tennis shoes? It is not as important, as long as the shoes you choose have adequate grip for movement around the table and support your feet.

_________________
My Life My Style

Before getting TT shoes, I came very close to seriously twisting my ankle a few times. I was using good runners, but they were heavy (like most) and had too much grip. Since using exclusively TT shoes for the past 5 years, I haven't had a single issue.

It depends on the way you play TT. If you play TT in the beach club or in a coffe once in a while, then ''Table Tennis Shoes'' are not that important. Assuming here ''important'' is ''necessary''...
Otherwise for a committed TT player, they are %100 ''important''.
For me, getting the best table tennis shoes like Mizuno, Butterfly, Nittaku or Asics is a must. They are specially produced for table tennis playing, to support your movements and your feet, your body. Your legs, feet are your roots and you get power from the ground.
Use the best you can.

Depends on the floor. I quit using my table tennis shoes (I had some fake Butterflies, and those Chinese Tianuosi badminton shoes) because they didn't have that much grip on the ceramic tiles where I play, especially on hot, dry days. What DOES have grip are some nice lightweight hiking shoes I got at the local Bata store, so I wear those.

Iskandar