OOAK Table Tennis Forum

I think you'll find they last very well indeed.

In the past I played badminton for years and used amongst others, HiTec Squash, Prince NFS 1, 2 and IV. Using the Prince shoe carried over in to my table tennis playing days and when the time came to replace a pair I thought I'd try a pair of dedictated table tennis shoes. I chose the Stiga Wasp because they were light but I when I tried them I found them very "flat" with little or no arch support and little or no cushioning. From what I've read table tennis shoes tend to be "flatter" in comparison to other court shoes because table tennis has more lateral/sideways movement and emphasis on stability rather than the forward and back and jumping of a sport like badminton which requires cushioning to protect the foot and knees from the impact of foot on floor.

However, that flatness and lack of support lead to problems with my feet and achilles tendon so I switched back to a HiTech Badminton 4:SYS shoe but that needs replacing now. The Asics Gel Hunter 2 seem to be described as a handball shoe, but some sites also sell them as table tennis shoes and I've read reports from people who recommend them as a table tennis shoe.



They appealed to me because the advertising says they have the cushioning and support but are suitable for table tennis too. This and them being in a sale convinced me to invest in a pair.

As I'm not filming anymore equipment reviews or comparisions of types of equipment (blades, rubbers) until the ITTF sorts out the plastic ball fiasco and authorises one and they're sold to the general public, I thought I'd try to do a video review the Asics Gel Hunter 2 instead.

The type of thing I'd liked to have know before I'd bought and which I can show in the video is the comparative:

1. Weight
2. Size (Reports suggest Asics are a "smaller fitting shoe" so you need to order a bigger size - I've a feeling from only looking at them that they are narrower in width but not shorter in length
3. twist ability of the sole
4. hardness of sole (can't measure it but I can compare it in terms of pushing the sole in with my fingers)
5. non marking of the sole
6. grippiness - not 100%sure how to show this
7. lacing set up - if you look at the photo, you can see to eyelets at the top of the shoe which don't have the laces threaded through them - so what are those holes for?
8. close up of the stitching and finishing in general
9. high speed video of me playing in them (concentrating on my feet only ) looking to see how they react to poor footwork and sideways movement - I might not test them properly but my lunging and stepping is probably similar to a lot of people here so is also probably more relevant to players like me than a pro who's footwork would test them in a different way to how I'll be using them.

Shoes I can compare certain elements of this type of testing against include, a pair of Asics tennis shoes (this will demonstrate the difference in weight and help confirm if sizing is consistent across brands / product ranges), a very very old pair of worn out Prince NFS 1's probably 15plus years old, the HiTec 4sys badminton shoes I currently wear, a lovely comfortable pair of reebok reflex transion trainers (will help show the difference in softness, height, twist/flexibility and grip tread of the sole - the reebok's are a very very comfy trainer but I won't ware them for table tennis because I can see myself turning my ankle very easily in these when moving sideways. Snd if they haven't been thrown out the stiga wasp table tennis shoes which will highlight how flat the wasps are in comparison.

This is the type of information / images / testing I'd like to have seen done but would you want to see done for a review of the Asic Gel Hunter 2 (or any table tennis shoe) so that the review would be useful to you. Or, is there no point wasting my time doing a review of the Asic Gel Hunter 2.

Note: strange how I've never baulked at paying £35 for a sheet of Yasaka Rakza 7 and replacing it every 6 months but the idea of spending similar money on a pair of shoes has always gone against the grain and I'll wear them until they fall apart. Yet one only increases my fun whilst the other protects my health. What price health. Now there's a reality check for me.