For the past several weeks I’ve been running in my new Vibram FiveFingers Classic shoes. I’ve reported on the very first run I did with the shoes and even my second run in the shoes. Since then I’ve been running more in the shoes. I can now run up to 3 miles in the shoes at a time without too much discomfort. I still feel a little scrunched in the pinky toe area, but the pain is at least a little more manageable now. Bottom line is running in these shoes is just more fun than plain old running shoes (like the difference between driving a manual car and an automatic transmission car).
Anyway, this past weekend I had the bright idea to combine 2 of my favorite hobbies together: exercising in my Vibram FiveFingers Classics and playing tennis. So instead of barefoot running shoes, turning them into barefoot tennis shoes.
I was inspired to take my barefoot running shoes and turn them into barefoot tennis shoes after I read the history of Terra Plana’s vivo barefoot shoes. The initial concept for the shoes started out when the designer discovered that playing tennis barefoot made his chronic knee and ankle injuries disappear. I like to play tennis and have had problems in the past with blisters and ankle injuries so I figured now that I had a pair of minimalist shoes that it was worth a try. Check out the video below:
The Good
The biggest difference you notice between FiveFingers shoes and traditional tennis shoes is just how light they are. You feel (and look) more like a ballerina than a tennis player since the FiveFinger’s don’t have all the padding shielding you from the court. In addition to feeling all the textures of tennis court the rubber bottom of the Vibram’s gives you great grip on the court. I felt very agile on the court. Moving is not an issue in these shoes.
The Bad
While moving around the court is not a problem what ends up being a problem is sprinting to chase down balls. Sprinting in FiveFingers is easy, what’s hard (and painful) is slowing down quickly. Tennis is a lot of stop-and-go and spurts of speed. When you have padded shoes you don’t really notice how much you rely on your heel to stop or brake your movement. However, when wearing FiveFingers you feel everything and I found myself taking more time to slow down just to ease the pain of stomping on the hard surface.
Conclusion
Playing tennis in Vibram FiveFingers is definitely doable. However, depending on how intense you play tennis it could be painful. While I know a lot of padded shoes, especially in the running community, get a bad rap since it encourages a less healthy running style (heel strike) in some cases it’s not such a bad idea. I found myself less fast on the court with my barefoot shoes, but it definitely was a fun experience…even if I looked ridiculous.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
If you try minimalist tennis again, perhaps a slightly thicker heel and protective toe cap would be helpful. kigo footwear can offer those benefits…
Nice post!
Great post.
You are absolutely correct in your analysis. Barefoot = faster sprinting + longer to slow down
I found that when you are taken out for a wide ball you are in a very good position to hit an outright winner anyway. Even in normal tennis shoes there are times when you are so far out of position that you have to go for broke, but when barefoot it happens all the time.
I would say that barefoot tennis takes much more getting used than barefoot running. In order to cushion impact on a tennis court the ankles, knees, and hips have to be used in a way that completely different. The initial perseption by most is that barefeet handicap a tennis player. But with training, the oposite is true as it much easier to avoid injuries related to jarring that are very common. Instead of holding back, you are able to move at much greater speeds. If you couple that with good stroke making, when your oponent pulls you out of court, you get a lot of oportunities to hit clean winners.
I forgot to mention that running around your backhand is 10 times easier in barefoot shoes. This is down to the fact that you can move your feet with ease.
I’ve been running in vibrams for about 6 months but hadn’t tried tennis in them yet. I have noticed that running down hill in vibrams also increase the amount of impact that you might feel. Your legs can adjust that impact a bit, but it requires more muscle to do so. Its possible that you might be able to build up your muscles just a bit to rapidly gear down the speed, similar to a hard stop in padded shoes, but I doubt it will ever be fully equal.
I suspect there might be a trade off with faster speed/ reaction time to get there in the first place.