So, my current tennis shoe is the minimalist VivoBarefoot Neo. I tried the VivoBarefoot Evo, but the heel cup was too high and stiff and dug hard into my Achilles tendon. I had to cut off the heel cup of the Evos, and then they were adequate. Once I wore them out, I bought the Neos. They are softer and I have no problem with the heel cup. I have worn out a couple of them already.

The Neos (and Evos) come with an EVA removable foam insole. I remove it. Even with the insole removed, they do not have the groundfeel that I got from the FiveFingers. The sole is rather stiff. But I love playing tennis and I will only wear minimalist shoes, and I have yet to find anything better than the Neo.

also, did you guys mark up your tennis courts with the vibrams usually it’s common courtesy to wear non marking soles on tennis courts (even public courts)

‘Time for a new pair,’ she said, pointing to the slight wearing on the outer edges of the shoes.

I was shocked/pissed. Except for a minor funky smell they appeared brand new. ‘I just bought those things not more than a month ago. They cost me a 100 bucks!’ I protested.

She shrugged unswayed. ‘You know, you don’t look like you pronate nearly as much without shoes. Too bad you can’t play barefoot.’

When it comes to me and sports I am a born fool so I started plotting how I could play a few games on clay barefoot without being banned permanently from that tennis center. But as foolish as I may be I ain’t all the way crazy so I’ll still ante up another c-note for those ‘high performance’ tennis shoes just in case I get caught before I get my feet dirty. I’ll also give Vibrams a try. I’ll let y’all know how it goes.

I suspect there might be a trade off with faster speed/ reaction time to get there in the first place.

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.