Tennis shoes vs. pickleball shoes: What’s the real difference?
Last Edited
Oct 07 2025
Category
Gear
Beginning pickleball players -- and even intermediate and some advanced players, for that matter -- tend to underestimate the importance of their shoes when it comes to performance.
While paddles get most of the attention, the wrong footwear can limit quickness and stability, increase fatigue on muscles and joints as well as contribute to injuries.
Running shoes lack lateral support. Tennis shoes, while closer in function, aren’t optimized for the unique movements of pickleball — shorter sprints, quick stops and lateral movement on a smaller court.
“There’s very little, if any, published pickleball shoe research,” says Dr. Geoffrey Gray, who runs the Heeluxe Performance Lab, an independent research facility dedicated to testing all kinds of shoes, from high heels to hiking boots to athletic sneakers. “A lot of people are just treating pickleball shoes like it's a tennis shoe, but the movements and the performance and the injuries are dramatically different."
Read next: The best shoes for pickleball players
In this article we break down the key differences between tennis shoes and pickleball shoes, and how those differences ultimately impact your game.
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DESI MID - Women's Pickleball Shoe
Outsole design & traction
The outsole of your shoe plays a critical role in grip, durability and movement efficiency.
Because many tennis players tend to slide or drag their feet before and after their shots, tennis shoes often have harder rubber outsoles. This means they won't wear out as fast, but it also means they aren't ideal for the quick starts and stops that are needed in pickleball.
The DAPS pickleball shoes are made with a high-durability rubber outsole that hits the sweet spot — tough enough to last, but soft enough to grip. The CNC-cut tread gives the DAPS sharper edges than stamped molds, which means ultimate traction when it counts: quick stops, hard pushes and fast footwork.
Straight line speed vs. lateral quickness
Tennis shoes are built for longer strides and baseline play. Pickleball requires quicker, shorter movements, more frequent lateral adjustments and abrupt stops.
Think about when you're at the kitchen line in a dinking rally. There's lots of small shuffle steps needed to stay on balance and in the correct position to be ready for an attack or get to a dink out wide.
That's very different from what an average tennis point looks like, where there's more running back and forth at the baseline and also sprinting toward the net at times.
In pickleball, lateral stability is king.
That's where the carbon fiber shank stabilizer that comes standard in the DAPS pickleball shoes comes into play. No plastic, no shortcuts -- the carbon shank is made from the top material in the game for stability and energy transfer. Lightweight, strong and trusted by elite athletes. Most brands skip it. DAPS made it standard.
Comfort without compromise
Pickleball players are used to spending long hours on court -- we're always playing "one more game" that turns into two or three more games after that. And tournament days can easily last 5 hours or more.
That means comfort is at a premium in pickleball shoes. While tennis shoes are generally stiffer and offer a less plush feel, the DAPS pickleball shoes feature an ETPU midsole (high-quality foam) that delivers great energy return, serious durability and comfort. More bounce = less burnout, faster recovery and less injury risk.
The most common injuries in pickleball are ankle sprains, Achilles tendinitis and calf muscle tears -- all of which can be worsened by wearing shoes without proper support.
Good shock absorption and stability are key to preventing those injuries.
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