What is the difference between basketball shoes and volleyball shoes

After a solid month or two of club practices and tournaments, the cushioning of your basketball shoe has lost its density and ability to withstand impact. That loss in density not only wears down the shoe but will increase the stress on your body. Mizuno Volleyball shoes are made with both cushion and structure. The Wave Momentum, for example, has the DynamotionFit bootie construction for a secure and comfortable fit, while also providing the cushioning from the running midsole for extra comfort.

It is laced with technologies, visible and not, that will enhance your performance and cause less stress on your body. These technologies include a wrapped heel for an easy roll-off and heel strike, Mizuno Wave for mid and rear foot stability, Dura Shield for toe protection, and XG Rubber for grip and traction to the court. A design like this is critical to protecting your shoes from breaking down, but most importantly, your body from unnecessary injury.

Paralleled to the landing of a jump in volleyball, the approach is particularly important to the success of a hitter, blocker, server, and defensive players who move around a lot. Volleyball shoes, in contrast, must be designed for lateral movements mixed with a large amount of jumping. It is not enough to simply move forward; one has to move side to side and forward, backward, up and down. Interestingly, with volleyball, the force of landing an approach is at the amount of nine times our body weight.

Yes, you read that right, nine times. A shoe has to be created to support the amount of force repeated time and again throughout a match. The weight of the shoe matters. Basketball shoes tend to be heavier and broader in shape. While this helps for the purpose of basketball, for volleyball, the width of the shoes can be cumbersome on the court. The weight works against the ability to jump, using more energy than necessary and breaking down your game.

Historically, basketball shoes were made with leathery materials, limiting flexibility. Today the shoes tend to made with mesh and knit, and only bits of leather or plastic. Still, the constant jumping weakens the shoe in the upper part of the shoe and again, causes the shoe to break down faster. Just like basketball shoes, running shoes and other cross trainers are made with the intention of forward movement.

Volleyball shoes are made with forward, backward, side to side, jumping and quick, sharp motions in mind, as well as the amount of time spent on the balls of the feet. The need for a heightened focus on traction is not as high in runners, either. With athletic shoes, there is a component of weight that volleyball shoes minimize.

With running shoes, the weight of the shoe is due to the material necessary for stability and cushioning. This weight would negatively impact a volleyball player that must be able to jump from a minimal range of motion. Further, the soles of volleyball shoes have the gum rubber, whereas this not used in other athletic shoes.

Running shoes must be designed for a variety of surfaces, and gum rubber simply does not work for a multitude of surfaces. In fact, it is highly advised that your volleyball shoes be removed before you ever leave the gym so not to ruin the cushioning or the soles. If you desire more ankle support, basketball high-tops provide better protection. However, with the added ankle support, you trade the possibility of not jumping quite as high since low-tops perform better for jumping.

Just like running shoes, basketball shoes focus on the forward momentum for running down the court. While a basketball player must pivot and move laterally to defend, most of their movements include running forward and jumping. This means the midsole in basketball shoes allows mostly for the forward movement with a limited amount of lateral movement, limiting the lateral movements of a volleyball player.

Secondly, the weight of basketball shoes tends to be heavier than volleyball shoes. Since most volleyball players land on their toes, however, a lightweight shoe proves better for most players.

While basketball players jump throughout the game, they jump fewer times throughout the game than volleyball players. The midsoles in basketball shoes provide some airy cushion support for landing from jumping, but the material tends to wear out quicker with the extra jumping from volleyball. The leading brand of volleyball shoes for women is, hands-down, Mizuno. Mizuno dedicated its attention over the years to crafting a specific volleyball shoe, able to assist the volleyball player with every move on the court.

Their most well-known type is the Wave Lightning series, which is beginning to emerge with more variety than historically found:. Go to Amazon to see the Mizuno Wave Lightning shoe. The Nike Zoom Hyperace 2 trainers are highly rated volleyball shoes. According to this volleyball player , the best brand for volleyball shoes for men is Asics. The Gel Rocket 9 series provides many color varieties and special technology for shock absorption so that they last longer.

This weight facilitates faster movement and turning. So because the shoes I bought for my son had a thinner sole, and although the sole was rubber, he felt that they would be uncomfortable.

The volleyball shoes, on the other hand, have a thicker sole with a gum rubber sole. This gum rubber helps in preventing them from sliding because most volleyball courts are very slippery. When moving laterally, the volleyball shoes provide a firm grip too.

The sole makes volleyball shoes unique for playing volleyball. The basketball shoes have a thicker cushioning compared to the volleyball shoes. The cushioning of basketball shoes looks like that in running shoes. On the contrary, volleyball shoes need to be light to facilitate swift movement to and fro the playing ground.

They have a thin cushioning layer.