Asics Gel Tactic 12

The Asics Gel Tactic 12 is in the house! This replaces the Asics Gel Tactic, which has always been popular with squash players.

Review

I’ve just had a chance to check out a pair of these shoes and you can see a breakdown in the video below. There’s also a transcript of the video below.

Tactic 12 Info

This shoe has always been a little weird with the naming convention. The first model was called the Asics Gel Tactic. For a while they had a second generation called the Asics Gel Tactic 2. Then models after that were called just plain Asics Gel Tactic again. And now…they jumped straight to the Asics Gel Tactic 12. There was never an Asics Gel Tactic 11, or anything from 3-11 for that matter, but these are definitely the Gel Tactic 12s — it’s printed right there by the heel:

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Men’s Models

Jump to women’s.

Black / White

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White / Black

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Illusion Blue / White

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White / Lime Burst

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White / Gunmetal

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Women’s Models

Jump to men’s.

White / Pure Silver

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Black / White

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White / Eggplant

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Light Sapphire / White

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Black / Hot Pink

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Asics Gel Tactic 12 Video Review and Transcript

Transcript

What’s up you guys it’s Pierre and in this video I’m going to take you through the Asics Gel Tactic 12, which I just purchased in 2023. This is a court shoe from Asics that has been popular amongst squash players. It’s technically a volleyball shoe as part of their volleyball lineup. I’m going to explain some of the features of this shoe.

I’m going to compare it in this video to one of Asics’s higher-end shoes, the Blast FF 3. I’m going to compare it to one of the lower-end shoes in the Asics range, the Asics Gel Rocket 11. And I’m also going to compare it to the prior version of the Asics Gel Tactic.

The main structural bits of this shoe are number one non-marking sole with good grip. It has this sort of, um, I think they call it Trusstic, but they have a built in piece here that gives your foot stability as you’re twisting and turning, prevents it from sort of torsioning this way and that. It’s just going to give your foot some security and stability as you’re moving around the court rapidly. It has a good amount of foam cushioning.

This is part of the Asics Gel range which has some shock absorption, uh, properties but primarily you’re dealing with just a nice layer of foam cushioning under foot. And it also has a little bit of stability on the outside to, as you push off laterally, give your foot some uh some stability going left to right.

Overall I think the build quality on this is pretty nice. There is not a ton of stitching, uh, here on the toe of the shoe, which is good for squash players. As you drag your feet, there’s not there’s it’s not as easy to have the stitching come undone. You can see it close-up there.

First let me compare the Asics Gel Tactic 12 to the prior version of the Asics Gel Tactic which was just called “Asics Gel Tactic” not Asics Gel Tactic 11. Bottom line, these shoes are almost identical.

The bottom of the shoe, as far as I can make out — I’ve obviously used these a lot so they’re worn down but I looked at them carefully. The soles are pretty much identical. The bottom of the shoes is really uh really very similar in all ways including the outside, uh, the outside stability piece, the only real minor differences are on the top of the shoe. They’ve changed the fabric that’s being used but they’re still approximately the same in terms of breathability and, and the rest of it. There’s some minor changes like the old version had these little eyelets here to kind of help you cinch up your shoes. The new one doesn’t have that but they’re very much similar. They both have removable insoles, if you want to change them out or put in orthotics.

Now I’ll compare the Asics Gel Tactic 12 to the Asics Gel Rocket 11s, which are, uh, these are $100 and these are $75 so the Rocket is $15 — excuse me, $25 cheaper.

The differences are in, you can kind of see the Rocket has much more visible stitching. It’s…held together pretty well, but the stitching is a lot more visible all throughout the shoe. It’s just not quite as neat and tidy as the Tactics are, and I would say that the, um, the Rocket is going to be a little more prone to coming apart as you drag your feet because that stitching can wear away.

That’s still possible on the Tactics, but they’ve just done a better job of hiding the stitching, making it less pronounced and putting it underneath kind of this sort of semi plastic covering.

The Tactics have this, outer piece for lateral stability. The Rockets have a similar concept it’s just not quite as robust. So I would argue that the Tactics are going to be a little more secure, moving side to side…

On the soles, the concept in the uh in the Rockets is this kind of a hard plastic piece to prevent some, um, to give you some stability there and it does a fine job, but it’s a multi piece, uh, construction, as opposed to the Tactics which I have a little more of a continuous foot bed, and it’s just a little better integrated into the shoe.

In terms of the width on the shoes, the, I measured them and I think that the Tactics are maybe two or three millimeters wider than the Asics Gel Rockets so at least at the, um in the front of the foot so possibly a little bit wider you need a wider shoe but not dramatically so.

Overall the Tactic 12s are 50 grams heavier than the Asics Gel Rockets and I am not entirely sure where all that weight is sitting. Part of it I’m sure is in the, uh, sort of, more substantial sole, which is going to have additional padding but also additional weight as well as the kind of supportive piece in the middle. The extra 50 grams is going to support your knees.

n.b. the Asics Gel Tactic 12s weigh 394 grams on my scale. I’m a US 11.5.

Finally I’ll compare the Tactic 12s to the Blast FF 3. The Blast FF 3 are retailing for $140 so they’re $40 more expensive than the Tactics. What are the differences? On the soles they look quite similar.

The FF 3s have, like the Tactics, a stability piece in the middle of kind of along uh the middle of your shoe. The middle of where your foot goes. To um, to prevent a lot of torsion and twisting.

The FF 3, the more expensive one, is kind of a one piece thing as opposed to maybe this two piece model and the tactics so it was just a little bit, uh I guess you could say higher end and the, the FF3s have a more substantial kind of bit of armor here on the outside to support your uh lateral movements. Looks like it’s just giving you a bit more lateral stability compared to the, um smaller piece that the Tactics, uh, come with.

The Blast FF 3s also have even less stitching. There’s actually it’s a bit hard to see in the camera but there’s actually no visible stitching anywhere near the toe. Uh the Tactics, while it had less than the Rocket, still has a little bit of stitching hidden, hidden under this plastic here. So the FF 3s are just that much little more, little better quality construction.

The FF 3 also has this integrated. Sock. Thingy. That they call a Mono Sock. So your foot feels very snug and secure inside this, on the FF on the Blast FF3, whereas the Tactics are just your regular sort of tongue situation.

And then the last difference between the two is that the, the Blast FF 3s have what they call FlyteFoam. So it’s supposed to be a little bit lighter for the same amount of cushioning compared to the Gel in the Asics Gel Tactics. I did put it on the scale and the Blast FF 3s are [30] grams less in weight so they’re a bit lighter even though they feel, uh they will feel very cushioned. And lastly the Blast FF just walking around my house they just feel a little bit softer on the feet. They’re just a little bit higher end.

Overall though the Asics Gel Tactic 12 is a strong entrant from Asics, a good middle of the range shoe. $100 is the price point on asics.com.

Hope that was helpful and if you want more shoe reviews, court shoe reviews and other stuff, uh please give me a subscribe and I will be back in the next video. Thanks!