Squash Source

The Asics Gel Rocket 12 replaces the Asics Gel Rocket 11 and is part of the long-running Gel Rocket line.

Good value for money: Retailing under $80, the shoe offers many features of premium court shoes (cushioning, support, flexibility, grip) at a mid-range price.

Versatile for multiple indoor sports: Though marketed as a volleyball shoe, this is very popular with squash players and it can also be used in badminton, pickleball, or other court sports.

Here’s my review of this shoe:

And here are some links to buy various models:

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The Asics Gel Tactic 13 is a nice blend of cushioning, durability and price. I like the slight changes they’ve made to the shoe from prior versions. This shoe succeeds the Asics Gel Tactic 12.

Here’s a video review I put together going into full depth:

Here’s a transcript of the video. Skip to see the shoes and purchase links.

Intro

What’s up you guys it’s Pierre and in this video I’m going to give you a first look at the Asics Gel Tactic 13 court shoe. This shoe came out in 2025 from Asics and right now you can get it for 100 bucks on a bunch of different retailers.

What you’re getting with this shoe is basically a nice middle ground combination of price, cushioning, grip, construction, and durability. The shoe weighs 375 grams on my scale, so it’s kind of in the middle ground.

Soles

I really like the soles on this redesign of the Tactic. There’s just a lot of grip. They haven’t left a lot of voids in the sole. So, there’s just tons of um there’s just tons of grip on the squash court. And I think that these would feel really good on a pickle ball court, padel court. Um and and they are designed in the first place as a volleyball shoe. So, I think they would suit a lot of different um a lot of different courts.

Comparison to Prior Asics Gel Tactic

I’m going to make a quick comparison to the prior model. This is actually two versions ago, but the 12 had this same type of um sole and like I don’t even know what these design elements were for. They’ve just totally ditched that and made it much simpler in the new version. Couple plastic pieces, but this is low to the ground. And this is probably less expensive to manufacture for the same, if not more benefit.

Cushioning

The cushioning on these is quite good. They felt a little sort of I I need to break them in a little bit more. I’ve played with them once at this point in a match. Uh but generally the cushioning is very good. You got a bunch in the heel here and you also have um a fair amount kind of in the forefoot here. Some of the the sort of faster models will get thinner as they go towards the toe. Give you a little little bit of more of a feeling of speed around the court. These give you cushioning across the entire shoe. And they also have this um kind of reinforcement on the side here, which I guess if you’re pushing off side to side a lot to give you a little bit of sort of structural stability on the sole portion of the shoe.

Upper

In terms of the upper part of the shoe, pretty standard Asics. Um it’s good construction. You can see that there’s not a lot of visible stitching up on the top of the shoe, which means that it’s going to be um durable as you wear it. There’s not a lot of the stitching on other shoes on cheaper Asics shoes can start coming apart. These are all fused together around the shoe. They’re breathable. You can see some fabric here uh to allow air to pass through. That’s what the heel looks like.

Insoles / Fit

They have removable insoles if you want to take them out to dry the shoe or put in orthotics. As far as the fit, these are my regular size. Asics tend to run a little bit um narrow. Although I would say the tactics are have a little bit more in the toe box than most Asics shoes. So they’re not quite as narrow as as other Asics.

Cosmetics

The cosmetics I think are decent. Like you got this black and white version and there’s a white and black version and basically a white and blue version right now. Not a lot of variety in the cosmetics, but you got your basic standards available.

Overall

Overall, this is going to be one of my recommended squash sho squash shoes for this season. Um, this has always been on my list. It’s just a popular one that has a little more cushioning and durability than some of Asics’s lower cost models. I think that the redesign this year has been an improvement. So, I’m definitely keeping this on the list and maybe using it myself. I tend to like kind of the faster, lighter shoes, but this one has a pretty good balance where I’m getting that extra cushioning, but not a lot of extra weight or bulk that I feel around the court. So, I think this is a very good entry from Asics, and I’m going to keep playing with it and let you guys know over time how it plays. And I’ve got other shoe reviews coming up, including some other Asics to compare it to. Um, and some roundup videos just showing Whoa. And some roundup videos just showing you kind of where this stands in the Asics line. So, subscribe if you want to see more videos. All right. Thanks. Bye.

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Asics Gel Tactic 13 Colorways

Here are the different models I’ve seen and some links to buy them:

Here are some different views of the shoe: