Reposting an article I just submitted to Squash Magazine.
For this issue I decided to look at some of the most popular squash shoes of 2019 using Google Analytics data culled from Squash Source. These are the most-clicked products on my website over the course of the year, for all readers globally. The data doesn’t tell us which products people bought, but it’s a peek at what everyone was most interested in. I suppose you could say these are 2019’s most-coveted shoes.
Adidas Stabil X
This is the top model in the Adidas court shoe range. It comes with an integrated sock/booty to hold your foot securely in place. The Stabil range tends to have significant padding, so they’re good if you have knee trouble or just need a bit more support. They tend to be quite heavy, though. I haven’t seen any top pros using these – unlike prior top-end Adidas models.
Price: $120
Asics Gel Fastball 3
These are one of the top court shoes from Asics, and they’re used by quite a few pro players, including the Shorbagy brothers, Camille Serme, and more.
Price: $120
Eye S-Line
Eye have only one model of shoes, but with many different color options. Eye have invested in promoting and sponsoring squash players, and a significant number of pros wear their shoes, including Paul Coll, Diego Elias, Olivia Blatchford Clyne, and several other male and female players.
Price: $120
Asics Gel Blade 6
This is another popular one amongst professional players, and especially the top women. Nour El Sherbini, Nicol David, and world junior champ Rowan Elaraby have all worn these. The Gel Blade is one of the few Asics models marketed specifically as squash shoes.
Price: $110
Prince NFS Indoor II
This shoe has been around for a couple decades. In fact, it might be the longest-running shoe in squash. The reason for its longevity is players with wide feet love this shoe and continue to seek it out. The red version is only available in the UK, but you can get the black and white version at Squash Gear.
Price: $100
Asics Blast FF
Another entrant in the top list from Asics. This one is worn by Joel Makin, Chris Hanson, and others.
Price: $120
Rob says
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I watched your review on the eye s line and it’s not the first time I have seen reports of these shoes scuffing up easily after such a short period of time. I also spoke to a coach at my club who got a pair for cheap and said they are terrible in his opinion, particularly from a support perspective.
They are not exactly cheap either, and I would expect better quality control from Eye considering they have a few pros wearing them.
I suppose the difference with the pros is they boxes and boxes of them for free, so when they scuff badly after that single game they just bin them and slide on a new pair where the rest of us would be expected to fork out more money!
Rob E says
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I have to agree with the people commenting on Eye shoes’ durability.
Really unfortunate as the shoes are easily the best looking on the market, but for me I really didn’t take well to them on a squash court.
They’re really flat under your feet, and durability for toe daggers like me is really poor. I went through three pairs in three months.
If youre looking for a flatter type shoe and don’t drag your toes then theyd be hard to fault, however I can’t see many players fitting that bracket.
I do have to say though that Eye as a company are fantastic as they sent me a replacement pair free of charge when I sent them some photos.
Rob says
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And how are the replacements holding up?
Are you playing in a way now where you can’t drag your foot just to protect them from scuffing again?
Rob E says
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I went through them in just as short amount of time. No more than one month of use per shoe, absolutely tore through the toes. I even liberally applied a layer of shoe goo (a strong rubber type adhesive) on regular occasion to the toes but with no luck.
I’ve been using Asics Gel Tactic 2s recently and there’s just no comparison for me. So much comfier and much more hard wearing.
I have spoke to people who love the Eye shoes though. What works for some won’t work for others and vice versa!
John says
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Agreed!
I got a new pair of the new 2.0 shoes at the mid end of November… And despite the common complaints of durability, my complaints with the shoes are actually that they just plain out hurt my feet. Out of the box right away within 10 minutes of wearing them for the first time in game play my right foot was hurting, and my big toe was taking a lot of pressure on lunges and pushing off.
I tried putting two new additional insoles purchased on TOP of the insoles that are already in the shoes, and that worked for about a month and a half, and then my feet started hurting again out of nowhere.
I wanted to see if it was my feet, or the shoes .. so I swapped to my Gel Tactic 2’s for a night … and what a world of difference. Comfort and support was raised and outmatched to Eye for me.