When Nick and I started playing pickleball, I wore the cushioned Hoka running shoes I already owned because they were comfortable. Once I learned more about the side-to-side movement, quick stops and lunges involved in the sport, I realized I wanted a court shoe that felt more stable without creating new problems for my feet.
I have flat feet with low arches, narrow heels, a wider forefoot and a history of metatarsalgia, so finding the best pickleball shoes for women was not as simple as ordering the highest-rated pair. I tested seven court shoes from New Balance, Ryka, On, Selkirk, Orthofeet, K-Swiss and ASICS, and the shoe I almost returned ended up becoming the one I’m now playing in.
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MY QUICK ANSWER
My current pick: New Balance FuelCell 796 V5 Tennis Shoe, women’s 9.5 medium
The important addition: CURREX AcePro Low Arch Insole
Why I kept them: My heel stays secure, my toes have room to move, my foot feels stable from side to side, and I played about four hours in hot weather without blisters after changing the original insole.
My Foot Shape: Read This Before Comparing My Results to Yours
One thing I wish more shoe reviews included is information about the reviewer’s actual feet. Saying a shoe “runs narrow” or has “great arch support” isn’t particularly useful if you have no idea what that person normally struggles with.
For reference, here’s what I’m working with:
- I usually wear a women’s 9.5 or 10, depending on the brand.
- I have flat feet and low/fallen arches.
- My heels are narrow, so heel slipping is one of my most common shoe problems.
- I need more space through my forefoot and toe box because my toes spread noticeably when I stand and move.
- I have a history of metatarsalgia, so forefoot comfort matters.
My feet also swell during longer periods of activity, particularly in hot weather, and that became important during this test. A couple of shoes felt perfectly reasonable when I first tried them inside the house. I later compared the New Balance and Selkirk after Nick and I had walked several miles on a hot day, when my feet were noticeably more swollen and pressure points I hadn’t felt during the first try-on suddenly became obvious.
For that reason, I would not make a final decision on court shoes based on five minutes of walking around your bedroom. Try them later in the day, move laterally in them, lunge forward and pay attention to whether your heel lifts or your forefoot slides inside the shoe.
Do You Really Need Pickleball Shoes?
This question is what sent me shopping. You do not necessarily need a shoe labeled specifically for pickleball, but there is a real difference between a running shoe and one designed for court movement.
Hospital for Special Surgery recommends a proper court shoe for pickleball and notes that tennis or squash shoes can also be appropriate because they provide a more stable base for side-to-side movement.
That made much more sense once I had played in both. Pickleball has me planting, changing direction and lunging rather than simply moving forward, so stability became much more important than I had expected.
A 2024 study of pickleball-related foot and ankle injuries found that running or lunging forward, planting the foot and ankle inversion were among the common injury mechanisms. That does not mean a particular shoe prevents injury, but it reinforces why fit and court stability matter.
Harvard Health also advises choosing well-fitting athletic shoes with enough room through the toe box and additional support when appropriate.
That is why I no longer judge a pickleball shoe by how much it feels like my favorite walking shoe. On the court, I want enough comfort for my feet plus a secure feeling when I change direction.
How I Tested the Best Pickleball Shoes for Women
I wasn’t trying to conduct a laboratory test or create an arbitrary ranking based on specifications.
I was trying to solve my own problem: find a court shoe that I could comfortably play in for several hours without my narrow heel slipping or my wider forefoot feeling compressed.
I tried the shoes with the same Feetures socks I wear for pickleball so the sock wasn’t changing from one fitting to another. These are also the socks Nick and I wore for countless miles during our three-week trip through Italy, so I already knew how they performed on my feet.
For each shoe, I paid particular attention to:
- Heel movement
- Space through the toes and forefoot
- Pressure through my arch and midfoot
- Side-to-side movement inside the shoe
- Cushioning under the ball of my foot
- How secure I felt when lunging
- Overall comfort once my feet were warm
QUICK COMPARISON: THE PICKLEBALL SHOES I TRIED
1. New Balance FuelCell 796 V5: The Pair I Kept
The New Balance FuelCell 796 V5 was one of my favorites almost immediately, although my experience with it turned out to be more complicated than I expected.
I ordered a women’s 9.5 medium in the Sea Salt/Metallic Silver color. I’m frequently a size 10 in New Balance running and walking shoes, so I expected the 9.5 to be too small. Instead, I had enough room in front of my toes for lunging without my forefoot sliding from side to side.
Check the New Balance FuelCell 796 V5 on Amazon
The biggest advantage was the heel fit. My narrow heels slip in an incredible number of shoes, but the New Balance held my heel securely without requiring me to cinch the laces excessively.
The shoe is noticeably more structured than the soft running shoes I’m accustomed to wearing, which initially took some adjustment. Once I started moving laterally in them, though, that structure was exactly what I appreciated.
There was also a small design detail I liked: the outsole around the toe is more of a taupe-gray than cream. My light-colored running shoes get filthy around the toes, so I appreciate having a darker surface in an area that takes a beating.
Why I Almost Sent Them Back
The first fitting was promising, but everything changed when I tried the shoes again after walking several miles in hot weather.
With my feet swollen, I started feeling discomfort along the outside edge of my foot. The original arch support seemed to be putting pressure through my low arch and changing the way my wider midfoot sat inside the shoe.
At that point, I thought the New Balance was out.
Before returning them, I decided to replace the original insole with the CURREX AcePro court-sport insole in the low-arch version.
For my feet, that was the fix.
What Happened When I Actually Played in Them
I tested the New Balance/CURREX combination for roughly four hours of pickleball over a hot weekend when temperatures were around 90 degrees.
That gave me a much better test than walking around my house. My feet were hot and swollen, yet I didn’t develop blisters or find myself desperately loosening the shoes. In fact, I tightened the laces somewhat as I continued playing.
The biggest difference was how controlled I felt compared with playing in my Hoka running shoes. I wasn’t expecting a court shoe to feel as cushioned as a running shoe, but I did want to feel planted when changing direction, and the New Balance gave me that.
My verdict: This is the combination I’m currently playing in. The important caveat is that I probably would not have kept the New Balance with its original insole, which is exactly why I don’t want to simply tell another woman, “This is the best shoe—buy it.”
For my flat feet, narrow heels and wider forefoot, New Balance FuelCell 796 V5 + CURREX AcePro Low Arch is what worked.
Shop the Combination I kept:
2. Ryka Court Agility: Much Lighter, But Too Loose at My Heel
I ordered the Ryka Court Agility in a women’s 9.5 after reading reviews that suggested the shoe ran somewhat large. Compared with the New Balance, my first impression was how much lighter and less substantial it felt underfoot, which could be a real advantage for someone who dislikes a heavier court shoe.
For me, the bigger issue was the fit around my ankle. I had visible gapping and didn’t get the same locked-in feeling around my narrow heel. The shoe also felt somewhat wider overall, and because heel security is one of my most common fit problems, I knew fairly quickly that the Ryka wasn’t going to move ahead of the New Balance.
The pair I received also had visible yellow glue along part of the shoe. I treated that as a quality-control issue with the specific pair I received rather than a reason to judge the entire model, but it meant this pair needed to go back regardless.
Best For: Someone who wants a lighter-feeling court shoe and has a fuller heel or doesn’t need as much ankle lockdown as I do.
Why I Passed: Too much space around my ankle and not enough heel security for my foot.
3. On The ROGER Clubhouse Pro: My Favorite Look, Not My Favorite Fit
I really wanted the On The ROGER Clubhouse Pro to work because the light cream color made it the most stylish shoe I tried, and I could easily see myself wearing it beyond the pickleball court. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find an On shoe that really fits the combination of my wider forefoot and narrow heel.
I ordered a size 10 because reviews suggested sizing up. The length gave me the toe room I wanted for lunging, but there was simply too much volume elsewhere. My right heel slipped, there was enough room beside my heel and ankle that I could easily fit a finger into the gap, and I could move the front of my foot from side to side inside the shoe.
I tried compensating by tightening the laces significantly, but that didn’t solve the underlying fit problem and left me with a lot of excess lace to manage.
They also squeaked quite loudly when I walked across our hardwood floors. That wasn’t why I ruled them out, but it was noticeable.
Going down to a 9.5 didn’t seem like a practical solution because I would have sacrificed the toe space I needed.
One important insole difference: Unlike the New Balance and Ryka, the insole in the On The ROGER Clubhouse Pro did not appear to be removable. Because changing the insole ultimately made such a difference in the New Balance, that is something I now pay attention to when comparing court shoes—especially with my low arches.
Best For: The Clubhouse Pro may be worth trying if you have a higher-volume foot and want a more substantial court shoe with a polished look.
Why I passed: Too much movement through the heel and forefoot for me to feel secure playing a lateral sport.
4. Selkirk Women’s CourtStrike Pro 2.0: Very Close to the New Balance
The Selkirk was probably the most useful direct comparison with the New Balance because the two felt surprisingly similar on my feet.
I tried the women’s CourtStrike Pro 2.0 in a 9.5 and compared the two after Nick and I had returned from a hot walk to the lake. My feet were already swollen, which made the differences easier to notice.
The New Balance fit more securely around my ankle. Through the midfoot, I wasn’t convinced that the Selkirk gave my flat, wider foot enough room to remain comfortable once I had been playing for an extended period.
The Selkirk finished high in my comparison, and I would not rule it out simply because the New Balance ultimately fit me better.
Once changing the New Balance insole solved my biggest fit problem, there wasn’t a compelling reason for me to switch to the Selkirk.
Best For: Someone who likes a secure, substantial court shoe and wants a fit similar to the New Balance, but may not need as much heel lockdown as I do.
Why I passed: The New Balance held my heel better, and the CURREX insole ultimately solved the midfoot problem I was having there.
5. Orthofeet Ace: Comfortable, But Not the Court Feel I Wanted
The Orthofeet Ace made me think much more carefully about the difference between comfort and the kind of support I wanted for pickleball.
I liked the padding around the heel and found the Orthofeet comfortable when I first put them on. Where they lost me was underneath the front of my foot and in the overall feel of the shoe.
Compared with the New Balance, they felt more like a comfortable everyday sneaker than the stable court platform I wanted for quick side-to-side movement. That does not mean they were poorly designed; they simply were not solving the particular problem that sent me shopping for pickleball shoes in the first place.
Best For: Someone who prioritizes cushioning and an everyday-sneaker feel more than the firmer court stability I was looking for.
Why I passed: I wanted more support and stability through the forefoot for court movement.
6. K-Swiss Hypercourt Express 2: The Upper Wasn’t Comfortable for Me
I tried the K-Swiss Hypercourt Express 2 in a women’s 9.5. My reaction was fairly immediate: I didn’t like the way the structured upper felt around my foot. The best way I can describe it is a plastic or encased sensation rather than the secure-but-comfortable fit I was looking for.
Some players may actually prefer that more contained feel, particularly if they like a firmer upper around the foot. For me, it was distracting enough that I didn’t see a reason to keep testing once I already had stronger contenders.
Check the K-Swiss Hypercourt Express 2 on Amazon →
Best For: Someone who prefers a more structured, contained feel around the foot and does not mind a firmer upper.
Why I passed: The structured upper felt too encasing for my foot.
7. ASICS GEL-Dedicate 8: Too Short in My Usual Size
I tried the ASICS GEL-Dedicate 8 in a women’s 9.5 and found the length too short.
I could certainly have reordered another size, but by this point I had tried enough shoes to have a much clearer sense of the comfort and fit I wanted. The ASICS didn’t feel good enough in the 9.5 to make me interested in continuing the sizing experiment.
That is something I think gets lost when we shop online. Just because another size might fit doesn’t necessarily mean a shoe is worth pursuing when you’ve already put on another model and immediately preferred the way it fits your foot.
Check the ASICS GEL-Dedicate 8 on Amazon→
Best For: Someone who already knows the GEL-Dedicate line fits their foot well and is comfortable experimenting with sizing.
Why I passed: Too short in the 9.5 and not comfortable enough for me to reorder.
8. SKECHERS VIPER COURT PRO 2.0: MY CLOSEST ALTERNATIVE TO THE NEW BALANCE
The Skechers Viper Court Pro 2.0 took much longer to arrive than the other shoes I tested, and by the time it showed up, I had already decided to keep the New Balance. Still, I wanted to try it because it is specifically marketed as a pickleball shoe and includes Skechers’ podiatrist-certified Arch Fit support.
I ordered my usual size 9.5. The length was generous, with plenty of room in front of my toes, and my heel stayed securely in place without slipping. The shoe felt slightly narrow through the forefoot, but not so narrow that it was immediately uncomfortable. It also provided good support around my ankle and did not appear to squeak on the floor during my indoor try-on.
The built-in arch support was one of its strongest features. Unlike the New Balance, I did not feel that I would need to replace the original insole. For someone who wants noticeable arch support straight out of the box, that may be a meaningful advantage.
My main fit issue was not the length but the height of the toe box. I prefer enough space above my toes that they do not rub against the upper, and I could feel some contact across the front of this shoe. It left my toes feeling a little confined despite having adequate length.
I also did not love the clear plastic overlays around the toe and inner portion of the upper. The white color looked clean, and the brown outsole wraps around the front of the toe, which should help disguise scuffs, but the plastic detailing was not my favorite aesthetically.
Skechers advertises this shoe as machine washable, which is a practical benefit for a white court shoe. I did not test that feature because I am returning the pair.
Check the Skechers Viper Court Pro 2.0 on Amazon→
Best for: Someone who wants strong built-in arch support, a secure heel and a court shoe that should be easier to keep clean.
Why I passed: I had already chosen the New Balance, and the lower-volume toe box made my toes feel more confined than I prefer.
What I Learned About Choosing Pickleball Shoes for Women
The biggest lesson: I care less about which shoe has the highest overall rating and much more about who that shoe fits.
Your Heel Should Feel Secure
Heel slippage is common for me, and a shoe that allows my heel to move significantly isn’t one I want to use for repeated lateral movement.
This was the biggest reason the On and Ryka dropped in my rankings.
Toe Room and Side-to-Side Movement Are Not the Same Thing
I want enough room for my toes to move forward slightly when I lunge, but I don’t want my entire forefoot sliding around inside the shoe.
I actually test this by standing in the shoe and trying to move my forefoot from side to side. The New Balance gave me room at the toes without letting the rest of my foot wander around inside the shoe.
More Arch Support Isn’t Automatically Better
This may have been the most important lesson of the entire experiment. I have very low arches, and the stock New Balance configuration eventually caused discomfort once my feet swelled, which I initially interpreted as the shoe being wrong for me.
Changing to an insole designed for my lower arch changed the fit enough that the same shoe became my favorite.
That doesn’t mean everyone with flat feet needs my particular insole. It does mean I’d be cautious about assuming that a prominent arch automatically equals a more supportive or comfortable shoe for your foot.
Test Shoes With Warm Feet
A shoe that feels perfect first thing in the morning may not feel the same after you’ve been moving for two hours.
My hot-weather try-ons and actual court testing told me far more than walking around the house immediately after opening the box.
A Tennis Shoe Can Be a Pickleball Shoe
My winning shoe is technically a tennis shoe, which helped broaden the way I approached this search.
Hospital for Special Surgery’s guidance is very practical here: you don’t have to limit your search to footwear marketed specifically for pickleball. What matters is choosing an appropriate court shoe with the stable base needed for the sport.
That opens up a much larger range of possibilities.
Don’t Forget Your Socks
I wore the same type of Feetures socks throughout my shoe testing so I wasn’t changing another fit variable every time I tried a new pair.
These weren’t a new purchase for pickleball. Nick and I had already worn Feetures through countless walking miles during our three-week trip across Italy, and they’ve become some of the socks I reach for most often for workouts and active days.
See the Feetures socks I wear on Amazon→
Using the same socks for each shoe fitting also made the comparisons much easier. If you’re testing several pickleball shoes at home, I’d recommend trying all of them with the type of sock you actually intend to wear on the court.
Would I Pack Pickleball Shoes for a Trip?
One reason pickleball fits so well with the way Nick and I travel is that the basic equipment is easy to bring along. Two paddles and a few balls take up very little space, and because the game is so social, playing somewhere new gives us another way to meet people while we travel.
We play mostly outdoors here in New Hampshire right now, but I can easily picture us bringing our paddles on our romantic Maine road trip or taking them south for another Anna Maria Island trip.
For me, the bigger packing decision isn’t the paddle—it’s whether the court shoes deserve space in my suitcase.
Nick and I travel carry-on-only surprisingly often, and shoes are one of the fastest ways to use up valuable luggage space. Before I started researching pickleball footwear, I probably would have packed my regular walking sneakers and expected them to do double duty.
After feeling the difference between my running shoes and an actual court shoe, I would make that decision differently now.
If we were tossing our paddles in the car because we might play once during a trip, I probably wouldn’t pack an additional pair of shoes. If we were deliberately planning several pickleball sessions, however, my court shoes would earn their suitcase space and I would leave another pair at home.
For me, it comes down to how much we actually plan to play—not simply whether we bring the paddles.
MY PACKING RULE
Playing once or just bringing paddles in case?
I’d use the shoes already in my suitcase.
Planning several pickleball sessions?
I’d make room for my court shoes and leave another pair at home.
The Pickleball Gear We’re Currently Using
Nick and I intentionally started with reasonably priced pickleball gear because we had no idea how often we would play. About a month in, we’re averaging roughly two days a week and usually playing for more than two hours at a time, so investing in equipment that works well for us makes much more sense now.
My pickleball shoes: New Balance FuelCell 796 V5
My replacement insoles: CURREX AcePro Low Arch
Our socks: Feetures
Our paddles: ONIX Graphite Z5 Pickleball Paddle
Our pickleballs: Franklin Sports X-40 Outdoor Pickleballs
PICKLEBALL BAGS I’D CONSIDER
We don’t own one of these yet, but these are a few styles I’d consider for carrying paddles, balls, a water bottle and the small extras we bring to the court.
What Are the Best Shoes to Wear for Pickleball?
After this experiment, I wouldn’t tell another woman there is one universal “best” pickleball shoe because foot shape matters too much. Instead, these are the features I’d pay the most attention to:
Lateral stability. Your foot shouldn’t be sliding sideways inside the shoe when you plant or change direction.
Secure heel fit. This became particularly important for me because of my narrow heels.
Enough forefoot room. Your toes need room when lunging, but room shouldn’t mean your entire forefoot is moving around inside the shoe.
An arch that agrees with your foot. More arch support isn’t automatically better. My New Balance experience demonstrated that perfectly.
Court-specific construction. The shoe doesn’t have to say “pickleball.” Tennis and other appropriate court shoes can provide the stable base required for the sport.
And test them under realistic conditions whenever possible. A shoe that feels perfect during a five-minute try-on may feel completely different after your feet have warmed up and expanded.
My Final Pick for the Best Pickleball Shoes for Women
After trying all of these options, the New Balance FuelCell 796 V5 paired with the CURREX AcePro Low Arch Insole is the combination I’m currently playing in.
What surprised me most was not simply finding a shoe I liked, but realizing how different I felt on the court once I stopped asking my running shoes to do a job they weren’t designed for. I felt more planted and more confident changing direction, and after approximately four hours of play during my first hot-weather weekend in the New Balance, I didn’t develop blisters.
For my flat feet, narrow heels and wider forefoot, that is a very good start.
My Winner: New Balance FuelCell 796 V5 + CURREX AcePro Low Arch
Closest runner-up: Skechers Viper Court Pro 2.0
Strong third-place option: Selkirk CourtStrike Pro 2.0
Best lightweight option I tried: Ryka Court Agility
Most Stylish: On The ROGER Clubhouse Pro
I’ll update this post once the Skechers Viper Court Pro 2.0 arrives and I’ve had enough time to give it a fair comparison with the New Balance.
Have you ever packed pickleball gear for vacation, and did you make room for dedicated court shoes? Leave me a comment below. I’d genuinely love to know what other traveling players do.
