My toxic trait is being resistant to buying specialised apparel for activities that I partake in.
Years ago I wrote:
I have trekked in the Himalayas in trainers – one trail took us to over 18,000 ft – and maintained, not without a touch of disdain, that only people who were not surefooted enough needed specialized boots for hiking.
When I first got into pickleball, I just wore my regular trainers – an Adidas pair which I got secondhand (but unused) for something like $20.
Because I also used those shoes as daily wear – and because, for reasons unknown, I always seem to wear out my soles much faster than most other people do – I soon ended up with virtually no treads at all.
The treadless shoes, as you would expect, were slippery at the best of times – but when it rained, it was like playing on ice. It got to a point where if the court was wet, I would rather play without shoes, because even barefoot I had more grip.
I finally accepted what my friends had been telling me for months: I needed new shoes.
After much research, I found a heavily discounted pair of Asics Solution Speed FF 3.
The orange was brighter than I expected, but once I got used to it, I really came to love that pair. They were comfortable and bouncy, they had good traction and support, and best of all, they were extremely light – like running on clouds.
The Solution Speed series are all-surface shoes, so I could wear them on both indoor and outdoor courts. And they are non-marking, so I could wear them for badminton too. I even wore them in non-sports situations, pairing them with jeans.
But once again, as with all my shoes, the treads eventually wore out.
In hindsight, I think that non-marking soles are simply more delicate. Even if they are marketed as all-surface, if you wear them on hard courts, they won't last long.
Recall that I started out not wanting to buy specialized court shoes at all, then acquired an all-surface pair which proved to be not so all-surface after all. Finally, I capitulated completely and ended up buying two separate pairs for indoor and outdoor courts.
My current outdoor court shoes are a pair of Adidas Court Spec 2. I don't love them like I loved my orange Asics, but they do the job.
However, I do love my badminton shoes, which I also use for indoor pickleball – this Yonex Dominant pair, which I got secondhand but unused.
They have excellent grip, and they really help with quick directional changes which are a key part of badminton. Looks-wise, they are nothing special, but I got colourful laces, and look at them now!
I stole this idea from Japanese badminton player Tomoka Miyazaki. I don't have a fraction of her badminton skill, but hey, at least I can wear non-matching day-glo laces.
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