Tennis shoes, anyone?

January 16, 2008 11:33 AM

My boyfriend needs a pair of tennis court shoes, but heartily dislikes shopping. He has narrow feet, and his last shoes gave him an ingrown toenail, so fit is really important. Tennis magazine has recommended Adidas Barricade IV, KSwiss Ascendor SLT or Nike Air Vapor, but we can't seem to find any stores in Austin that have them so that he can try them on, and it just seems stupid to buy a shoe in which fit really matters online. Basically, we're looking for recommendations for other shoes for narrow feet, as well as help finding a store that sells decent tennis court shoes so that he doesn't have to go to a bunch of different places. Thanks!
posted by odayoday to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

Zappo's has no-cost returns - typically you just order 3 or 4 pairs, try them all on and ship back the pairs you don't like. I've done this before with great success.
posted by GuyZero at 11:50 AM on January 16, 2008

Was just coming in to suggest Zappos myself...absolutely ZERO problem with the return shipment ON THIER DIME. Got my doc martins that way, had to try twice!
posted by legotech at 11:52 AM on January 16, 2008

Nikes are narrow. The stores must have some Nike tennis shoes for sale, Dicks, Sports Authority, etc. I know, tennis shoes don't get the respect of basketball shoes and running shoes. If you are having trouble, the next option is to see if the local tennis club sells shoes. That is our best option where I live.
posted by caddis at 2:20 PM on January 16, 2008

Thirding Zappos. Free overnight shipping -- several times I've received my order in under 24 hours -- and dead easy free returns. I have wickedly hard to fit feet, and even though I work in mid-Manhattan, I order online, 'cause I got tired of schlepping all over the city and waiting for service at specialty shoe stores only to find that they didn't have the one pair I liked in my size (10 AAA).

I've probably ordered 50 or 60 pairs of shoes there over the years, and kept 8 or 9 total. The rest were all returned. It's the only place I buy shoes now.
posted by ROTFL at 2:21 PM on January 16, 2008

I would recommend trying the Adidas Stan Smith Millenium model. Court shoe, narrow. The millenium is the light weight model of the the Stan Smith style. This shoe style has been available from Adidas for over 30 years so it has found some faithful adherents. Zappos carries the Stan Smith but not the Millenium.
posted by ptm at 2:20 AM on January 17, 2008

New Balance offers most of their shoes in multiple widths. My dad used to by them for his narrow feet.
posted by apetpsychic at 12:39 PM on January 17, 2008

Buy, even.
posted by apetpsychic at 12:39 PM on January 17, 2008