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Finding the right shoes for volleyball can be a little tricky when you begin shopping. There are a few things that you keep in mind when you start looking for the best pair to play in. This guide will help you figure out what types of volleyball shoes are currently available and what you should look for when it comes to buying a pair of best volleyball shoes.
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Our Best Volleyball Shoes Reviews
When it comes to stepping onto the best volleyball court, you want to make sure that you are equipped with the right kind of the best volleyball shoes instead of any old pair of volleyball sneakers or shoes that you have lying around.
Mizuno Men’s Wave Lightning Z3 Volleyball Shoes
The Mizuno Men’s Wave Lightning Z3 Volleyball Shoes has durability, well-rounded stability on the court and overall comfort while you wear these volleyball shoes.
These low top volleyball shoes are made from 100% synthetic materials, adding to their durability, so they can take all that you’ve got while you are on the court. There is also room in the shaft area of these volleyball shoes for an ankle brace if you need the added support
On the bottom of the volleyball shoes is where all the championship-winning magic happens. The gum-rubber outsole provides great traction so that you won’t slip or lose your footing while you are sprinting, jumping, and landing while playing volleyball.
- Dynamotion fit upper and d-flex groove allow fast paced multi-directional play while efficiently...
- Quick and agile toe off through specifically designed kick-sensor.
- High level of impact cushioning and improved forefoot landing whilst being lightweight.
The 8 Mizuno Parallel Wave Plate Volleyball Shoes Technology flows through the volleyball shoes with shock absorption and keeps you stable throughout each volleyball play. The wave plates also work to provide better overall stability in the volleyball shoes, so that you don’t lose balance as you are on the balls of your feet, waiting for the volleyball to come over the net.
There is also a built-in Dynamotion groove in the sole of these great volleyball shoes. This technology makes the volleyball shoes more flexible so that your feet don’t feel cramped and stiff in the volleyball shoes. Instead, these volleyball shoes move with you and create a comfortable feeling so that you can sprint, shuffle and jump without being held back. These volleyball shoes have been known to run a little small, so make sure that you can try them on or read the reviews to see if you need to order a half size up for the best overall fit.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Synthetic
- Gum-Rubber Outsole
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 11 oz
3Asics Men’s GEL Rocket 8 Volleyball Shoe
The 3 ASICS Men’s Gel Rocket 8 volleyball shoes also features characteristics to rival the other best volleyball shoes brands and these are available to have anyone jumping for more information.
These simple yet stable 3 Asics Men’s GEL Rocket volleyball shoes are designed in a low top design that offers a comfortable padded tongue and collar around the opening of the volleyball shoes. This foam based cushion helps add another level of comfort to the fit so that you don’t encounter any irritation on the top of your feet or around your ankles while you are wearing these volleyball shoes.
- Forefoot GEL Cushioning System (COURT): Attenuates shock during impact phase.
- Trusstic System Technology: Reduces the weight of the sole unit while retaining the structural...
On the bottom of the Asics Men’s GEL-Rocket 8 volleyball shoes, there is a rubber and gum rubber sole. This type of rubber blended sole contains more natural rubber than most of the volleyball shoes competitors on the market. With a more natural rubber sole, your feet will get more of a rebound feeling with each step, shuffle and leap that you take on the court.
This rubber blend will also provide you with an outstanding grip on the court. It will reduce any slipping or sliding that you might incur on a slick floor. This grip will also help you start a sprint faster and allow you to stop on a dime to get set in place to bump or set the volleyball.
These volleyball shoes also feature the Trussic System that works to reduce the weight that you feel on your feet and to provide stability throughout the volleyball shoes . The well-balanced stability of these volleyball shoes will help you stay sure-footed during each step or jump and keep your shoe’s weight feeling even throughout the various plays.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Synthetic
- Gum Rubber Outsole
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 11.2 oz
Mizuno Women’s Volleyball Wave Bolt 6
Carrying the high quality Mizuno name, the Mizuno Wave Bolt 6 Women’s Volleyball Shoes is a very affordable shoe that doesn’t compromise on this brands winning features. These Mizuno women’s volleyball shoes are known as one of the top brands for the best volleyball players.
These volleyball shoes are super lightweight coming in at 8.3 oz. The lightweight design of these volleyball shoes will also work to keep your momentum up instead of slowing you down.
An Intercool ventilation built into the top of the volleyball shoes helps reduce the humidity that can build up inside of the volleyball shoes while you are on the court.
When this happens, the shock absorption will give any volleyball player a higher level of stability while you are running or jumping. It also keeps your volleyball shoes feeling lightweight since the shock absorption will be distributed evenly so no one spot takes the weight as you land.
- Parallel wave plate
- Non-marking outsole
- Dynamotion fit
The Dura-Shield Toe Guard gum rubber outsole works to by protecting the tip of your volleyball shoes and your toes from friction damage. This gum-rubber outsole created technology works by creating a gum-rubber outsole shield that comes up higher on the front of the shoe so that you can sprint and stop without worrying about damaging the front of the shoe.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Synthetic
- Gum-Rubber Outsole: Synthetic
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 12 oz
If you are looking at female shoes specifically, take a look about our best women’s volleyball shoes review.
Nike Women’s Air Zoom HyperAce Volleyball Shoes
Making sure you are at your best on the court, the NIKE Women's Air Zoom Hyperace Volleyball Shoes are designed to give you a lightweight comfort and well designed stability.
These women’s volleyball shoe is an improvement on one of Nike’s popular styles called the Volley Zoom HyperSpike. Like the Volley Zoom HyperSpike, it was modeled with all of the great features of stability and comfort. Unlike the Volley Zoom HyperSpike, it also features an improved sole and creates a more secure base to protect your ankles.
This shoe has a long durability life thanks to a smart design that keeps it held together even under hard playing conditions. The mesh upper part of the shoe has a mesh overlay that is built into the bottom part of the shoe. This way of creating the entire shoe eliminates the need for a sewn in design.
On the bottom of this shoe is a durable rubber outsole that provides great traction while you are on the court. Well woven grooves on the bottom of the shoe help ensure that you won’t be slipping and sliding on the court, no matter how hard you play.
Like the Volley Zoom HyperSpike, the bottom of the volleyball shoes are designed to have a wider ball and wider heel. These volleyball shoes are designed so it’s easier for volleyball players to keep traction while they are moving laterally side to side on the court.
Like the Volley Zoom HyperSpike volleyball shoes, The wider heel also makes landing easier since it gives you a larger area to come down on for stability. Even though this shoe offers a wider overall bottom sole, it is evenly distributed so that you don’t feel like you are walking on a too wide bottom or off-centered.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Mesh
- Outsole: Gum-rubber
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 10 oz
Asics Men’s Gel Netburner Ballistic
Comfort and security combine to create the Asics Men’s Gel Netburner Ballistic. This ASICS men’s volleyball shoe offers great support for hitters and blockers who spend a lot of time in the air and have to come down successfully when they are landing.
These volleyball shoes offer a mid-rise design so that your ankles gets the extra support it needs as you are jumping and hitting at the net. The shaft measures approximately 3 inches from the arch of these lace-up volleyball shoes. This higher rise will help better secure and hold your ankles straight.
A higher rise ankle design is not something that is offered on most volleyball shoes but it is a feature to consider if you will be doing a lot of jumping and running on the court.
In the front of the volleyball shoe, this FluidRide Technology allows the shock absorption through the sole of the shoe so that it doesn’t just radiate at the ball area. This also allows your foot to fully extend and move properly as you are sprinting, jumping and landing, so that your foot is able to correctly move through each play.
- Rear foot and Forefoot GEL Cushioning Systems: Attenuates shock during impact and toe-off phases,...
- Fluid Ride Midsole: Fluid Ride provides the ultimate combination of bounce back and cushioning...
- NC Rubber Outsole: Compound containing more natural rubber content than traditional solid rubber,...
On the bottom of this great shoe is an NC rubber outsole. This compounded sole has a more natural rubber component built into it. Giving you more enhanced traction on the court which is important to help you stick the landing after you jump in the air for a spike. This better overall traction will help you stop after a fast sprint and will keep you from slipping and sliding on the court while you are in action.
A Mid-foot Trusstic system technology stability provides a torsionally stable shoe that will not allow your foot to twist as you move. This trusstic system technology works to keep your foot stable and secure inside of the shoe. The trusstic system technology limits any wiggling around or possibly twisting to the side as you are playing.
The outside of the shoe is made of 100% fabric synthetic materials, making it very durable to wear and tear. It has a breathable mesh upper openings that allow air to flow through the shoe so that your feet can breathe during long periods of use.
It also features a padded tongue and collar to give you additional comfort after you tighten the laces.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Synthetic
- Rubber Outsole: Gum-rubber Outsole
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 15 oz
Mizuno Wave Lightning RX3
The Mizuno Wave Lightning RX3 is the perfect women’s volleyball shoes for volleyball players who do a lot of jumping. This is because of many great features that won’t weigh you down and will help disperse the shock as you come down from the air.
Inside of this great jumping volleyball shoe is an AP midsole-rebound cushion. This cushion not only helps comfort your feet while you are on them, it also gives you a healthy bounce as you are coming down from a jump. The rebound cushion will help naturally propel you forward into your next move instead of just coming down and and letting you stand still.
- New and improved seamless upper provides lighter and improved fit
This new and improved insole for this particular model also works while you are on the court to reduce the overall heat inside of the shoe. It will also battle humidity so that your foot is not staying in the same stale air while you are playing. With the reduction in heat and humidity, your volleyball shoes won’t be as offensive smelling to your teammates or family when it’s time to take them off.
The Mizuno Wave Lightning RX3 Volleyball Shoe offers a classic seamless design on the front. This gives you a fully enclosed women’s volleyball shoes that do not have a high risk of being broken or damaged after a lot of hard plays.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Textile, synthetic
- Rubber Outsole: Gum-rubber outsole
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 8.4 oz
Mizuno Men’s Wave Voltage
The Mizuno Men's Wave Voltage is a great classic volleyball shoe that offers a simple design while housing many great features to make it one of the best volleyball shoe’s available for men that enjoy playing volleyball.
The shoe’s design is a standard low top that gives your foot support, helps reduce slipping, grips the floor well and provides excellent ventilation. This volleyball shoe has been created with 100% synthetic materials, making it very durable and able to stand up against hours and hours of accumulated time on the court playing.
An AIR breathable mesh upper body design on this sneaker gives your foot the ventilation it needs to breathe through the volleyball shoe while you are wearing it for long periods of time. This mesh upper body design it’s also built inside of the volleyball shoe is an Intercool ventilation. This technology creates multiple ventilation points so that air can flow through the volleyball shoe while you are in motion to push stale and humid air out while it circulates new air in.
The insole of the volleyball shoe has an SR Touch which is a shock absorbing feature that will give your feet the extra support of a great cushion while working double time to absorb shock. This level of shock absorption while you are on the court will keep you moving quick while keeping your transitions even and smooth. These volleyball shoes are also super lightweight coming in at 10.6 ounces. This way your feet won’t feel weighed down while you are making quick plays or jumping in the air for the perfect block.
On the bottom of these volleyball shoes is a lateral wave plate that will ensure you are able to perform lateral movements such as shuffling from side to side without losing your traction or having your volleyball shoes perform awkwardly. These wave plates create a better lateral stability platform which aids in helping you move forwards, backwards and sideways.
- EVA Midsole
- Shaft measures approximately low-top from arch
- Mizuno Wave: The Mizuno Wave plate disperses energy from impact to a broader area providing a stable...
Along with the lateral wave plate, these volleyball shoes also have a non marking sole. This way you don’t have to worry about leaving a scuff mark trail on the court if your feet drag during a play. In the front of the volleyball shoe is a DuraShield toe that will protect your toes from friction damage. This shield also comes up higher on the front of the toe to protect the front top of your volleyball shoe from showing signs of wear or damage after long games.
Your feet don’t need to be perfect to find the perfect fit with these volleyball shoes. The Dynamotion groove design gives your foot the perfect fit in these volleyball shoes by eliminating the off balance stress that feet can put into footwear. This keeps your stride and balance at an even level, making your volleyball shoes fit perfectly without you having to struggle to find a good tight fit.
These volleyball shoes, while great for all around positions are especially geared towards back row and defensive volleyball players that need to move fast, stay low and make those last minute moving plays to keep the ball alive. These volleyball shoes hug your feet and reduce the chance of your foot sliding around inside of the shoe while you are moving.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Textile, Synthetic Leather
- Rubber Outsole: Synthetic Leather
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight: 10.6 oz
Mizuno Wave Lightning Z3 Volleyball Shoe
The Mizuno Wave Lightning Z3 Volleyball Shoe is one of the best shoes for women thanks to its many qualities and features. It is a sturdy low top shoe that provides excellent on the court grip, is available in many styles and incorporates many of Mizuno’s winning technologies into it’s design.
This low top shoe offers a sturdy design to allow your foot to freely move while holding onto it tightly so that your foot is not slipping and sliding inside of the shoe. There is also room inside of the low cut body of this shoe to fit an ankle brace if you wear one.
It is made from 100% synthetic leather materials to create a uniformly created shoe that is able to stand up to wear and tear while on the court. These volleyball shoes only weigh 8.8 ounces, so that you don’t feel like you are being weighed down while you are in pursuit of the ball. The famous Mizuno parallel wave plate is incorporated into the bottom of the shoe. This patented technology creates a more stabilized surface for your feet allowing you to move side to side as well as back and forth without stumbling or losing your footing.
A non-marking rubber outsole will keep the gym floor clean and won’t burn out the rubber sole of your shoe when your feet drag across the court. The sole of this shoe is made from XG (Extra Grade) rubber to give you a better overall grip while you are on the court. A Dynamotion Groove gives you better flexibility while a D-Flex Groove located in the mid-foot area of the sole which aids in your ability to turn while you are sprinting or moving at quick paces.
- Parallel wave plate
- Non-marking outsole
- Mizuno intercool
There is also a PoWnCe Power built into the rubber sole. This helps you rebound after every step and jump to keep your motivation on the court. It also provides extra cushioning on your feet, to help keep you light and aids in the bounce back landings you make.
The Mizuno intercool technology works to keep your volleyball shoes well ventilated while you are on the court working up a sweat. Due to the grooves of the shoe and the placement of the mesh uppers, with each step that you take, this mesh upper design is working to push out stale hot air and bring in fresh air. This allows your foot to stay dry and cool for longer periods of time, cutting down on the chance of odor causing bacteria to form inside of your volleyball shoes.
The insole cushion of these volleyball shoes are designed with Anatomical Cup-in-Sole. This technology allows the volleyball shoe to anatomically cup and fit all of the curves that make up the bottom of your foot. This creates a custom fit inside of the volleyball shoe for your foot to give you the security of knowing that you foot is locked down and not prone to slipping inside of the shoe.
Volleyball Shoes Product Specs
- Material: Synthetic Leather
- Gum-Rubber Outsole: Gum-rubber
- Sizing: Normal
- Arch Support: Yes
- Weight:11 oz
Features Used to Evaluate the Best Volleyball Shoes
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Great durability | Decreases the chance of your shoe slipping or breaking mid-game |
| Gel cushioning | Provides shock absorption, which prevents injuries and increases comfort |
| Good fit | Prevents injuries and improves agility |
| Great stability | Improved mobility and fewer injuries |
When it comes to actively shopping for the best pair of volleyball shoes, there are a few different features that you will want to look for. These features, smart designs and built in technology are what separates the best volleyball shoes from regular sneakers.
Durability
A standard good pair of volleyball shoes should last you a full season. If you are recreational volleyball players then they can last anywhere from one to four years depending on how hard you are on them. With regular use your volleyball shoes will have to hold up through consistent pressure, repeated hard landings and wear down of the soles due to fast sprints and hard stops. The specialized rubber traction on the bottom of your soles will take most of the wear and tear. Rendering them no longer able to keep a good traction and it can effect the overall fit of your shoe.
Gel Cushioning
Since you will be on your feet for extended periods of time while you play volleyball. You will want to find a pair of volleyball shoes that offer gel cushioning to keep your feet comfortable while you are playing. There are a few different ways as to how your volleyball shoe can be comfortable.
Fit
The fit for the volleyball shoe is how it molds around your foot. Some volleyball shoes offer a gel cushion inside of the volleyball shoe that allows the volleyball shoe to fit and form around your foot as it is in use and creates a locked-down fit around your foot.
When you have a volleyball shoe that really fits you properly, then your foot will not move or slide inside of the volleyball shoe as you are running, jumping or landing. If your foot is moving a lot inside of the volleyball shoe this could potentially open you up to more injuries or make it a little more awkward as you are performing on the court.
Some volleyball shoes will take a little time to create the conformed fit around your foot, so make sure that you know what your volleyball shoe can do, whether your volleyball shoe has gel conforming technology built-in so that you don’t completely dismiss the volleyball shoe after only wearing it for a few minutes. It will take some time to break in the fit of your volleyball shoes, so you will need to do your research and use your best judgment on how the volleyball shoe feels in-store versus how the volleyball shoe will feel after you have worn it a few different times.
Stability
A good volleyball player plays with a lot of starting and stopping moves, since you need to be able to plant your feet when you make contact with the ball on a bump or set. When a volleyball shoe has a good overall traction and lateral stability design such as a wider rubber outsole, a gum-rubber outsole or a wave plate, then it helps keep a volleyball player’s feet sure of each step.
Related Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about volleyball shoes.
What Shoes Does Yuji Nishida Wear?
Yuji Nishida usually wears Asics’ Sky Elite FF. These shoes help you increase the strength of your jump while providing you with great shock absorption. All of this makes them great shoes that improve your performance and help you avoid injuries. On top of that, they are unisex, so anyone can wear them.
Why Do Volleyball Players Wear Asics?
Volleyball players usually wear Asics because these shoes have great shock absorption and cushioning. Not only this makes it much more comfortable for players, yet it prevents injuries in the long run. On top of that, Asics are lightweight, which provides you with more agility and mobility inside the court.
How Should Volleyball Shoes Fit?
Volleyball shoes should always fit not too big, and not too tight. A great measurement is to check if you can wiggle your feet inside of the shoe. If you can, and you don’t feel any discomfort while wearing them, then they fit you correctly. If you can’t, then you are using shoes that are too tight.
