4 Best Tennis Shoes for Flat Feet
for Men & Women
#1 Best Overall
Hoka One One Clifton 6
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#2 Most Popular
adidas Ubersonic 3
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#3 Best All-Around
K-Swiss Hypercourt Express
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The Best Tennis Shoes for Flat Feet
When playing tennis with flat feet, even the best running shoes can sometimes fail you. Flat feet, also known as pes planus, is a condition in which the arches of both feet collapse, causing them to lie flat on the ground. This condition gives your feet poor support, comfort, and cushioning, especially when playing intensive sports.
If you have flat feet, you need a shoe that’s going to offer good arch support, shock absorption, and stability to compensate for your slight handicap. Here are some of the best tennis shoes for flat feet—and the best shoes for flat feet runners.
1
Hoka One One Clifton 6
Best Overall
The Hoka One One Clifton 6 is the sixth iteration of the beloved Clifton line, known for being the best shoes for support and stability with their beefy construction. The first Clifton earned a reputation as one of the best shoes for runners.
The Clifton 4 Upgraded
The Clifton 4 was heralded as the champion of versatility for people with flat feet at the time of its release. Its wearers were able to take on the tennis court as well as long-distance runs with ease.
The Clifton 6 is a long-distance, neutral-road shoe from Hoka that’s equally as capable on the tennis court as on the track. Compared to more famous sports shoes like the Nike Air, the Hoka Clifton 6 has a softer midsole material for added comfort, stability, and cushioning that will get you through many long runs and training days.
Hoka has always been the go-to when you’re looking for running shoes for flat feet, and the Clifton 6 does not disappoint. They feature a redesigned midsole and outsole, with flex screws in different locations, and a redesigned mesh upper body with softer, more pliable materials.
Additional girth in the middle body accommodates wide feet, completing what is overall a revisit to what makes the Clifton series great: excellent arch support, superior cushioning, and stability.
Built Better
While the Clifton 6 is far from being the legend that was the Clifton 1, it carries some of the best qualities of the Clifton series and uses them to strong effect.
The shoes’ midsoles offer better cushioning than the Clifton 5 while maintaining its resiliency and stability, and the upper mesh is broader without being as heavy as the previous Cliftons. The result is an excellent pair of shoes for flat-footed people to run long distances and also use on the tennis court.
Perhaps the only downside to the Clifton 6 is its weight. Good shoes for flat feet must keep off as much weight as possible to relieve the foot and legs of the tension and instability created by pes planus, especially when playing tennis or running long distances.
While the Clifton 6 is lighter than the Clifton 4 and 5, at 10.4 ounces, it’s still a heavy compared to the Hoka One One Rincon, which is a full 2 ounces lighter while retaining the same cushioning and flexibility that the Clifton 6 offers.
Key Features:
- New, softer midsole compared to the Clifton 3, 4, 5, while still retaining all the makings of a responsive long-distance trainer and tennis shoe.
- A new weight that isn’t necessarily light but is lighter than the previous Clifton iterations, coming in at 10.4 ounces at size 11 for men, which is 0.6 ounces lighter than the Clifton 5 and 4.
- An improved fit with a redesigned upper body that’s composed of softer, more forgiving material for runners and tennis players, with a lighter forefoot.
- A redesigned overall footprint that’s more adaptable to various foot types, making it a solid choice when looking for running shoes for flat feet, tennis shoes for wide feet, and vice versa.
Specification:
| Brand | Hoka One One |
| Model | Clifton 6 |
| Weight | 7.5 ounces (Women) 10.4 ounces (Men) |
2
adidas Ubersonic 3
Most Popular
The Adidas Men’s and Women’s Adizero Ubersonic 3 Tennis Shoes, also known by their street name, the Adidas Ubersonic 3, are the latest iteration of the best premium tennis shoes for flat feet, the Adidas Ubersonic.
Worthy of Professionals
Tennis legends Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zveredev surprised the world by donning the Ubersonic 3 shoes in the summer tennis season with their cloud white, orange, and blue-green pairs. The Ubersonic shoes are legendary for their excellent stability, support, and motion control, but they’re also famous for lagging in the cushioning and comfort department.
The Ubersonic 3 is not a total overhaul of the Ubersonic 2.0 shoes. You still get the explosiveness and unparalleled shock absorption that made the Ubersonic 2.0 such an easy recommendation for professional shoe reviewers and tennis enthusiasts.
However, the Ubersonic 3 shoes feature a far more softened midsole of polyurethane that improves its energy return for tennis players who like to explode off the balls of their feet while keeping a generous dose of cushioning material in the heel area.
Adidas also integrated more stiff material into the toe box and forefoot of the shoe for added stability without making it feel harsh and awkward.
Because of the shoe’s improved cushioning and the few millimeters shaved from its total sole height, your feet will rest a tad closer to the ground compared to its previous iterations, which make the Ubersonic 3 a great stability shoe for people with flat feet.
They’re great for quick, sudden movements, which are the bread and butter of tennis players, guaranteeing near-perfect stability and comfort no matter which direction you move.
Ventilated Comfort
What makes the Ubersonic 3 one of the best tennis shoes for flat feet is its breathable fabric that shields your feet from bumps and skids while letting it aspirate more naturally compared to the two-layered mesh upper of the 2.0.
The outsole and the midsole are just one compact material, allowing you to feel the court, especially if you have wide feet, without compromising on shock absorption by giving you a more cushioned ride. Unlike its stiffer, less dynamic older siblings, the Ubersonic 3 shoes offer excellent arch support for flat feet by having broad room for flex movements, accommodating powerful sprints and slides that you need to execute to recover from drop shots.
The sock liners of these shoes are some of the best in the market, supporting sudden bursts and steady long-range movements with a gliding comfort. Its sleek design and aerodynamics will keep your feet cool and in place without constricting them.
The tongue integrates into the top of the shoe, so having a loose tongue waddle around while you’re running will never be a problem.
Many people report chafing on the back of their heels when wearing low-cut socks on the earlier Ubersonic 2.0, and they formerly resorted to crew socks—which accumulated more sweat inside the shoe—so Adidas solved this problem by making the top breathable, softer, and lighter.
Key Features:
- A technically updated Ubersonic 2.0 with a polyurethane midsole that’s considerably softer and bouncier than any previous cushioning found in the Ubersonic line of shoes.
- An integrated sock liner that wicks away sweat while improving stability and motion control, making the shoe friendlier for people who want to wear no-show or low-cut socks.
- Additional room on the toe box and forefoot, making it an excellent choice for people with wide feet looking for great tennis shoes.
- Construction of Dyneema yarn which eliminates half of the bloat from the dual-layer mesh on the earlier.
- Ubersonic 2.0, making the new shoe more flexible, durable, and more capable of handling scratches and scrapes from the tennis court.
Specification:
| Brand | adidas |
| Model | Ubersonic 3 |
| Weight | 11 ounces (Women) 14.3 ounces (Men) |
3
Saucony Guide ISO
Best All-Around
Saucony makes some of the best flat-feet shoes you can find on the market, and its Guide brand of products has always been the best and most reliable stability trainers for distance runners.
Firm and Balanced
The Guide ISO is a less neutral version of the Ride 11, also known as the Ride ISO, providing a more balanced and firmer ride without a medial post—which is material inside the midsole that is firmer than the rest of the cushioning that some find intrusive. The Guide ISO replaces the Guide 10 but carries all its hallmarks, which include a neutral ride, a slightly narrow toe box and forefoot, and an ISOFIT sleeve.
Like most Saucony shoes, the Guide ISO has an EVA-foam midsole, allowing it to have terrific arch support for flat feet, to provide superior cushioning, and to achieve high levels of comfort.
The medial post is on sidewalls that sit far away from the foot, so the shoe has the same stability as its older siblings without the intrusiveness of a regular medial post that you can feel on flat feet when you make explosive movements.
It has a foam insole and an Everun top sole similar to the Guide 9, which makes it a great pair of running shoes for flat feet–but only an average tennis shoe on the hardcourt because of its limited response.
Lighter and Tighter
The Guide ISO gets its namesake from the Saucony’s proprietary ISOFIT technology on its midfoot, outer straps, and inner sleeve. This design replaces the old lacing-and-tongue system and weaves them into one material for a lighter, more unified shoe.
You will never have the problem of your shoes’ tongues becoming loose and moving around as you run, as Saucony has reduced the holes for lacing from 7 to 6 and also tightened the fit of the midfoot for better support and responsiveness.
The upper mesh has a new design that lets your feet breathe through small, lengthwise channels instead of the traditional holes on more traditional shoe designs. The heel has generous cushioning with the same soft material as the shoe’s tongue.
A reflective strip on the back part of the shoe lets motorists see you on long night runs. The Guide ISO’s toe box has a higher bumper that covers the big toe to keep your feet from sliding around as you lift them when running.
The shoe’s sole makes it the best running shoes in the Guide group, with a firmer, smaller, narrower medial-post that has a diminutive sloping profile that offers slightly better arch support while changing the ride.
Perhaps the most noticeable difference between the Guide ISO and the Guide 10 is the new model’s significantly improved fit. The shoe’s newly designed inner sleeve and midfoot are more befitting of a long-distance running shoe from a sensory, grip, and endurance point of view.
The materials that compose the inner shoe are smoother, and the higher toe-bumper frees up additional vertical and side room–making the shoe more adaptable for foot types that need more space and support.
Key Features:
A balanced and neutral ride with some firm rearfoot and forefoot cushioning, complemented by a midsole that’s free of any front, side, and rear bias despite the presence of a firmer medial post which helps support its stability.
A firm and mildly responsive shoe with a secure and plush heel built for sustained comfort on long-distance runs, with its ISOFIT midfoot technology fixing the tongue slide that people have complained about on previous Guide models.
ISOFIT technology that makes the midfoot functional and comfortable, doing away with the annoying double-overlays that restrict the breathability of the shoe’s interior, and freeing up more space for people with wide feet.
A forefoot area made of soft rubber and a stiffer carbon rubber rearfoot, compensated by an eight-millimeter drop on the heel area cushioning and a ribbed upper mesh for improved support and stability.
Specification:
| Brand | Saucony |
| Model | Guide ISO |
| Weight | 9.1 ounces (Women) 10.3 ounces (Men) |
4
Babolat Propulse Blast
Most Economical
In the running for the best tennis shoes for flat feet under $110, the Babolat Propulse Blast is among one of the top 10 contenders.
Engineered to be light and responsive without skimping on support, comfort, and stability, especially for users with flat feet, the Propulse Blast’s value proposition is the best and stands nearly unparalleled. Babolat continues to deliver on its vision of providing the best tennis shoes without cutting down on qualities that matter.
Back to the Basics
The Babolat Propulse Blast is essentially a Babolat Rage or a Propulse Fury without all the bells and whistles. This shoe sees Babolat returning to the fundamentals of what makes tennis shoes great.
Consumers with flat feet who are looking for excellent shoes with excellent motion control, arch support, and shock absorption can get one without spending as much as they would on a Mizuno Wave Rider or an Asics Gel Nimbus.
Compared to the Rage and the Propulse Fury, the Babolat Propulse Blast has shaved off a full two ounces from its total weight, making it a more responsive shoe that will keep your feet light as air when running for those wild serves and drop shots.
The Propulse Blast offers excellent comfort for flat feet with its superior arch support, thanks to its re-engineered midsole and upper mesh that now uses Babolat’s proprietary Kompressor and Active Flexxion technology, which improves responsiveness without cutting down on cushioning.
Superior Support
Flat-footed tennis players will be pleased to know that the Propulse Blast can offer the same level of support as an earlier model of the Mizuno Wave Inspire or the Asics Gel Nimbus Lite. Some may argue that Asics and Mizuno make the best shoe for flat feet when playing intensive sports, but Babolat is catching up.
The upper mesh of the Propulse Blast is a lightweight synthetic fabric that’s firm yet breathable, ensuring your feet receive the proper amount of support and air for sudden turns and bolts. The midsole is similar to some Saucony shoes and earlier Asics gel models that feature EVA foam, which balances support, roominess, and cushioning for flat feet. The outsole is Michelin rubber with a smooth tread, which enhances support for flat feet as they glide through the court while still offering a level of grip.
Key Features:
- A roomier midsole with Kompressor technology, offering excellent support and cushioning while keeping the shoe responsive enough to handle explosive movements on the tennis court
- Active Flexxion technology allows these tennis shoes to easily conform to the motions of flat feet, allowing them to bend and flex as you glide across the court and make sudden stops and turns
- EVA foam midsole, coupled with Michelin rubber treads, grips the tennis court with good energy return, allowing flat feet to survive longer through numerous jumps, skips, and hours of tennis training
- Babolat has surveyed professional and amateur tennis players, their research and development team identifying nine main pressure points on flat feet in a desire to offer the best possible support for flat-footed tennis players
Specification:
| Brand | Babolat |
| Model | Propulse Blast |
| Weight | 12.2 ounces (Women) 13.4 ounces (Men) |
Your Buying Guide for Tennis Shoes for Flat Feet
How We Chose the Best Tennis Shoes for Flat Feet
More than 20% of the global population and a good percentage of professional athletes suffer from flat feet. When recommending the best tennis shoes for them, the criteria are fourfold:
- Do the shoes make sense to buy, from a value proposition standpoint?
- In what facet of tennis do the shoes specialize? For example, do they emphasize support for people with flat feet? Are they lightweight enough to support sudden switches in direction during a tennis game?
- Are the shoes versatile and able to compete in other categories? For example, the Saucony Guide ISOs are capable shoes for the tennis court but are some of the best shoes for runners with flat feet as well because of their padded midsole and roomy interior.
- Even though premium tennis shoes like the Asics Gel Kayano and the Asics Gel Nimbus cater to a specific market, they have to justify their premium price tag by being better tennis shoes for flat feet than their competitors’ offerings.
Features to Look For in Good Running and Tennis Shoes
Asics is a very well-known brand in the world of tennis shoes, and for many years, people thought this company had the formula down pat. However, many competitors are now making tennis shoes with better midsole support, better motion control, and support for a wider variety of foot types–giving Asics a run for its money. Here are some of the things to look for before spending a hundred dollars and slipping on some new tennis shoes.
Support
Tennis shoes must be able to support your feet through a wide variety of motions on the tennis court. An average tennis shoe will support your feet externally as they turn, but a great tennis shoe will return some of your feet’s energy and act like springs so you can answer a shot with as much forceful precision as possible.
Endurance
Whether it’s for tennis shoes or running shoes, durability must always be part of the purchase decision. Nobody wants shoes that will only support their feet properly through one tennis season before falling apart. Durability used to be Asics’ domain, but today, players like Hoka and Adidas are joining the fun.
Outsole and Insole
There seems to be a trend in tennis shoes by which the tongue, upper mesh, and toe box come from just one sheet of fabric. It’s an engineering technique that helps each shoe support your foot as it lands and lifts from a well-cushioned insole. Choose tennis shoes that are appropriate for your feet, with outsoles that can keep you from slipping.
Things to Consider When Buying Tennis Shoes
Where Will You Be Playing?
You should pick tennis shoes that are custom-made for the court where you’ll be playing, whether it’s a soft clay court, a hard court, or soft grass. Before making a purchase decision, remember that most tennis shoes can play well on all courts, but nothing beats having the right tool for the job.
On the Hard Court
Most official matches happen on the hard court, so if you’re a professional player, you need to pick tennis shoes that will endure many twists and turns while supporting your feet with ample cushioning. Make sure to break in your shoes before wearing them to the game, as the upper mesh could give you some trouble, especially if your toes don’t fit properly on the toe box.
On Clay Courts
When playing on a clay court, you will need shoes that are basketball-adjacent, meaning they must be able to support your feet through many lateral movements and explosive turns. The outsole of your shoes must also grip the court without leaving any prints.
On Grass
Playing on a grass court is tricky because you’ll need tennis shoes that are almost soccer-adjacent without the spikes that might damage the grass. Look for an outsole that’s flat but offers an excellent grip–and an insole that’s responsive rather than heavily cushioned.
Tennis Shoes FAQ
Can I Wear Sneakers When Playing Tennis?
Comfy sneakers can serve your feet well for just about any purpose that you can imagine. You can take them to the mall, on your early morning jog, or to the gym when you’re lifting–and your feet will thank you. However, tennis is an intensive sport that involves a lot of explosive movements, and your sneakers’ lifespan might considerably decrease when you use them on the court, not to mention how your poor feet might feel with their below-average cushioning and ventilation.
Can I Wear Basketball Shoes When Playing Tennis?
Tennis and basketball share a lot of the same movements: Lateral skips, sudden changes in running direction–you name it–but tennis shoes are generally more breathable than basketball shoes. Many people have complained of sweat accumulating in their socks and feet when wearing non-breathable shoes like the Air Jordan.
Should I Buy Multi-Court Tennis Shoes or Specialized Pairs?
Unless you’re a professional player, multi-court tennis shoes that can perform on grass, clay, and hard courts will serve you better. Specialized pairs are for players who plan to practice on just one type of court for years.