Looking to get a new pair of badminton shoes. My current Yonex Infinity 2 are starting to get a bit old and tired now. My only complaint with the Infinity2 is they're not the best for people with wide/flat feet. Really liking the look of these and they look good for wide feet. Has anyone got or tried them?
The reviews over on badmintonCN have been pretty good. https://www.badmintoncn.com/eqm.php?a=view&eid=13270&mag_hide_progress=1 The Saga 2 Pro are my main pair right now. As far as I know these are the same shoes but with traditional laces compared to the BOA-system on the Saga 2 Max. Had some knee pain with my previous pair but it diapperead after switching to these shoes. While the cushioning is top notch you have to keep in mind that these are pretty heavy and your feet are a bit more elevated so you don't have the best court feel compared to most other badminton shoes. The laces provide good lockdown, can't tell you though how good the BOA-implementation is on the Max as I didn't get to try these. There are several Li Ning Basketballshoes and running shoes which also use the BOA-System and from what I have heard are pretty good. Would expect Li Ning to have it implemented in a similarly good way given their experience. Only downside imo is that the traction isn't particularly great. Not saying it is bad by any means but our club plays in sports halls where you have slightly older and somewhat dusty floors. Some Victor and Yonex shoes f.e. offer better grip. If you have floors that provide more grip or play on proper badminton mats this shouldn't concern you. I will be on vacation in China next month, hoping to find a pair of these while I'm there (without having to pay upwards of 220€ and taxes on top of that when buyinf these online).
Very comprehensive review. Thank you. The weight and elevated height due to the cushioning had been my main worry about these. However, as a person who weighs 85kg, it might be a good thing for me! I've got the Yonex Infinity2 at the moment and the BOA system is great, much more convenient. I've heard alot about the material at the front+sides being not very wear-resistant. Supposedly they wear down very fast on the Saga MAX, especially on the trailing foot side . Do you have this issue on the Pros? If you have friend's in China, try and get them to buy a pair of Max's for you. The official Li-Ning store is doing a promotion at the moment for Women's Day. Price is around 150€.
Thank you mate, I do have some people I know in China, have to see if something can be set up. But still deciding between the Max and maybe the new Jimmy Butler Basketball shoes, those implement some interesting tech and I feel like these could also be interesting for badminton use. I previously had the 88 Dial from Yonex, loved the Boa System too. Sadly the shoes were a pure disappointment in terms of cushioning and I could only use these for light sessions. Tried the Infinity 1 in a store but did not like the rather low cut these had. Regarding wear resistance: Have owned my pair of the Pro since December last year and I currently rotate through 3 pairs. Had to take some time off due to injuries and sickness, so I would guess I effectively wore them once to twice a week on average. So these have not seen a ton of use. So far there is a bit of wear on the front upper material since I tend to drag my left foot at times and a bit on the sides of the shoe. But I wouldn't say it is more than on any other pair I use. The pics that some people provided with their reviews on BadmintonCN look pretty brutal. I wonder if the Max use a different material for the upper portion of the shoe including front and sides but the Pro are holding up well in said areas. The bottom outer sole seems to be the same though, mine still look almost new in that area. The elavated feel is something to get used to. I personally play Basketball from time to time so I am used to that as you tend to sit a bit higher in Basketball shoes. But these shoes feel so stable that I doubt you would need long to adjust to that.
