What Shoes Do the Best Volleyball Players Wear?

ByWilson Francis
What shoes do the best volleyball players wear

It is a very typical and understood question that arises in the minds of beginners and volleyball enthusiasts. To me, this is not wired as it is due to the fantasy in any fan’s mind about his ideal or favorite player.

There is a diversity in the use of shoes by the best volleyball players. Professional volleyball players wear different shoes of various brands.

For instance, US volleyball team setter Micah Christenson wears Nike Hyperset shoes whereas the libero Erik Shoji of the same country wears Nike Hyperspeed and Mizuno Wave Momentum 2. On the other hand, Poland’s Libero Zatroski wears Adidas Crazy Flight.

let’s dive deep and explore some interesting facts regarding the use of volleyball shoes by professional players.

What Shoes Do the Best Volleyball Players Wear?

As per my observation, most of the players do not stick to a single model instead they shuffle their shoe models after every tournament and even after a match.

For instance, if you watch TJ Defalco, he wears Nike Hyperace 02 and Hyperspeed. Similarly, I have seen Erik Shoji’s footwear transition among Asics, Nike and Mizuno.

To find out the shoe selection and usage of professional volleyball players, I observed/watched the volleyball shoes of the top 46 players. These players include Attackers (17), Setters (09) Blockers (08), and Liberos (12).

Based on my observations below is the list of shoes used by the volleyball players. I have listed them in order of use frequency. Moreover, I have also included most of these shoes in my best volleyball shoes list.

Most Popular

  • Nike React Hyperset
  • Adidas Crazyflight
  • Asics Sky Elite FF 2
  • Mizuno Wave Momentum 2
  • Nike Zoom Hyperace 2
  • Nike Hyperspeed
  • Mizuno Wave Momentum 03
What shoes do the best volleyball players wear

Less Popular

  • Adidas Stabil Next Gen
  • Adidas Harden Vol 6
  • Mizuno Luminous 02
  • Mizuno Wave Stealth Neo Flame Black
  • Nike Zoom Freak 05
  • Under Armour Curry Flow 9
  • Under Armour Flow Futr X 2
  • Olympikus BR1
  • Nike Zoom Lebron NXXT Gen
  • Adidas Dame Certified EXTPLY 2.0 ‘Trail Blazers’

What Shoes Do the Best Volleyball Attackers Wear?

Here is the list of the world’s best hitters alongside the shoes they wear.

  • Yuki Ishika Japan wears Asics Sky Elite FF 2
  • Romano Yuri of Italy wears Mizuno Wave Momentum 2 and has a paid partnership with Mizuno.
  • Abdel Aziz Nimir of the Netherlands wears Nike Hyperset volleyball shoes
  • Ran Takahashi also wears Asics Sky Elite FF 2
  • Drazen Lubiric also wears ASICS
  • Tine Urnaut of Slovenia wears Adidas Crazyflight
  • Chinese Hitter Zhang Jing Yin wears Adidas shoes and I have seen him wearing Adidas Harden Vol 06 and Adidas Crazyflight
  • Brazilian Hitter Alan Souza wears a Nike React Hyperset
  • Souza Ricardo of Brazilin also joins his teammate in wearing the Nike Hypersets
  • Argentinian attacker Luciano Palonsky wears Nike Zoon Hyperace 02
  • Torey Defalco Nike Hyperace 2 and Nike Hyperspeed court shoes
  • Russell Aaron of USA team also waers Nike Hyperset
  • Rok Mozic of Slovenia wears Nike Hyperace and Adidas Crazyflight
  • Mathew Andreson of the USA wears a Nike Hyperset
  • Canadian Hitter Stephen Maar Wears Nike Hyperset
  • Yuji Nishida is an Asics sponsored player and wears Asics Sky Elite FF 2 and ASICS Metarise
  • Argentinian Hitter, Lima Bruno wears Adidas Crazyflight
What Shoes do the best volleyball attackers wear

What Shoes do the best Volleyball Setters Wear?

Here is the list of the world’s best hitters alongside the shoes they wear.

  • Miach Christenson USA wears a Nike Hyperset.
  • Sekita Masahiro of Japan wears Asics Sky Elite FF-2.
  • Simon Giannelli Italian setter wears Asics Sky Elite FF 2.
  • Luciano De Cacco of Argentina wears Wave Momentum 2.
  • Bruno Rezend the world’s best volleyball setter wears Olympikus BR1 sneakers
  • Gregor Ropret of Slovenia wears Under Armour shoes including Curry Flow 9 and Flow Futr X 2 basketball shoes
  • Georgi Seganov Bulgarian wears a Nike Hyperace 02
  • Wessel Keemink of Netherland wears Wave Stealth Neo Flame Black
  • Johannes Tille wears Nike Zoom Freak 05 shoes

What Shoes do the best Volleyball Blockers Wear?

  • Loser Agustin of Argentina wears Adidas Crazyflight
  • Serbian Krsmanovic Petar wears Lebron 20 Basketball Shoes
  • Plak Fabian of Nererland wears Nike Hyperset  
  • Kozamernik Jan of Slovinia Wears Nike Zoom Lebron NXXT Gen Basketball shoes
  • Zhang Jingyin of China wears Adidas Harden Vol 06 and Adidas Crazyflight
  • Smith David of the USA wears Wave Stealth Neo shoes
  • Brazil player Gualberto Flavio wears Asics Sky Elite FF 2
  • Italian Gianluca Galassi Wears Mizuno Wave Momentum 2 and 3
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Please Note!

All the information provided here regarding the use of volleyball shoes by professional players is based on my observations while watching the videos of these volleyball players in different leagues and tournaments like the Superliga and the recent Paris Qualifiers.

What Shoes Do the Best Volleyball Libero Wear

  • Yamamoto Tomohiro JPN wears Asics shoes
  • Kovačič Jani of Slovenia wears Adidas Dame Certified EXTPLY 2.0 ‘Trail Blazers’  basketball shoes. These shoes seemed unusual to me compared to other volleyball players
  • Argentinian libero Danani Santiago wears Mizuno Wave Luminous 02. I have also seen him wearing Nike shoes including Giannis Immortality, Hyperset, and Hyperspeed.
  • French libero Grebennikov Jenia is also a user of Nike React Hyperset shoes.
  • USA libero Erik Shoji wears Mizuno Wave Momentum and I have seen him wearing Mizuno Wave Momentum 2, 3, and Lightning Z6. Moreover, he was also seen promoting the Mizuno shoes along with his teammate David Smith who wears Mizuno Stealth Neo shoes. I have also seen him wearing Asics Sky Elite FF 2, Nike Zoom Hyperace 2, and Nike Hyperspeed Court Shoes.
  • Robbert Andringa of Nederland wears Mizuno Wave Momentum 3 and Mizuno Wave Luminous 02 volleyball shoes
  • Qu Zongshuai of China Uses Adidas Crazy Flight
  • Kapur Milorad of Serbia wears Mizuno Shoes
  • Pawel Zatroski of Poland uses Adidas Crazyflight
  • Graven Leonard of Germany wears Mizuno shoes
  • Italian Libero Fabio Balaso wears Nike Nyperset shoes
What Shoes do the best liberos wear

What Shoes Do the Best Volleyball Servers Wear?

  • Abdel Aziz Nimir of the Netherlands wears Nike Hyperset volleyball shoes
  • Romano Yuri of Italy wears Mizuno Wave Momentum 2 and has a paid partnership with Mizuno.
  • Yuki Ishika Japan wears Asics Sky Elite FF 2
  • Argentinian server Luciano Palonsky wears a Nike Zoon Hyperace 02
  • Souza Ricardo of Brazilin wears Nike Hypersets
  • Tine Urnaut of Slovenia wears Adidas Crazyflight
  • Chinese Hitter Zhang Jing Yin wears Adidas shoes and I have seen him wearing Adidas Harden Vol 06 and Adidas Crazyflight
  • Mathew Andreson of the USA wears a Nike Hyperset
  • Minguel Angel of CUBA wears Lebron 20
  • Torey Defalco Nike Hyperace 2 and Nike Hyperspeed court shoes

What Distinguishes the Shoes of Professional Volleyball Players?

There are a few things to consider before fantasizing about the shoes used by the best volleyball players. These factors make their shoe selection different from beginners, routine players, or those who play volleyball for entertainment and fitness.

Brand Sponsorship

Most of the best players are sponsored by renowned brands including Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, and Asics.

  • They are paid for wearing the respective brand of shoes. So there is a monetization and publicity factor in this. However, this is not the case with the ordinary volleyball players.
  • For instance, the Japanese opposite hitter Yugi Nishida is sponsored by the Asics. As per Nishida’s Statement

As a volleyball player, I’m thrilled to be partnering with ASICS. I look forward to making an impact in on-court performance off the court as well through the partnership. There is going to be more pressure in the upcoming years, but I will look to overcome that, by working hard and improving my game in the process.

https://en.volleyballworld.com/en/beachvolleyball/worldtour/2019/news/japan-superstar-nishida-set-to-leap-even?id=90974

Playing Environment

The playing environment is another important factor affecting shoe performance and selection.

  • Normally, professional players play on extremely neat and clean courts. Almost every shoe gives good traction and performance on such surfaces.
  • However, this is not the case with ordinary players. They might be playing on the dusty floors and less maintained courts. So they need a shoe that offers good traction on all surfaces.

Affordability

Affordability is also an important factor.

  • The best volleyball players wear premium quality volleyball shoes and they have no issue with the budget. They can wear one pair of shoes in one match and a brand new pair in the other match.
  • This is also not a loss-making deal for the sponsor company to spend a few hundred bucks advertising their shoes in front of thousands of spectators.
  • On the other hand, an ordinary person can’t afford to wear a new pair for every match or tournament.
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Durability

Durability can be linked with affordability.

  • The best volleyball players are not concerned with durability. In case of any damage, they have instant availability of other shoes. The sponsor will send them a brand-new pair. In fact, the prime focus is comfort and ease.
  • A common player on the other hand has durability concerns along with comfort and ease. He wants his shoe to go longer.
  • To me, it should last for a season at least. Because I was unable to afford a new pair of shoes after every tournament as a beginner.
  • Few beginners even use the worn-out pair due to the lack of knowledge and sometimes budget constraints. Therefore, it is pertinent for all players to know about the lifespan of volleyball shoes.

Technical Support and Customization

Technical support and customization are also another important factor.

  • The volleyball shoes of professional players are crafted according to their foot size/structure and their requirements. Moreover, they also have professional coaches and technical support staff from the shoe companies. This makes their footwear near to perfection.
  • On the other hand beginners or ordinary players have to select their shoes from the available sizes and model options in the market. This sometimes causes misfit shoes in terms of size and fit.

Performance and Extensive Usage

While Playing at the international level every serve, spike, serve, defend, and dig counts. So there is no compromise on the performance. I believe volleyball shoes are the most important gear linked to the performance on the court.

What Professional Volleyball Players Say About Volleyball Shoes?

Here are the brief notes from the interview of Ivan Yakovlev a Russian Volleyball player on the lifespan of a professional athlete’s sneakers.

What do you think about Metarise shoes?

Yeah, I really like these shoes; they are very soft. Firstly, I thought that the form of these shoes is extraordinary because of the heel form; it’s massive. I thought that the heel would cling and get in the way always.

But then I tried it out, jumped several times and I really liked it. A huge advantage is that these shoes have great ventilation, and it’s very comfortable that the foot doesn’t slip in the shoe.”

Which pair in a Count?

Third, already have two more I already trampled, and the third one I got not long ago, and it’s a white version; I wanna try to play in them. So it’s the third or fourth, and I change a pair of shoes once in two and a half months.”

So you mean every shoe, right?

Especially Asics cause their sole is very soft and loses its softness and elasticity very quickly. After two months of playing in one pair of shoes when I feel any discomfort under my big toe, I change it immediately cause it’s painful already.”

What can you say about shoes? Did you see something that you’d like the same as Asics?

Ballistic is the pair that I liked cause they are very soft and also FF MT, but you’ll have to change them even much more often, and it’s like one and a half months, and if you do not do it then you should lace it up hard and it gets pretty strange form.”

What’s your height and weight?

“207 height and 97 weight.”

Final Thoughts

As per my observation, research, and experience, there is a diversity in the selection and use of shoes by professional volleyball players. In addition to other factors, this selection is primarily affected by brand sponsorship and the physical requirements of each player.

The most popular shoes among the best volleyball players are Nike Hyperset, Crazy Flight, Asics Sky Elite FF2, and Mizuno Wave Momentum 2.

As regards the use of basketball shoes most professional volleyball players prefer volleyball-specific shoes. Considering the shoe selection of the best volleyball players it is less than 10 percent.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular brands among professional players?

Nike, Adidas, Mizuno, and Asics are the most popular volleyball shoe brands among professional volleyball players. Moreover, you may read a detailed article on the volleyball shoe brands for better understanding.

What shoes the Yugi Nishida Wear?

Yugi Nishida- A Japanese opposite hitter is a sponsored player of Asics. He wears Asics Sky Elite FF-2 most of the time.

Francis Wilson is the founder of Best Volleyball Shoe. He is a volleyball enthusiast and former Volleyball Player. He now shares his tons of experience and knowledge on site which he has learned in his volleyball career. The sole objective of this effort is helping in "Finding You the Best Fit"

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