5 Best Tennis Shoes For Flat Feet in 2025

How we test tennis shoes for flat feet

We keep our standards high when it comes to testing and selecting shoes for a certain health condition. In case of flat feet, we pay special attention to the shoe’s stability and the factors contributing to it, i.e. torsional rigidity, heel counter stiffess, platform width, etc.

• We use manual tests, tools, and even some specialised machinery to get every measurable data point for the most comprehensive review.
• We test every shoe on hard court to assess its on-foot performance.
• We buy all tested shoes ourselves to prevent bias and brand loyalty.

Do you need tennis shoes for flat feet?

This guide is meant for educational purposes only. Please consult a doctor if you experience any foot pain or discomfort.

When you have a case of flat feet (aka low or fallen arches), it means that your feet have no visible arches between the heel and the ball of the foot. The entire sole of the foot touches the ground when standing.

Flat feet can be flexible or rigid:

• Flexible: The foot arches disappear when you are standing but they are visible when sitting or standing on tiptoes. There is usually no foot pain.
• Rigid: The foot arches are not visible at all times. This type often feels stiff and painful but is also less common.

Studies show that about 20-30% of the general population have flat feet and it happens to be more common among individuals with obesity and women over 40 years old.

The degree of pain and discomfort associated with flat feet varies greatly and some tennis players may not experience them at all. That’s why the mere fact of having flat feet doesn’t mean that you need special tennis shoes.

However, if this condition is accompanied by excessive inward rolling of the foot (overpronation), it makes sense to choose more supportive shoes. As a dynamic sport, tennis involves very forceful lateral movements and flat feet may be one of the risk factors for injury. Overpronation places more stress on the ankles contributing to the risk of ankle rolls and even sprains.

If you have flat feet and overpronation and feel like you could use that added stability and support, here is what to look for in tennis shoes:

• High torsional rigidity (the shoe’s stiff midfoot doesn’t allow you to twist it)
• Stiff and padded heel counter (the shoe holds the rearfoot very securely)
• Wide platform with flanges (there is no chance of foot spilling over the sole)

On the flip side, here are the shoes to avoid:

• Very pliable and forgiving shoes
• Soft and squishy cushioning
• Narrow fit in the midfoot

What is a good tennis shoe for flat feet

To compensate for the misalignment in the feet and ankles, we highly recommend choosing tennis shoes that are geared towards stability as opposed to lightweight and nimble options.

Example of a stability tennis shoe

Stability tennis shoes are packed with supportive features like stiff shanks, sidewalls, and cages to provide the highest levels of lateral stability.

High torsional rigidity

What is one of the telltale signs of a supportive shoe that won’t let your foot buckle at the most crucial moment of the rally? Its core is so rigid that you can’t easily twist it with your bare hands. In other words, it has a very high level of torsional rigidity.

In our lab, we take each tennis shoe through a manual twisting test in which we rate its stiffness on a 1-5 scale. Shoes that get a score of less than 4 or 5 don’t make it to our shortlist for flat foot recommendations.

Stiff and padded heel counter

A secure heel lockdown is a must for any tennis player, especially if they have flat feet. But it becomes increasingly important when ankle stability is at risk.

In some stability tennis shoes, you will see large plastic heel counters on the outside of the rearfoot, while in others, it is embedded into the shoe’s heel collar. But no matter the design, it is the shoe’s rearfoot stiffness that counts and we test the latter with our manual push-and-squeeze test.

Again, no tennis shoes that scored below 4 or 5 make it to our flat foot catalogue.

It is equally important to consider the shoe’s collar padding. There should be enough foam to wrap around your heels and ankles and make them sink deeper into the shoe. This will minimise the wiggle room for impromptu foot play and heel shifting inside the shoe.

Wide platform

When your foot is pancake flat, it naturally takes up a greater area because its entire sole is touching the shoe’s platform.

In that case, you not only need more space to plant the entire foot inside the shoe but also enough of a ‘buffer’ platform around it to avoid any foot spilling over the sole. That’s where sole flares, or flanges, come in to play.

We use a digital calliper to measure the widest areas of each shoe’s midsole both in the forefoot and in the heel.

Believe it or not but the difference between the narrowest and the widest measurements in our extensive database is as great as 12 mm in the forefoot and 17 mm in the heel! Those extra milimeters can be pretty tangible on the court when you need more area to land and push off surefootedly.

Tennis shoes for flat AND wide feet

It is not uncommon to be blessed with both flat and wide feet. The fallen arch makes the foot splay out more resulting in a broader foot shape in general. That’s why you should avoid tennis shoes that fit snug in the midfoot and in the toebox.

But how do you know the shoe’s fit without trying it on in person?

We have developed a proprietary method for measuring each tennis shoe’s interior space with the help of gel. Filling the shoe’s toebox with liquid gel, we keep it in the fridge until the mould is solid and then measure its dimensions with a calliper.

To get a better idea of the shoe’s fit, we measure the replica in three areas:

• toebox width in the widest part (between the ball of foot and the pinkie, right below the toe joints)
• toebox width in the big toe area (narrower part of the toebox)
• toebox height (vertical space in the toe area)

Having measured dozens of tennis shoe moulds, we found that the difference between the widest and the narrowest toeboxes can go up to 10 mm!

What’s more, the shoe’s toebox shape can be either more tapered (pointy) or more rounded and accommodating. We highly recommend ths letter if you often experience any toe cramping or have toe deformities like bunions and bunionettes.

But please note that we are measuring all shoes in a men’s D medium width and US size 9. So these are all shoes that have a roomier fit in their standard default width. You can expand your options by looking at tennis shoes in wide (2E for men/D for women) and extra wide (4E for men/2E for women) variants. Unfortunately, not many brands offer these alternatives but ASICS and New Balance are some of them.

Players with various toe concerns and conditions, such as black toenails or hammer toes, are very likely to appreciate more vertical toebox space too.

Weight: Are tennis shoes for flat feet heavier?

With so many supportive elements built into them, it is only reasonable to expect that tennis shoes for flat feet are heftier. But is that really so?

At RunRepeat, we can easily check it by weighing each tennis shoe in the same size (men’s US 9).

Based on dozens of scale measurements, we found that the average weight of tennis shoes for flat feet is almost the same as as that of all tennis shoes on average:

• All tennis shoes (average): 12.7 oz (360g)
• Tennis shoes for flat feet (average): 12.9 oz (366g)

But if you want to know which options are lighter than others, here is an overview of tennis shoes for flat feet sorted by weight (lighter to heavier):

Tennis shoes may not be enough to help flat feet

If you want to stay as surefooted as possible on the court, getting a quality pair of supportive tennis shoes is fundamental, flat feet or not.

But, unfortunately, there is no magical pair of shoes that can relieve all of the nagging symptoms associated with flat feet. You may need to take some of the following actions as well:

• getting a custom orthotic that targets your specific discomfort or pain
• doing regular foot strengthening exercises or even work with a podiatrist or a physical therapist
• doing special warm up exercises before the match