PUMA TRC Blaze Court review

We believe that this basketball shoe from PUMA is ideally suited for players who:

• are lighter and faster like point or shooting guards
• mostly play their games indoors
• want a sleek performance shoe that doubles as a lifestyle sneaker

The PUMA TRC Blaze Court is a disaster on outdoor courts as it breaks down way too easily. If you want a lasting hoop shoe for that purpose, we recommend the Jordan Zion 2 instead.

And if you need a shoe that's more resistant to dust, the Adidas D.O.N Issue#4 and the Nike Zoom Freak 4 proved to be better options.

Measuring the shoe's midsole with a calliper, we got 29 mm of stack height in the heel.

And while that's exactly the same as the average, the PUMA TRC Blaze Court feels thicker because of all the impact protection that it provides. It actually felt as if our feet were standing on a pedestal which did result in having less court feel.

In the forefoot, the stack height gets naturally lower. We got a calliper reading of 20.1 mm which is even a couple of millimetres less than the average.

The PUMA TRC Blaze Court has a slightly higher than average drop of 8.9 mm. Having more abundant cushioning under the heel made us feel very safe and supported, no matter how hard our landings were.

The PUMA TRC Blaze Court has a firmer type of cushioning. Our durometer shows a reading of 32 HA. This is 15% firmer than the average of our tested basketball shoes. However, the shoe doesn't feel dull at all!

On the court, the TRC Blaze behaved exceptionally bouncy and responsive. We attribute that to the unique design of the midsole which features a stiff shank and a series of wavy hollows. Apparently, it helps to create a springboard-like effect.

It all made jumping in this PUMA shoe super easy and almost effortless.

A padded insole amplifies the underfoot comfort of the TRC Blaze Court. At 4.7 mm, it is about as thick as the average.

Measuring the widest part of the shoe's toebox, our calliper shows 95.7 mm. This is a few millimetres narrower than average but it still fits our medium-width feet well.

But we did find it to be more of a one-to-one fit rather than a roomy one. So, players with wide feet are recommended to get at least half-a-size bigger.

We also made sure that the TRC Blaze Court doesn't get too tapered by measuring the toebox width at the big-toe mark.

At 76.4 mm, it is only a millimetre narrower than average.

The PUMA TRC Blaze Court has a slightly higher than average drop of 8.9 mm. Having more abundant cushioning under the heel made us feel very safe and supported, no matter how hard our landings were.

This PUMA basketball shoe boasts a high level of support and stability. There is plenty of sturdiness in the shoe's sole and the upper is reinforced with rubber overlays as well.

As a result, lateral movements were all well supported in the TRC Blaze Court.

Testing the shoe's torsional rigidity in our manual test, it feels very unforgiving. Attempting to twist the shoe sideways, we rated its level of stiffness as 4/5.

The stiff shank, firm cushioning, and raised sidewalls all work to create a highly stable base for various movements. Never once did we feel as if our ankles were going to roll.

The heel counter is just as mighty stiff as the sole. On a 1-5 scale, we gave it a rating of 4. Our heels and ankles were held firmly all throughout the game. Not a sight of heel slippage.

The TRC Blaze Court from PUMA has a fairly wide landing area.

In the widest part of the forefoot, we measured the shoe at 111.4 mm. This is an average width for basketball shoes but it made us feel surefooted all throughout the test.

In the widest part of the heel, the sole width reaches 90.4 mm. This is also an average width but a reliable one for sure.

The heel-to-toe transitions feel very smooth in the PUMA TRC Blaze Court. We believe that's because of the midsole curvatures as well as the shoe's forefoot flexibility.

We tested the latter with the help of a force gauge. It took 31.2N to bend the shoe to a 90-degree angle. This is 34% less than it takes on average.

The PUMA TRC Blaze Court is a great pick for fast and explosive movements. At 13.1 oz (372g) per shoe, it turns out to be 0.5 oz (15g) lighter than our lab-tested basketball shoes on average.

But when on the court, it feels even lighter than that! This PUMA shoe allowed us to accelerate without being held back.

Based on our breathability test, the PUMA TRC Blaze Court doesn't let the heat escape so easily. Pumping smoke through the shoe's upper, it was barely passing through. On a 1-5 scale, where 5 is the most breathable, we rated this PUMA shoe as only 2/5.

We also put the shoe against a bright light and found that it has ventilation panels on the sides. This is the most transparent part of the shoe's upper. But apparently, these are not enough to help with better aeration.

In addition, the toebox material is woven extra-tightly on this PUMA shoe.

Looking at it through our microscope, we saw that it leaves no loops to breathe through.

If you would like to see a more breathable hoop shoe from PUMA, consider the Rise Nitro.

With a durometer reading of only 69.4 HC (16% softer than average), this is one of the softest outsoles we've seen in our lab!

And for a basketball shoe, this is NOT a good thing if you play outdoors.

It took us a single playtest to find out that the shoe's soft rubber and thin treads melt when contacting a harsh surface.

PUMA did try to compensate for the softness with a super thick outsole. Using a calliper, we measured the rubber thickness at 5.8 mm (waaay thicker than average!).

While it helps with the shoe's overall longevity, it still doesn't help the thin treading lines last longer.

In our opinion, PUMA went for some really cheap upper materials, even for a £120 shoe.

Not only do they look cheap, they are in fact extremely frail. The laces look as if they were taken out of a £20 Walmart sneaker!

We actually think that the "quality" of materials on the TRC Blaze Court can be a deal-breaker that undermines all the other things that this basketball shoe does so well!

Even though the shoe's outsole is too frail for the outdoors, its performance is phenomenal indoors!

The multidirectional treads form a very efficient pattern for stopping on a sixpence and changing directions quickly. No matter where we took our next step, there were a number of tread lines facing that direction.

But like many basketball shoes, the PUMA TRC Blaze Court is sensitive to dust. Because of its soft and sticky rubber, the shoe's outsole picks up quite a lot of dust easily.

We also made sure that the TRC Blaze Court doesn't get too tapered by measuring the toebox width at the big-toe mark.

At 76.4 mm, it is only a millimetre narrower than average.

The tongue of the TRC Blaze Court is among the thickest we've seen! Our calliper shows 12.9 mm which is (wow!) 3.5 mm thicker than average!

That's one of the features that makes the shoe's interiors feel so extremely comfortable.

Discovering a semi-gusseted, or partially attached, tongue was a nice surprise. That doesn't usually happen in more affordable shoes.

We received plenty of foot containment from the PUMA TRC Blaze Court and that is in part thanks to the gussets.

There are no heel tabs on this PUMA shoe, but it's not that big of a deal. It is quite easy to get the shoe on and off.

If you need to use a different insole or custom orthotics with the TRC Blaze Court, it is not a problem. The shoe's native insole is easy to remove.