What shoes would you use if you were the fastest player on the PSA world tour?
The S Line from Eye Rackets, at least that is what Paul Coll uses and I do believe he is the fastest player on tour today ...
Paul is famous for his incredible dives and court coverage. While I find his dives incredible to watch I find his court coverage even more impressive. His dives might have earned him the nickname "Superman" but it is his court coverage that makes him such a great player.
I decided to give a pair of the S Line a try myself to see how they performed, and while I have no intention of diving (at least intentionally) to get balls back, I did find them to be a good performing pair of indoor court shoes.
In this review of the Eye Rackets S Line Indoor Court Shoes we give our take on the following:
First let's hear what Eye Rackets Brand Ambassador Joey Barrington has to say about the S Line:
Now on to our take on the Eye Rackets S Line Indoor Court Shoes.
I find that performance is a function of a few different aspects of an indoor court shoe ...
The S Line features a torsion control system to provide lateral stability. If you look at the lateral side of the shoe the torsion control system is the silver section of the shoe. It runs from the mid sole of the shoe to the medial side. This is designed to limit twisting, or rotation of the shoe from the medial to the lateral side to keep you stable on the court. I found Eye's torsion control system to work very well, and I felt very stable on court when lunging to the ball or planting hard to change direction.
Traction on court is clearly one of the most important components in determining how a court shoe will perform.
Eye has used a durable gum rubber to provide excellent grip on the court. The rubber has been coloured to match the look of the shoe but is a non-marking sole and does grip well. I have played a couple of matches in the S Line so far and have found their grip to be excellent. This gives me confidence that when I need to plant my foot hard to stop and change direction, and that the shoe will not let me down.
The weight of the shoe also is a factor in how well they perform.
A heavier shoe might offer excellent lateral stability and excellent comfort, but the extra weight will slow you down a bit on court. The mesh upper of the S Line helps keep the weight of the shoe down. Having a light shoe is good, but the shoe still needs to be well structured to provide the lateral support that is required. The S Line are a good balance between keeping the weight of the shoe down while still providing the stability necessary.
I compared the weight of the S Line to the weight of the Salming Kobra and the ASICS GEL-Blast 7 and they are right in between the two, weight wise.
The trade-off to pure performance is often at the expense of comfort ...
The mesh upper of the shoe is quite soft and contributes to the overall comfort of the shoe. It also helps with allowing the shoe to breathe. The tongue of the shoe is well cushioned and comfortable. The heel counter is also well cushioned and does not feel harsh on the Achilles tendon.
Probably the most important part of comfort in an indoor court shoe is how well cushioned the sole of the shoe is.
The S Line are reasonably well cushioned in the forefoot area. Under the heel there is extra cushioning. As there is so much lunging in squash it is very hard on your heel. It is a very high impact area and the S Line do a very good job of cushioning the foot on impact.
Overall the Eye Rackets S Line Indoor Court Shoes are a pretty comfortable shoe. They are comfortable while still providing excellent performance.
From a fit perspective we have found that they fit a bit small, although they do loosen up a bit after playing in them.
If you are normally between two sizes, you would mostly like fit best in the half size up. For example, I wear a size 8 normally but in the odd shoe I need an 8.5. In the S Line I am wearing an 8.5.
I would also note up in the forefoot area the rubber protection provided to protect the toe box and medial side from wear from the court is relatively firm and does not give from the inside. As such they are a slightly narrow fit from the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint through the toes.
It is a bit early for us to gauge durability on the S Line as we have only had the the shoes for a month or so now.
From a construction perspective they look to be a very well-constructed shoe. The toe shield that Eye has added to protect against wear from foot drag from the toe through the medial side of the shoe looks to be very solid.
The sole of the shoe is both stitched and glued up in the toe box area.
The eyelets are metal to protect against damage to the upper from tightening of the shoe. On one pair of the shoes we have sold we have seen a bit of wear on the outsole of the shoe right about where it is stitched. Nothing that would affect the performance of the shoe but worth mentioning.
Overall, they look well-built but overall durability will be something we can better comment on in a few months.
While I have just started using the S Line from Eye Rackets I am quite happy with them so far. I have found them comfortable and they perform very well. Lateral support was good as was the cushioning. While they have not magically made me as good a mover as Paul Coll (that would take a lot more work in the gym) they are working well for me.
We carry both the ice white and electric purple colour options. Both are the signature versions of Paul Coll. To learn more about the Eye Rackets S Line Indoor Court Shoe click on the image below to view them in our store!
