Skechers Pickleball Shoes

If you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Details

Skechers Pickleball?

Skechers is a renowned American shoe company that designs, develops, and markets footwear for men, women, and children. The company has gained quite a reputation for its fashionable and comfortable shoes. Now it appears that Skechers is looking to get into the pickleball market with a new line of pickleball-specific shoes. Why would Skechers want to get involved in pickleball? For one thing, pickleball is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. According to the Pickleball Industry Report published by Sports Marketing Surveys USA Inc., the number of people playing pickleball grew from 2.8 million in 2013 to 3.4 million in 2016. That’s an impressive 23% growth rate! It’s not just the number of players that is increasing; the amount of money being spent on pickleball equipment is also on the rise. In fact, according to the same report mentioned above, retail sales of pickleball gear increased from $74 million in 2013 to $85 million in 2016 – a whopping 15% increase!

With more and more people playing pickleball and spending money on gear, it makes sense that companies like Skechers would want to get involved in this growing market. Skechers already has a strong presence in tennis and running, and sees pickleball as a natural extension of its portfolio. After all, as any savvy business person knows, it’s important to be where your customers are – and right now, they’re playing pickleball!

Skechers had signed two of pickleball’s top players as brand ambassadors ahead of the 2022 championship tournament for what some call the country’s fastest-growing sport. At the Open Pickleball Championships, Skechers also provided footwear to all volunteer captains at the event. The Skechers Viper Court pickleball shoe is now available in stores across the US and you can order them online as well. Catherine Parenteau and Tyson McGuffin have now teamed up with Skechers USA.  Parenteau, previously having been ranked number two in women’s singles and women’s doubles as well as number four in mixed doubles in pickleball, is now playing at a higher level than ever before. She is a professional pickleball player and has won many awards. She also runs her own pickleball training called CP Pickleball Academy.  

Skechers History

Skechers is an American footwear company, founded in 1992 by CEO Robert Greenberg. The company sells over 3,000 styles of shoes for women, men, and children. The company’s first store was opened in 1993 in Manhattan Beach, California. In the early 1990s, Skechers had two major competitors in the United States: Reebok and Nike. However, due to aggressive marketing campaigns that featured celebrities such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera endorsing the brand, by 1995 Skechers had captured 20% of the US athletic shoe market share – a feat which has not been repeated by any other company since. In 1999, Greenberg took the company public on Nasdaq with great success. The IPO raised $115 million and shares soared from an initial price of $16 to almost $45 within days. This made Skechers one of the hottest stocks on Wall Street at the time and Greenberg himself a billionaire overnight.

However, things took a turn for the worse when it was revealed that several members of management had engaged in fraudulent activities. Several class action lawsuits were filed against the company and took a while before the litigation was finally settled – at a cost of $40 million to Skechers issued by the Federal Trade Commission. Later they run into trouble again with Nike trying to sue them for copying a number of styles. This dispute went on for years until they decided to settle a private agreement in 2021. Despite the setbacks, under new leadership, Skechers managed to bounce back and today it is once again one of America’s most popular footwear brands. It continues to grow rapidly both domestically and internationally with sales reaching almost $5 billion last year alone. With over 2,600 stores around the world (including 400+ outlets), chances are you’re never too far from a pair of Skechers shoes!

Viper Court

Women / Men

Skechers has designed a great pair of pickleball shoes in the Viper Court. The shoe is comfortable and has good support with a padded tongue and collar. They also have perforations in the toe box to help with breathability. The outsole has excellent traction and grip on the court so you can make quick movements without slipping. This is an affordable and functional pickleball shoe, but I have to say that I have never been a fan of Skechers styles. Although this shoe is not heavy, it seems like they always make shoes that look stiff, bulky, and have a “heavy” look. Even the style of the shoe to me looks like they are made for kids… I think it is fair to say though that they are almost always the more affordable option, which is their claim to fame so I probably should not be complaining.

The Skechers Arch Fit® system is patented and provides podiatrist-certified arch support. The design has been developed over 20 years with data from 120,000 unweighted foot scans. The removable insole helps to mold the shoe to your foot to prevent rubbing and help balance out the weight of the shoe. ULTRA FLIGHT® cushioning is ultra-lightweight and responsive. Goodyear® Performance Outsole gives you decent traction, which is extremely important if you want to make quick movements on the court without getting injured. The shoe comes in 3 different colors for Men and 5 different colors for Women.

For those looking for an affordable option, this shoe is definitely competitive because shoe companies are just now getting into pickleball and it can be hard to find the right shoe for hard surfaces. Otherwise, if you are willing to spend just a little bit more you have many more options that are definitely worth the extra dollar and will last you twice as long. If you want to see our top picks for pickleball shoes, you can go here.

Conclusion:

Skechers is a massive company that has been around for ages and is here to stay so it’s nothing but good news that the company has decided to engage in the pickleball community. Their partnership with the US Open Pickleball Championships along with sponsoring Tyson McGuffin and Catherine Parenteau will definitely put them on the map, but we will have to wait and see whether or not they continue to innovate and involve themselves to grow pickleball.