High Top: Players for whom physical contact is a big part of their game prefer the high top designs. Power players tend to wear these a lot because they’ll often be grabbing the ball on rebounds and carrying out jump shots, so the extra cushioning and support around their ankles help when landing back down on the court.

Low Top: These types of basketball footwear is designed for players with quick bursts of speed. They’re smaller, offering less drag and weight, and are designed for players with dynamic movement, using their agility to get to the hoop and achieve their goals. Low tops are also designed with traction in mind, to minimize the chance of slippage or injury on quick turns.

However, this does come at a cost and in this case, it lacks ankle support that most players need when landing from slam-dunking the ball, or jump shots.

Mid Top: These types of shoes are generally for the all-around player. They don’t restrict the ankles as much as high tops, but will have a limited amount of ankle support, which is good for landing after big jumps. The pay off is that these are lighter than high tops and players will be able to move around the court more dynamically.

Youth is hard on shoes. Parents are aware like no one else how quickly an active kid can burn through footwear. This is especially true of kids involved in sports that are heavy on the footwork – soccer, basketball, tennis, track and others.

To get the best value for your money, we looked for options that are durable and at least have a chance at lasting until your child is ready for their next size up. Some of the things that you can look out for are:

Strong Uppers: Leather makes a very durable upper material. It’s natural and tough, able to stretch a little to adapt to a foot, while also resisting breakdown from pressure, friction, and rubbing. Most of the designs in our list are made with leather uppers.

Strong Laces: Your child’s foot puts a lot of pressure on their shoes during a basketball game. Good strong laces ensure that the foot is not slipping around inside while allowing the shoe to move with the child. They provide support for those sudden bursts of movement from side to side.

Rubber Soles: Rubber soles do more than give great traction on the hardwood. Rubber is a natural and durable material that resists wear better than some other sole choices. Synthetic and hardened rubbers (like vulcanized or carbonized rubber) are much more wear-resistant.

Compressible Midsole: The midsole offers shock-absorption and cushioning. It is usually made of a foam material and, depending on the quality of the foam, it can collapse. We looked for footwear that had a compressible but strong midsole that won’t give out easily under the beating that your child will give them.

Many professional NBA players also have their own line of footwear. Sometimes, this is just simple branding; but often, player-endorsed designs contain quality materials with a solid construction and technology that will boost your kid’s game.

Jordan Nike Air
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a retired professional basketball player and is considered by most to be the greatest player of all time. Jordan played 15 seasons in the NBA for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. His main achievements include being named the NBA’s most valuable player five times, winning the NBA Championship six times, NBA Defensive Player of the Year, NBA All-Star on 14 occasions, three of which he was voted All-Star MVP.

His footwear, the Air Jordans, has reached legendary status by now. There are some options which are collectibles and thus of very high value, but there are some that can still be effectively used on the court.

Nike Lebron
Lebron Raymore James is a professional basketball player for the NBA, considered by many to be the best basketball player on the court today. He started his professional career with the Cleveland Cavaliers as the first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. James has won many awards and championships, including Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and three NBA Championships. He even has earned himself two Olympic Gold medals, which is a very impressive achievement!

Nike Kobe
Kobe Bryant is the only player whom Michael Jordan said could beat him in a one on one, and that was because he stole all his moves! Kobe is a retired professional basketball player, and the only player in NBA history to have two of his jersey numbers retired. In 2010, Kobe became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 30,000 points at the age of 34, a record that was only beaten in 2018 by Lebron James at the age of 33.

While you may feel a little overwhelmed by all these big basketball names and impressive resumes - we assure that there's no reason to be! In our list, we ranked our designs according to the popularity and quality of their brands, but you absolutely don't have to rely on that to get your kid a pair of great shoes.

Remember: in the grand scheme of things, the brand name has very little to do with the overall quality of a design. It is mostly about the comfort, the traction, the fit, and the support.

Comfort can be found in all aspects of a good design. Basketball footwear knows how important it is to ease the pressure on the feet during the twisting and turning on the court - thus, it aims to help players enhance their performance.

Starting from basic features like a padded tongue and collar, the smallest enhancements can sometimes be the most essential. Since the tongue and collar are what comes most in contact with the foot, it’s important to have cushioning there to prevent the possibility of friction. These contact areas can create irritation and blisters which is why many of these shoes are built with comfortable cushioning to protect your skin.

Other than the padded tongue and collar, you may also wonder about all the different technologies that are built into some of the designs in our guide. Nike React, Nike Air Zoom, Adidas Boost and so on - the list can be quite long.

All of these are specially engineered comfort systems that deliver different levels of cushioning, response and energy return to the player's feet. What is important here is that no one brand or no one technology is better than the other. Rather, the system that is the best is the one which works for your kid's feet. What may work for someone else may not work for them, and vice verse. This is particularly true when it comes to youth and their still growing feet.

So take a moment to assess all the pros and cons of each brand technology, and make a decision based on what you and your child think sounds the best. Don't be disheartened if it proves to be uncomfortable! There are many other options out there to select from, and you are bound to find something that suits your kid sooner rather than later.

Flexibility is a feature that must be present in each element of the basketball shoe separately. When shopping for performance footwear, you must make sure that the frame, the upper build, and the sole are all flexible enough to practice sports with.

Flexibility is the foundation of most motions you can possibly make with your feet, and if your footwear lacks it, you are opening yourself up to stress and tension, especially in the arch of the foot. Look for basketball designs that offer flexibility in the soles, which will allow your feet to move naturally when running and jumping.

Technologies like flex grooves and special materials are always useful in this matter.

However, flexibility is a feature that, like many others, should be present but not in excess. The flexibility of a material is inversely proportional to its support; meaning that as a material gets more flexible it starts to lose its structure and fails to hold the foot in place. Your job would be to find that perfect balance between stiff and flimsy, and not let your kid's game suffer because of too much or too little flexibility.