Adidas Women's Barricade 13, White/Black/Grey, 9

Why it's worth it

The Barricade is for players who destroy outsoles. Adiwear rubber is about as hard-wearing as court rubber gets, foam Sensepods pack out the gaps around your heel, and the whole shoe holds your foot in place through hard changes of direction.

Barricades have been the durability benchmark in court shoes for a long time, and this version keeps the reputation. The Adiwear outsole uses a hard compound built for high-wear areas, which matters if you're on outdoor concrete several times a week. Toe drag is what ends most court shoes, and this one holds out longer than the lighter models here. You pay for that in weight, not in sole life.

Lockdown is the real reason to buy it. The GEOFIT Sensepods are foam pads in the heel collar that fill the empty space around your ankle bones, so your heel doesn't lift and slide inside the shoe. That's the difference between support you can feel and support that only exists on the spec sheet. Owners playing indoor pickleball consistently describe the grip as sticky, with no skating on gym floors.

From our review of 6 pickleball shoes for court support, by Eleanor Vance, Health & Beauty Editor

What we like

• +Barricades have been the durability benchmark in court shoes for a long time, and this version keeps the reputation
• +Lockdown is the real reason to buy it
• +The REPETITOR midsole keeps it from feeling dead
• +Owner feedback skews toward people with medium-to-wide forefeet who finally found something that fits, and plenty of them come…

What to know

• –It's heavy. The Barricade carries more material than anything else here, and a quick, light-footed player who likes feeling the…
• –Adidas sells this as a tennis shoe, not a pickleball model, so you're buying on transferable qualities — grip, lockdown, outsole…