One of the most common questions new parkour athletes ask when they first take lessons at one of our parkour gyms is about what to wear. Specifically, new athletes want to know if the shoes they already have will work for parkour, or, if they need to drop some more cash on a new pair of athletic shoes.
If you’re a parent or athlete with this question, you’re in the right place.
Parkour shoes at Freedom in Motion Parkour gym
In this article, we’re going to cover what kid’s of parkour shoes to look out for. Why and when one would need to consider parkour shoes. Lastly, we will offer you a 10% discount code to our favorite parkour shoes specifically for new athletes at the beginner or intermediate level.
Let's jump in (pun intended)
Do beginners need parkour shoes?
Short answer, yes, beginners most likely do need good shoes. Unfortunately, many shoes are pretty clunky and provide a poor foot-to-floor connection. Oftentimes, shoes are so thick, if you watch a new athlete climb a tree or a rock, you’ll see them try to use their knees, inner thighs, or sides of their feet to get a grip. This in part happens because the feel through their thick foam shoe is so poor, their brains are looking for other connections to provide feedback for the climb. A lifetime of thick unresponsive shoes leaves your brain unable to make quick accurate decisions based on the information your feet are providing as they feel the textures, forces, and pressures on your skin. If that’s all you needed, here is a link right to the shoes we most recommend to beginners. You can get 10% off using code FiM10
The best parkour shoes for beginners
It’s likely that your shoes are already decent enough to give parkour a try. Any running shoe or multi-sport shoe like vans are workable for their first parkour session or so.
We suggest that new athletes wear some kind of shoe, however later on training barefoot also has some great benefits. Be open to that when the time comes if suggested by a coach or you are tempted to play barefoot if you see other parkour athletes going no-shoe for their warm up or a segment of the session.
Avoid this in shoes!
Shoes that are very thick and will provide such a bad feel are almost useless. Next, shoes with plastic on the underside can be a slip-risk and should be avoided. Finally, shoes with a soft foam underside will provide poor traction and will get destroyed quickly. Avoid shoes like crocs or sandals.
Freedom in Motion Parkour Gym Recommends Parkour Shoes.
Freedom in Motion is a parkour gym with multiple locations and thousands of hours of experience working with kids and adults who are learning parkour. We have found that at the beginner and intermediate level, a pair of shoes like the Feiyue classics offer great all around performance while being one of the most affordable shoes on the market.
What we like about these shoes.
Light weight
Very flexible
Great grip
Great feel
Look sharp
Very affordable
We wrote an entire in depth review of these shoes if you’d like to see how they stack up to other parkour shoes we have tried out.
Live near a Freedom in Motion location? Come check out one of our parkour gyms or see our online parkour program to learn anywhere in the world! Visit our site here
Train Safe!