Tennis Shoe Review: Babolat Propulse 4 

The Propulse line is Babolat’s top selling tennis shoe line and is a great option for a player of any tennis skill level. The Babolat Propulse 4 tennis shoes have quickly become popular because of their comfortabilty and their sharp looking designs. The Babolat Propulse tennis shoes were made popular by former #1 player Andy Roddick who endorses the Babolat Propulse 4 shoes as well. This review will evaluate the Babolat Propulse 4 tennis shoe based on four main components: comfortability, foot support, durability and performance.

The comfortability aspect of the Babolat Propulse 4 tennis shoes is the shoe best quality in my opinion. The tennis shoe is ready to go as soon as you walk out the door. There is no break in period that these shoes should go through before playing a match like most other tennis shoes. The Babolat Propulse 4 tennis shoes are very flexible and they wrap around your foot like a glove. These shoes are one of the most comfortable tennis shoes out on the market.

With the Babolat Propulse 4s being a high performance tennis shoe, the foot support is top of the line as well. The foot support and the stability of the Babolat Propulse 4s is definitely a strong point for this shoe. My foot feels secure when performing all of the lateral and forward/backwards movements that are required in tennis. Now, this tennis shoe is designed to be low to the ground to enhance quickness and agility, so the arch support does not quite match up to the rest of the shoe’s foot support, but I feel like the arch support is more than adequate.

While comfort and foot support are the strong points of the Babolat Propulse 4 shoes, the durability of these shoes is a weak point. Now, I am talking weak compared to other top of the line performance tennis shoes like the Adidas Barricade and Asics Gel-Resolution. I normally completely wear through shoes in 2.5 months and the Babolat Propulse 4s lasted me just over 2 months. Toe draggers do not have to worry about wearing through the upper toe area because of Babolat’s cell shield material. This area will fray up a little, but the performance of the shoe is not affected. Although the durability does not quite match up to the best shoes in this category, the Propulse 4s hold up nicely and they do come with a 6 month guarantee.

All in all I am happy with the performance of the Babolat Propulse 4 shoes. I have good quickness and agility on the court with the tennis shoe’s low to the ground design and my feet feel totally secure. This was not the case in previous versions of this shoe. The stability and comfort of these shoes are what make these tennis shoes stand out as these shoes really are match ready as soon as you purchase them.

Micah Groom