Review Guide

Here at TGRR, we’re trying to set ourselves apart when it comes to our performance reviews. We want to bring you – the reader and the athlete – the most accurate and comprehensive performance reviews so you can choose a shoe that best fits your physical profile and style of play.

We, along with pretty much any other review site, used to give you arbitrary “scores” for our categories and then an overall score. This is great from a number sense, as you can see what “grade” each shoe gets. However, it’s not the most accurate way to review a shoe and present our findings. We found that too much personal preference found its way into these scores.

It also became difficult when weighting the categories and determining overall scores – I could have a shoe that I loved cushioning/traction/heel-toe transition, but if the fit wasn’t secure then I would not like the way it played. But adding up those scores for an overall score might put that shoe ahead of another that I actually liked playing in even if its category scores didn’t necessarily add up. A shoe that played greater than the sum of its parts (a bit like the UA Micro G Anatomix Spawn) were difficult to convey.

It also was difficult to be specific. What exactly are you getting if the cushioning gets a “9” score? Some shoes, like Crazyquick, needed to have firmer, more flexible cushioning in order to make the shoe perform at a high level. Others, such as the Super.Fly 2, have a much softer, plush setup. Both can be perfectly utilized in their specific situations, but we felt the need to differentiate and be specific.

Beginning in January 2014 (starting with the Nike Zoom Kobe 4 Venomenon review), we’re going to start displaying our reviews in a new (and hopefully improved) way. We’ll now be introducing seven scales within the five current categories we touch on.

The shoe will still be “rated” in each category, and will receive a point plotted on the line that corresponds with the category. For example you’ll see that the Cushion category now has three different ways to judge it (cushioning/responsiveness/court feel), and will give you a more accurate and clear picture when deciding if a shoe is right for you. If it sounds confusing, it’s not. Here’s how we’ll lay it out, in graphic form, along with key aspects we look at in each category:

Fit
Keys: Toebox, midfoot, heel fit; overall lockdown and stability; comfort; lacing system
Scale:

Heel-Toe Transition
Keys: Smooth, easy transition; whether it helps/hurts the cushioning
Scale:

Cushioning
Keys: Impact protection; responsiveness; court feel; how well it works with rest of shoe
NOTE: This “Cushioning” scale doesn’t represent “good” or “bad” cushioning – sometimes a shoe works best with firmer cushioning, sometimes it’s better with softer cushioning. It’s simply designed to show you what type it is so you can decide based on your cushioning preference. Good or bad cushioning can be understood by looking at all 3 scales together.
Scales:

Traction
Keys: Lateral movement; security while cutting/changing direction at full speed; stop-and-squeak
Scale:

Materials/Durability
Keys: Quality of materials; long-term durability; finish and details
Scale: