Looking for pad and shoe advice

[Jsn]

Hi I'm pretty new to DDR, I'm looking to buy a nice pad. Right now it looks like I'm going to go with the RedOctane ignition pad, but does anyone else have a better suggestion? is this pad good? I'd rather not spend more than around 100 for a pad.

Also, I'm looking for a good pair of shoes to wear in excercises. I've really always only wore skater shoes and those just don't have the kind of support like athletic sneakers, so I need to find a good pair. Any suggestions there too? I don't want to buy any online, I've gotta be able to try them on first

And then, should I not wear shoes on the soft DDR pads? I still need some good sneakers anyway, though

[Voco]

I never wear shoes when playing DDR or socks
What version of DDR are you getting?
I have the Ultramixes and i got a Naki pad and it hasn't failed me yet.

[SSC]

I always use basketball shoes.

[LegendofMatt]

I really like the ignitions, mine have held up for awhile. Shoes i use for the arcade are Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

[ryanddrfreak]

[glow=red,2,300]do not wear sneakers on the pads [/glow]

[DukesterM]

Do not wear shoes, DO wear socks. Bare feet breaks pads, especially the matted soft pads. Why? Because when your feet get a bit sweaty, they stick to the pad, and thats when you start ripping and malforming the pad. On a lot of soft pads, especially level six pads, using bare feet will mean a quick end to the pad because of the material they use.

In my experiance matted/ignition pads are not worth the money you put in them. A soft, unpadded ddr pad is much better as 1) You get more lift off of a hard surface than a cusion. 2) If its a Konami pad it will last much longer.

[rosette]

is there a reason (like manufacturer's instructions?) why sneakers shouldn't be worn, or is it preference??

[DukesterM]

Porbably just that sneakers will 1) dirty it up and 2) add more friction which will rip/tear the matt/move around the underwiring/working so that the matt wont work anymore (arrows stop working, etc). Use shoes on Metal pads.

[Laura Moncur]

The Red Octane pad is really good. I wear those slipper socks when I work out with it because bare feet give me blisters and regular socks slip.

[Frosty555]

On a soft pad, it is ABSOLUTELY VITAL THAT YOU DO NOT WEAR SHOES!!! YOUR POOR SOFT PAD!!!

The reason is because shoes create a lot more friction when you play. You will tear your soft pad very fast. Also you'll dirty it, and you'll crush down the arrows faster then if you play in only your bare-feet, but ripping and tearing is the number-one problem.

For soft pads, I sometimes play in bare feet, but I also have hard feet after many years of Karate... XD. So if you don't like the slipperyness of socks, you can wear soft slippers (that don't have a sole). Aqua slippers (for wearing in a pood) work really good too.

Now, there are many mods out there to turn a soft-pad into a shoe-worthy soft pad. If usually involves rolling plastic overtop of the pad with lots of duct tape . You can search for that on google searching for "soft pad mods"

------------------------------

If you're planning on playing on a hard pad, or at the arcade, I suggest wearing any kind of athletic running shoes. All good DDR players play on their toes. Running shoes have good curl to the toes allowing you to do so easily. Skate shoes are exactly the opposite and you'll find that your feet "slap" the pad as you come down. Makes it kinda difficult, and not fun, and sometimes painful.

My personal suggestion (Because I wear them), are NewBalance running shoes. I love these things, they're SO comfy, and so great. They're also $120... but yeah. It's worth it. My current pair have lasted me 2 years.

[mornington]

Frosty555 said:

Now, there are many mods out there to turn a soft-pad into a shoe-worthy soft pad. If usually involves rolling plastic overtop of the pad with lots of duct tape . You can search for that on google searching for "soft pad mods"

Thanks for mentioning that. I've got a soft pad with absolutely no padding, and I play on our basement's concrete slab floor. I've been playing with just socks for a couple of weeks and my knees are *killing* me. I'd rather wear shoes and kill the pad rather than having to stop playing, but if I can preserve both the pad and myself, that'd be the way to go

[Skycania]

Whatever you do, do not ever, ever, ever play in flipflops. I got a weirdish skin condition on my ankle and was not allowed to wear shoes for a couple of weeks. I dance dance almost every day at the arcade, and after a while my feet got sweaty, and slipped off the shoe, causing me to fall over and fail my favourite song... that was lameeee! I use skate shoes just because of the padding. Very comfortable. Globe Occy 4's.

[Frosty555]

My correction, you should search for "soft pad" "modding". What i said last time won't give u any results.

Here's some sites for u to quickly check out:

DDRFreak's DEFINITIVE mod that everyone loves. Making your soft-pad sneaker-worthy
www.ddrfreak.com/library/faqs-modding.php

Preventing sliding/tearing, not for sneaker use
www.ddrmaine.com/misc.php?homemod

A bit of a bigger project. Dunno, you be the judge
www.planetharold.com/ddr.html

[urbanjunglekitten]

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh . . . .

*makes mental list of stuff she's going to need*

UJKitten

[hiddenblue]

Has anyone ever tried ballet slippers?

I dance on an Ignition and after about 90 minutes, even in slipper socks AND regular socks (that's two pair of socks*), my feet kill. I was thinking of trying to find some soft-soled dance shoes, like ballet slippers.

*I wear two pairs of socks because one pair tends to slip around and off my foot when I am dancing!

[urbanjunglekitten]

I can try the ballet slipper thing for you if you want . . . I have a pair laying around gathering dust since I graduated. I mostly danced modern in college so I'm used to dancing barefoot but I took a few ballet classes and the slippers do offer some support but *no* padding. Also, the leather on the bottom of the slipper is intended to provide grip on a rubber mat (called a "marley") so the dancer doesn't fall on her a** in the middle of a turn. This grip action might be kind of a problem on the soft pads. But I will test the theory if anyone is curious.

UJKitten

[DDRMom]

Playing with shoes on will always be easier on your legs & feet than without. But you can't use shoes on the soft pads.
I have RedOctane Ignition soft pad, and bought a pad cover (about 14.00 on the RedOctane website) which is just a piece of vinyl to lay over the pad so you can play with shoes on. You could make one yourself but it's nice to have one that exactly fits the pad. It slips a bit, but not badly (maybe 1" after each song) and you just nudge it back on. It works great. Definitely better than playing without shoes!

Someone gave me a RedOctane metal pad which I was afraid would be too hard on my knees (middle-ager that I am) but it really does have 'give' to it and has not been hard on knees and feet at all.

[rosette]

I'm trying out a new idea.....stretching big gym socks OVER my sneakers. Anyone think my sneakers could still damage the pad even with the socks over them? I just am concerned that I'm inviting foot/leg problems (ok, I admit, I'm middle aged too) dancing in socks only. I've only done it once so far. I'd gotten so used to dancing in socks that I have to get back in the groove w/ arch support, but I'm hopeful!

[0rion.78]

i'm pretty sure soes like these.....

www.zappos.com/n/p?dp=260804&c=720

would be OK on a dance pad, but correct me if i'm wrong.

[xstatic]

Whatever you do, do not ever, ever, ever play in flipflops. I got a weirdish skin condition on my ankle and was not allowed to wear shoes for a couple of weeks. I dance dance almost every day at the arcade, and after a while my feet got sweaty, and slipped off the shoe, causing me to fall over and fail my favourite song... that was lameeee! I use skate shoes just because of the padding. Very comfortable. Globe Occy 4's.

I made the mistake last summer of playing in flipflops...back when I first started playing. Of course your feet sweat right away and guess what happened.. I fell and nearly killed myself.
A:very emberrasing to do in an arcade and
B:I could have broken my ankle.

As of right now I waer skate shoes @ the arcade and the metal pad killed my shoes. They both have huge air bubbles in the soles and now sqeak when I walk. I go barefoot @ home on my soft pad...and I have it taped to the top of my dead (RIP) ignition pad, so I still get the support.