With or without pads - What's better?

13 june 2020, 11:09 2103

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It’s been a while since we wrote about pads, so we’ve received a lot of questions from our followers – the questions were formed in many different ways but all of them had one meaning:

“What kind of pads do you recommend?”

“Is it possible not to use pads at all?”

“Which ones are the best?”

I’ll do my best to answer all the questions mentioned above. Here are a few tips!

Why does one have to wear toe pads? 

• To protect a foot from friction with the rough inner surface of a ballet shoe (just like when you buy new shoes, you probably put on capron socks – they solve approximately the same problem),
• To provide cushioning and to protect skeleton and ligaments from bumps. Imagine the easiest mountings, rollings, bourree – there is quite a bump in these movements, isn’t there?
• To fill in empty spaces in a ballet shoe box in order to avoid distortion of a shoe box and foot deformation.

Are pointe shoe pads mandatory? 

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I know that there is a great number of dancers and dance instructors who think that pads were created by cowards.

They are right only in relation to the purpose number 1: "To protect a foot from friction with the rough inner surface of a ballet shoe". It is true that with time the skin on your foot gets used to friction in uncommon places, your knuckles start having hard bunions so friction in your pointe shoes no longer disturbs you.

However cushioning is very important both for cowards and brave ones. 

What types of pointe shoe pads are there? 

Generally in order to provide cushioning and to protect skeleton and ligaments from bumps" it is enough to use tiny silicone “drops” that go into the bottom of the box.

However, they don’t fix very well inside a pointe shoe box and then get lost in your bag…

Traditional pads in the form a toecap, with elongated sides, are much more comfortable and serve purpose number 3 ("fill in empty spaces in a ballet shoe box" ) just great.

In my opinion the best cushioning is provided by silicone pads – thanks to their width and adhesive “rubber” material. Here is one of the best silicone pads we know on the market: silicone pads "Prestige" by Italian brand Techdance. 

In my opinion the best cushioning is provided by silicone pads – thanks to their width and adhesive “rubber” material.

However many silicone pads don’t serve purpose number 1 as good as gel or cotton-sponge ones and can get you serious blisters.
That’s why they are not in favour of those who don’t like them :)))

The truth is that the correct pad type depends on the shape of dancer's feet. In the following articles, you can find out more information about Greek, Egyptian and Roman feet type and their related perfect paddings. 

Well, that’s about it….If you still have questions about pads, let me know in the comments below!