Futsal (Indoor Soccer) Shoe Findings for Dance Games

You should try Futsal/Indoor Soccer shoes for dance games if you like the following:

* Tight fit/instant acceleration/"instant lift" feeling

* Great for training your muscles

* A very grounded/flat feeling when playing, but not as flat/grounded as minimalist/barefoot shoes.

* Keeping your feet warm (less breathability than running shoes) -- this part is big for me because my feet get cold easily

Not all Futsal shoes seem to be built equally, though. I purchased a handful of these shoes since they're pretty cheap/affordable to use as training shoes. I'll go into detail on this in a bit.

Background: I sized down to US Men's Size 9/9.5 with all of these shoes to match the experience I had rocking the Nike track flats (Nike Zoom Rival Waffle 6) in US Men's Size 10 before I completely destroyed them after like 8 or so months of use, which I'd say is pretty good given how often I play dance games. Track shoes are sized tighter, like almost down a complete size compared to what they say on the label.

I was thinking about purchasing that pair again because I enjoyed them so much, but I wanted something a little flatter in the toe-box area instead of having a curl. That was where I got the idea of trying out Futsal shoes and sizing them down to match the experience I had with the Nike Zoom Rival Waffle 6.

I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and tried out the Adidas Predator Club Indoor Sala in a US Men's Size 9 (EU 42.5) and pretty much instantly fell in love with how they felt on my feet (and looked!). They definitely needed stretching because of how rigid the materials are, but for 60 bucks I decided on trying them out and thugging out the break-in period.

First session had me going like "damn playing on my toes sucks in these" but I could feel the acceleration buff on Pump massively for both footspeed and heel-toe. It feels like in these shoes I can control my toes and heels independently and pivot them in a way I couldn't with any of the shoes I previously have used. 

You know videos of FEFEMZ playing Pump and moves his toes and heels in a way so fast like a robot that makes you "How"? I'm convinced that in addition to him being one of the world's best dance game players, he just sizes his shoes down a lot to get that instant acceleration effect. When I watch my own videos now in any of my Futsal shoes, my feet just look a lot faster.

The craziest shocker about all of this is when I went to weigh the shoes, they came out at 330 grams. Holy shit! These things are BRICKS! How do I feel faster with BRICKS strapped to my feet than the shoes I was wearing previously that weighed like 200 grams?

Something I figured out is that if a shoe is the perfect fit for athletics, it should be somewhat of a struggle to put on when they're brand new and not broken in. Like I should have to TRY to get my foot in there. Once they're broken-in/stretched, it's much easier to just naturally put the shoes on. I learned this from indoor bouldering because of the advice I got on purchasing my own pair of shoes from experienced boulderer's. I was told that getting the perfect fit, your toes should only be scrunched up just the tiniest bit, and then you'll stretch the shoe out to have a comfortable fit around your toes with enough use. You don't want them to be super scrunched up though, because then you will hurt your toes.

When the shoe fits like this, it won't come on/off when you're in the break-in process unless you loosen the laces. Then once the break-in process is over, tightening the laces more keeps the "ultra-tight" feeling if you want it.

This is where Futsal shoes are built different compared to regular sneakers, running shoes, etc. Because the whole feature of these shoes is that they have durable uppers to always have that "ultra tight" feeling, similar to rock climbing shoes, they don't BREAK when you size them down. They're designed to withstand the stress and forces of being stretched and quick lateral movements putting wear on the sole.

And they're freakin' affordable!!  

Adidas Predator Club Indoor Sala

These seem to be built different depending on the model year. 

The 2025 model (pictured below) has a different rubber sole that weighs a little more than the 2024 model. The 2025 model has "Indoor Sala" printed on it. The shoe weighs 330g in a US Men's Size 9/EU 42.5.

The 2024 model (pictured below) has a rubber sole that weighs a little less. This model does not have "Indoor Sala" printed on it. The shoe weighs 307g in a US Men's Size 9/EU 42.5

You don't really feel the weight because the lock-down on the shoe is incredibly good. The feeling I get playing in these shoes is similar to the precision I feel like I have with my feet in rock climbing shoes. But because they're completely flat, they move nicely on the dance game pads. I really recommend giving these a try because you might be surprised how nice they feel to play in.

The grounded feel in tight sizing makes heeling and toeing feel really direct. I feel like my form is a lot better in the Adidas than any of the other shoes I tried out because the nice grounded feeling + stiff rubber sole. With time and wear, the shoe gets a little more flexible-- just something to note in-case it seems too stiff. They're built pretty rock solid and I'd imagine that it will take a while for me to destroy these.

Something to note is that both of these Adidas models lack significant grip. So if you want a pair of "grounded"/"stiff" feeling shoes that lift fast and are a little more on the slippery side, but not too slippery, both of these seem to work really well. My theory is because the rubber soles are comprised of a harder compound, they take a lot more friction to heat up and become grippy.

Another note is it seems like the difference in weight is because the sole size for the toebox on the 2024 unisex is smaller. If you buy the 2024 unisex model, you should size half a size up from what you actually want for the tight fit. 

These are $60-65 USD everywhere. There's a new model (presumably 2026) that I saw at the Adidas store in Atlantic City when I was down there for Winter Ball. It seems like it weighs a little less than the models I own based on picking it up and feeling it.

Nike Mercurial Vapor Academy 15

These are absolutely overengineered insanity. I love them so much. These are NOT a "training" dance game shoe. These are like, the shoe I'd wear when I'm trying to go for nasty scores but I want to eke out every last drop of performance from my footwear. I like these shoes a lot, but I don't like playing in them all the time because I noticed my workouts suffered wearing them-- my heart rate didn't get up nearly as high as it normally does, and I burned less calories.

Pretty much, this is the lightest shoe I've ever worn that has the most energy return/bounce. They weigh in at 262 grams in a US Men's Size 10 (Nike sizing can be a little weird for me so I played it safe with a Size 10, but I think a 9.5 would have fit me best in this specific shoe). They feel ridiculous when I'm slamming out 16th streams at 180bpm+, like the shoe feels like it's doing a lot of work popping my feet back up-- more than any other shoe I have felt before.

The only caveat to these shoes is that the Air Zoom pockets providing the insane energy return/bounce in both the forefoot/heel, dampen a lot of the pad feeling (which is to be expected). But because the shoe is completely flat similar to the Nike Free RN 2018, it's easy to keep track of where my feet are.

The grip is also really nice unlike the Nike Free RN 2018, which helps a lot with pushing into the Air Zoom pockets to get that energy return.

Senda Ushuaia Pro 2.0   

These are awesome. There's like a million things about this shoe that like, I really really really really really like. It feels like all the positives I like about the Adidas but with more creature comfort-y qualities.

First one. Lockdown. Holy crap. The lockdown. The heel counter uses some sort of like, stiff TPU material that cradles your heel in place but has the right amount of give.

The middle of the upper also uses that same TPU material. So when you lace up, it stays really tight and holds the upper portion of your foot really well. 

The toebox is some sort of leather/pleather that stretches a bit with wear. It feels super tight but comfortable on my toes without any sort of discomfort in a US Men's Size 9/EU 42.5-- the Adidas are uncomfortable until they're stretched out by comparison.

They weigh in at 244 grams in a US Men's Size 9/EU 42.5. Which is pretty surprising, given how solid the rest of the shoe feels. The weight balance is really good in terms of being evenly weighted throughout the shoe.

The grip is really good, and the cushioning is that "just right" amount where playing intense stuff doesn't feel draining but it doesn't feel like the shoes are giving me any sort of insane assistance like the previously mentioned Nike's do.

These feel like a really nice "all-rounder" shoe that just does above average in all the categories I care about. I like wearing these the most right now. 

Umbro Classico XIII

I would say the overall build quality is a bit cheaper compared to the Adidas, but they're lighter as a result and weigh 250g. 

The fit out of the box felt really nice/comfortable and it didn't need a lot of stretching unlike the Adidas. 

However, it felt like they weren't helping me as much on sustained drilling/streaming efforts because of the lack of material in the rubber sole. The Adidas feel like they have a leg up here, because even though there isn't any sort of foam cushioning in the Adidas, the thick rubber sole seems to absorb shock much better than the Umbro Classico XIII's thin rubber sole-- it felt like over time in the Umbros I could feel my leg muscles getting more and more tired much faster.

The Umbro Classico XIII felt really similar to wearing minimalist shoes, but the "lift" feeling felt a lot nicer to me/much more instant than said minimalist shoes because of how much more substantial the upper part felt. 

Likewise, the grip was also much better compared to a lot of the other shoes I've tried-- the rubber soles seem to be made out of a softer/more flexible rubber, which led to them gripping better on smooth surfaces.