New Balance Women's WC786 Cushion Tennis Shoe

I was so in love with my New Balance tennis shoes I bought a pair for my mom. She is in her 80s and has some balance problems. She said she was not sure they helped with balance but they were the most comfortable shoes she had worn in years. She wears them every day now, and gets comments from her church group on how attractive they are. She put them on the morning I gave them to her and at the end of that first day her feet felt great. They gave her the support she needs to keep her balance and the comfort she needs to keep active. I feel like I could be a commercial for these shoes. A variety of colors, styles and they all provide great support for your feet and are comfortable. I'm trying the running shoes next.

After buying New Balance tennis shoes for over twenty years, they have become less reliable for fit and quality; I need the wide fit which other name-brand shoes do not offer, so new balance had always been my go-to, but sizing is different now, so do I go up a size in number, but a regular width, or get the wide? And I need real tennis shoes designed for court play, not running shoes or cross trainers, or styling shoes. These 786 series are attractive enough with the correct soles, but can't get the fit, and the shoe laces are about a foot shorter than the laces on my old pair of wornout shoes. This leaves about 4 inches of string to try to tie and secure a typical bow after lacing through all the eyelets. C'mon, New Balance, really? Skimping on shoelaces really cheapens what may have been a good product. These are being returned, and I will be still shopping around. When and if I find the right shoe, I have to buy in bulk to avoid this dilemma when time to find new shoes.

I bought these to play tennis in, and they are perfect! I have bunions, particularly on my left foot, and the toe box is wide enough and very comfortable. I play three times a week, and these shoes do not bother me. I wore New Balance shoes years ago, with no issues, but switched to a Prince shoe several seasons ago. My last pair of Prince T-22s bothered my bunions, so I returned to New Balance. So glad I did.

I love the cool yellow accents. I can wear regular or wide width, and I wish these had come in wide, but I loosened the strings so they work just as well. It's hard to find a store in my area that carries much variety in New Balance, so I'm very glad I could order them. They look good, not too colorful, (cause I usually wear plain white) but enough color to be very pleasant.

I was very happy with the shoes. They were just perfect for me. I had only worn them about 8 hours or so when a seam pulled away on the left shoe exposing the foam which began to extrude out from the seem. It was on the top of the shoe, so it was very noticeable. I wanted to exchange the shoes for another pair of the same, but there was not any in my size. I'm very disappointed. However, I have owned many pairs of New Balance shoes and never had a problem before.

I have to replace the inserts because there is insufficient padding which is why it only has a 4-star rating. This shoe doesn't have as much stability but it is light for a leather shoe. l I have a high instep so this style is good for me. It's also made of leather and mesh which stretches. The shoes with synthetic materials which all the manufacturers are now using are pretty with their bright colors but the material doesn't stretch and breathe.

I always order up a half size for tennis shoes and this worked for this shoe. They are slightly wide, but that may be because I don't wear a thick sock. The cushioning on the bottom is not as good as other NB, but I wear orthotics, so it's fine for me. All that said, they are very comfortable, and I wore them right out of the box in a team match and won!

What can I say? New Balance works for me on the tennis court...these "were" no exception!