What size padel shoe should I buy if I wear a US 10?

It depends entirely on the brand, which is the whole problem. On the brands' own current charts, a men's US 10 is a EU 43 at Bullpadel but a EU 44 at Babolat, Asics, Wilson and Head — and the foot length those sizes are built for ranges from 27.3 cm to 28.5 cm. Measure your foot heel-to-toe in centimetres and convert from that number instead: a 28.0 cm foot is a EU 44 in five of the six brands we checked.

Do padel shoes run small?

Not consistently — they run differently, which is not the same thing. Head runs about half a size large at a given foot length, where 28.0 cm is a EU 43 against a EU 44 almost everywhere else, while Bullpadel's US labels run about half a size small so its US 10 fits a shorter foot than anyone else's. The reliable move is to stop thinking in ‘runs small’ terms and match your measured foot length to each brand's own chart.

Should you size up in padel shoes?

Yes, if you are genuinely between two sizes. Every brand and retailer chart we checked that publishes a rule says size up — Bullpadel tells you to take the next size up, and Wilson's chart says the same; Babolat, Asics and Joma state no rule at all. Nobody publishes advice to size down. One caveat: Bullpadel's chart lengths already include the room your foot needs, so don't add a thumb's width on top of a size you picked from its table.

Are padel shoe sizes the same as tennis shoe sizes?

Within a single brand, usually yes. Babolat and Wilson each publish one footwear size chart covering their tennis, padel and other racket-sport shoes rather than a padel-specific one, so your size carries across their range. Across brands it carries no better for padel than it does for tennis, and padel's line-up is more European-leaning, so you meet the EU-to-US conversion problem more often.

Do men's and women's padel shoes use the same sizing?

No, and the gap is bigger than most buyers expect. At Babolat, the same EU 41 is a men's US 8 and a women's US 9.5, because the women's chart offsets both the EU ladder and the US column; Wilson keeps the EU and centimetre columns identical between its men's and women's charts and shifts only the US number, by the standard 1.5 sizes. Always use the chart matching the shoe's gender, and match on centimetres rather than on the US number.

Can you exchange padel shoes bought from a European retailer?

Usually not practically, and it has got worse. European windows are often short — Bullpadel's own store gives 14 days and ships only within mainland Spain and Portugal plus the Balearics — and you would pay to ship the pair back across the Atlantic. The $800 de minimis exemption that made small personal imports duty-free is also gone, so you pay import charges on the way in and again on the replacement. For anything where size is uncertain, buy from a US store: Tennis Express is the only one of the four US padel shoe retailers whose policy names exchanges outright and sends a prepaid return label.

Padel Shoe Size Conversion: A US Buyer's 2026 Guide

Buy a padel racket and you get one size. Buy padel shoes and you inherit a conversion problem, because almost every padel shoe sold in the US was designed, lasted and labelled in Europe — then had a US number printed on the box on the way across the Atlantic.

That number is the least trustworthy thing on the box. We pulled the current footwear charts straight from Bullpadel, Babolat, Asics, Joma, Wilson and Head and laid them side by side. On the brands' own published numbers, a men's "US 10" is built for a foot anywhere between 27.3 cm and 28.5 cm.

Brand	Its men's "US 10" is EU…	…built for a foot of
Bullpadel	43	27.3 cm
Babolat	44	28.0 cm
Asics	44	28.0 cm
Wilson	44	28.0 cm
Head	44	28.5 cm
Joma	no US size published	EU 43 = 27.3–27.6 cm

That is 12 mm of drift — more than a full size — hiding behind an identical label.

Why padel shoes don't fit the size you normally buy

Almost every padel shoe is designed on an EU last

Padel's manufacturing base is European. Bullpadel, Joma and Nox are Spanish; Babolat is French; Asics builds its padel line alongside its European tennis range. The shoe is engineered to an EU size, and the US number is a translation added afterwards — by the brand, or sometimes by the retailer.

Those translations don't agree. Bullpadel calls UK 9 a "US 10"; Babolat and Head call the very same UK 9 a "US 9.5". Neither is wrong, because there is no governing standard. The useful consequence is that foot length is the stable axis and the US column is the unstable one. At a 28.0 cm foot, five of the six brands above put you in a EU 44. At "US 10", they scatter.

Measure your foot first, don't convert your size

The paper-trace method, in centimeters

Put a sheet of paper flat against a wall and stand on it with your heel touching the wall.
Hold a pencil vertically — at a true 90° to the paper — and mark it at the tip of your longest toe. That isn't always the big toe.
Measure from the wall edge of the paper to the mark, in millimetres.
Do the other foot. Most people have two different feet.
Use the larger measurement.

That sequence is Bullpadel's own, printed on its official size guide, and it works for every brand. One thing worth knowing: Bullpadel states that the lengths in its chart already include the room your foot needs, so don't add a thumb's width on top — do that and you'll order a size too big.

Why you measure at the end of the day

Feet swell through the day, and more during a match than at a desk. Measure first thing in the morning and you'll capture your foot at its smallest, then spend every third set regretting it. Measure in the evening, after you've been on your feet.

Brand-by-brand conversions

Here is the one table that matters — foot length to EU size, from each brand's own current chart, men's:

Foot length	Bullpadel	Babolat	Asics	Wilson	Joma	Head
27.0 cm	42.5	42.5	42.5	42⅔	42.5	42
28.0 cm	44	44	44	44	44	43

Five of six land in the same place. Convert centimetres to EU, buy the EU size, and ignore what the US column claims.

Bullpadel

The outlier on US labels, and the brand where this matters most. Bullpadel's official chart runs on foot length in millimetres with an irregular grid — 252, 259, 266, 270, 273, 277, 280 — so you can't interpolate it, you have to read it. Its rule for a measurement that falls between rows is to take the next size up.

Be careful which chart you read: at least one large European retailer publishes a "Bullpadel" chart whose centimetre column is shifted a full row against the brand's own, putting a 25.2 cm foot in a EU 41 when Bullpadel itself says EU 40. Use bullpadel.com.

Babolat (men's and women's don't match)

Babolat publishes separate men's and women's charts, and they are genuinely different documents rather than one table relabelled. At a 26.0 cm foot, the men's chart gives EU 41 / US 8; the women's gives EU 40.5 / US 9. The women's EU ladder is offset half a size and the US column a full size.

Read the other way, that's the trap most buyers fall into: the same EU 41 is a men's US 8 and a women's US 9.5. Babolat's own pages give no advice about what to do when you fall between sizes.

Asics

Asics runs its own EU ladder, and it isn't the same shape as anyone else's: 40, 40.5, 41.5, 42, 42.5, 43.5, 44. There is no EU 41 and no EU 43 in an Asics padel shoe. If your other pairs are EU 43s, the Asics equivalent is a 43.5 at 27.5 cm or a 42.5 at 27.0 cm, and you'll have to pick. Its US column is conventional — 28.0 cm is a US 10 — so for Asics specifically, US sizing is the safer axis.

Joma

Joma's official size guide publishes no US column whatsoever. It gives EU size against a foot-length range in millimetres and stops: EU 42 is 266–269 mm, EU 43 is 273–276 mm, EU 44 is 279–283 mm. Any US number on a Joma padel shoe was added by the retailer, not the brand — which is exactly why it varies between stores. Measure, pick the EU size, treat the listing's US label as decoration.

Wilson

Wilson uses EU thirds — 41⅓, 42⅔, 43⅓, 44⅔ — which no other padel brand does, so a Wilson box rarely shows a number you recognise. Its men's and women's charts share the same EU, UK and centimetre columns and differ only in the US column, by the standard 1.5 sizes: a Wilson EU 42 is 26.5 cm whether sold as a men's US 8.5 or a women's US 10. Wilson is one of the few that states a rule for in-between feet — size up.

Head, Nox and the rest

Head runs about half a size large against the pack: 28.0 cm is a EU 43 at Head where it's a EU 44 nearly everywhere else. Nox tracks the mainstream (EU 44 = US 10 = 28.2 cm) and labels many US listings with a dual men's/women's number — "41 – 8M / 9.5W" — which is the clearest labelling in the category. Adidas, K-Swiss, Lacoste, Osaka and Kanso also sell padel shoes in the US, all listed in plain US sizes.

Half sizes, third sizes and the gaps between them

The EU ladders aren't evenly spaced, and the gaps aren't in the same places. Bullpadel steps 266 → 270 → 273 mm in the middle of its range but 286 → 293 mm at the top. Asics skips EU 41 and 43 entirely. Wilson works in thirds. Joma's own ranges overlap — EU 40.5 is 257–262 mm and EU 41 is 259–265 mm — so a 260 mm foot is officially both.

If your measurement falls in a gap, you're not between sizes, you're off that brand's grid. Take it as a sign to try a different brand rather than force the fit.

Who says size up and who says size down

The answer is lopsided. Bullpadel says take the next size up. Wilson says size up. The major retailer charts for Joma and Bullpadel both say choose the larger. Babolat, Asics and Joma's own pages state no rule at all.

Nobody publishes "size down." If you're between sizes, go up — a slightly long shoe is fixable with a thicker sock or an insole, while a short one is just a short shoe.

Fit by foot shape, not just length

Width, instep and toe box

Length gets you to the right box; it doesn't get you a shoe that fits. Padel loads the foot sideways in a way running shoes never do, and a shoe that's the correct length but too narrow will let your foot slide onto the upper on every change of direction.

Not one of the padel charts we pulled has a width column — they are length-only, and none of these ranges offers the D/2E width fittings US running brands do. So width has to come from fit reports rather than charts, and a high instep is usually better served by a lace-through upper than by a BOA dial or strap, which concentrate pressure over a narrow band. If you know you have wide feet, start with our picks for wide feet rather than working from length alone.

Ordering from a US retailer vs importing

Four stores carry padel shoes in the US, and they're not interchangeable — neither in what they stock nor in whether they'll swap a box that doesn't fit. All four price in USD. Checked 12 October 2026:

Store	Padel shoe listings	Only place to get	Size-exchange terms
Tennis Express	84	Asics, Lacoste	30 days from delivery; returns or exchanges; free FedEx label if the order is over $50
padelpadel.us	73	Bullpadel, Joma	30 days from receipt; you pay return shipping; 25–50% restocking fee by condition
Padel USA	36	widest Osaka range	30 days from purchase date; exchange via portal; $10 return fee may apply
Racket Central	37	Kanso Sports	No published window for non-defective returns — email first

Tennis Express is the only one of the four whose policy names exchanges outright and sends a prepaid label, which makes it the low-risk place to buy a size you're unsure about — and the only one carrying Asics. At the other end, padelpadel.us is the only US store stocking Bullpadel and Joma, and also the one that can charge a restocking fee of up to half the price of the shoe. If you're buying Bullpadel in the US, get the size right first time. Note too that Padel USA counts its 30 days from the purchase date rather than delivery, which quietly shortens the window on anything that ships slowly.

What about ordering from Europe? Not if sizing is the reason. The $800 de minimis exemption that used to let small personal imports in duty-free is gone, so a European order now carries duty and brokerage on the way in — and a size exchange means shipping the first pair back across the Atlantic at your cost, then paying import charges again on the replacement. "Just order it from Spain" is no longer sound advice. See padel gear you can't buy in the US and our US retailer guide.

What to do if it doesn't fit

Move fast — every window above is 30 days or undefined, and all four stores require the shoes unworn outdoors and back in the original box.

Don't play in them. One session on court kills your return. Test fit indoors, on carpet, in the socks you actually play in.
Keep the box. Padel USA asks for photos of both the box size label and the label inside the shoe on wrong-size claims.
Half a size too big is salvageable. A thicker sock or a full-length insole takes up roughly half a size. Too small isn't; padel uppers don't stretch meaningfully.
Record what worked. Once you know you're a EU 43 at 27.3 cm in Bullpadel, write it down. That EU number will travel to your next pair far better than the US one.

Still choosing a pair? Start with the 2026 padel shoe buying guide, or go straight to men's, women's or budget picks under $100.