PG 4 Performance Review
NOT THE BEST, NOT THE WORST, LET'S FIND OUT HOW THEY PERFORMED ON THE COURT!
What's up everyone?? Airjayp is back and today we're going to take a look and give the results of my testing in the PG4s. I will go ahead and tell you straight from the beginning they are definitely not my favorite shoe or even what I would consider in the top five of basketball sneakers out right now, but at $110.00 if you can withstand the flaws, you can have a pretty cool looking shoe!
Traction: 1
I could be, being a little harsh with the traction score, because it did perform pretty decent on a clean floor, but if the court is even the least bit dirty... You could be in trouble! The first time I tested these as you may or may not know I sprained my ankle in these, but overall the traction was working pretty well for me on a clean floor. I didn't have any trouble with the traction vertically, but I did have some trouble when moving laterally. I would put some of this issue on the lockdown and support category, but tying the traction in all together with the shoe just did not perform well for me laterally even on a clean floor. I spent a solid month of no basketball once spraining my ankle, and currently just got back to being able to play again. While testing these for the first time back, the court conditions were not good at all. The court was very dirty, dusty, and slippery. In this case, I had a very negative experience and basically had issues all over the court no matter which way I was moving. My pair is part translucent rubber, and solid rubber. I truly do not know if every pair is set up this way or not, but if there are other options you may want to try for those instead. If your regular court you play at is always clean you could definitely make these work out, but if you are looking for a traction king for all court conditions and surfaces, you may want to look elsewhere.
Aesthetics: 2
When I first saw images of the PG4 I will be honest, I thought they were a little goofy looking and maybe just too plain overall. After seeing them in hand, having a pair, and seeing some of the other colorways I was sold! I think that the PG4 is a pretty sweet looking shoe overall, and some of the Gatorade colorways and even that plaid colorway are awesome! Usually, Kyries and Lebrons have some awesome colorways each year, and they certainly have this year, but in my opinion, in the colorway category and variations of designs, these guys take the cake. You may be wondering if I like the way the shoe looks so much why not a perfect score? With every good thing, there can still be a flaw and the way the zipper is setup can be a little odd at times... We will discuss it further down in the review!
Lockdown: 1
The lockdown and support on the PG4 are definitely, in my opinion, one of the weakest points of the shoe. You have probably heard me say before that at times great traction can make up for a bad lockdown area in a sneaker. In this case, it is sort of the opposite, I feel like the lockdown and support of the shoe is so weak, it affects other parts of the shoe in a negative way. In most basketball shoes you are basically going to be sitting in the midsole, and this helps give very stable lockdown and support. In this shoe, it feels as if you are sitting on top of the midsole meaning you will need an outrigger. There is somewhat of an outrigger, but I believe if it had, had a larger one the shoe would have performed much better in this category. A comparison here would be the Lebron 15. That shoe has a much larger outrigger and it worked a lot better for me. I found myself at times feeling somewhat similar in the PG 4s as the Lebron 15s, but I would even prefer the Lebron 15s. I found myself on certain movements in the PG4 especially when cutting or driving to the basket that my foot was just going to fall over or give away. The ankle area is where I do not feel that there is enough support and I felt as if my ankle was moving around a lot and not really locked in. Let's step right into the sizing and fit category to build on this a little further.
Sizing & Fit: 1
Ties In With Lockdown
Let's jump right into the fit on the PG4s. As you may or may not know, I am a true size 11.5. I definitely had to size up to a 12 on these guys as they are not only super tight, but one of the hardest sneakers to put on in recent memory. When I tried on the 11.5 in-store I knew immediately it was either size up or not buy them at all. I ended up trying the next size up and was so interested in testing them I gave them a try, obviously! The sizing and fit do tie into the lockdown with this pair and what I mean by that is the ankle area feels pretty minimum in my opinion, but the midfoot and toe area are very tight making you feel locked in. To summarize the lockdown as well as sizing for the PG4 I will say this.
For sizing, I went up half an Sz, but it is a shoe I would highly recommend trying on before purchasing. They do break in some, but the overall fit is going to be very tight. for me personally this is not a shoe that I will probably ever be rocking casually just because of the tightness, but that's just a personal preference.
For lockdown, if you are able to play in a low-top sneaker with not a lot of ankle support or lockdown you will be good to go! I am just not that guy, as I said the first time out in these I sprained my ankle..The shoe did make up for the lockdown in every other area though, so that's my point. If you are able to get past or aren't worried about the ankle section you will have a nice snug basketball sneaker in every other section.
Cushion: 2
The cushion was definitely the strongest performance point for me about the whole shoe. The PG4s features a full-length air Strobel unit.
The unit and shoe overall do have a comfortable feel, and I hope they try this cushion setup in other sneakers in the future as well! When comparing these to the KD12s which feature a full-length zoom Strobel. I believe personally I prefer the feel of the zoom Strobel in the KD12 over the air in the PG4, but as I said for me this was the strongest point of the shoe and it did give a comfortable feel in the cushion category.
Zipper & Lacing: 2
This is not a category I am so much worried about rating or scoring, but more about talking about/explaining. In most cases, I do not really like a zipper on a performance shoe, because with past experiences the zipper ends up tearing up and not working properly after some wear in the shoes. In this case, I like the look of the zipper and I think it makes the shoe stand out. Performance-wise it didn't really have a positive or negative effect and who knows over time it could not work properly as I was explaining before, but with my personal experience, I didn't mind it at all. What did actually bother me about it was the lacing. I would prefer to have my laces inside the zipped up part of the shoe while playing, almost giving it a laceless look. This may just be a personal preference because some would say if they came unlaced and there on the outside of the zipper it does make it easier to tie them back up. The way the shoe is setup if you put the laces inside the zipper it will not lace as tight or I couldn't seem to get the same feeling when I leave the laces outside of the zipper. when leaving the laces outside of the zipper and tieing them tight does give some more tightness and lockdown in the ankle category and this may be the reasoning for this, but as I said, in my opinion, I would prefer them under the zipper, but either way this is a cool concept on the shoe!
Overall: 1
As bad as I do not want to give these guys a low rating... I guess I am going to have to. I really tried to like these sneakers because I do like the way they look and I was super excited for many of the colorways that have came out and are set to come out. If they were not quite so tight and had a better lockdown system especially in the ankle area they would be a much better shoe. If they were not so tight, I could see myself even wearing them casually and definitely picking up that plaid pair! I guess casually though isn't performance, and that is what you are here to read about! Simply put I wanted to like these shoes, but they just didn't work out well for me.
Remember with all my reviews, they are based upon my actual personal experiences in the shoes. If you wanna buy a pair of shoes that I have had a negative experience in it does not necessarily mean you will have the same. This goes both ways, I may have a great experience in a shoe, and you have a bad one. These reviews are made to help you understand the feel of the shoe I have tested and hopefully give you some insights on certain categories to pick out what you like best in a sneaker. I am not hear to influence what you buy and don't buy, but to try to help you buy what works best for you!
I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS REVIEW ON THE PG4!!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND AS ALWAYS HAPPY HOOPING!
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