TENNIS INSIDER
I’d Been Checking My Son’s Shoe Size Wrong For Years
June 14, 2026 · 8:42 am EDT
There was almost a full thumb of space. He still said his toes felt squished.
My son is 13.
We were sitting on the floor before practice when he started complaining about his court shoes.
Again.
"My toes feel squished."
So I did the same thing I'd done since he was little.
I pressed down at the front of the shoe.
There was almost a full thumb between his longest toe and the end.
"Look. You've got loads of room."
To me, that settled it.
The shoes fit.
Maybe he'd tied them too tight.
Maybe his socks were too thick.
Maybe they just needed breaking in.
But they definitely weren't too small.
There was plenty of room.
At least that's what I thought.
A few days later, we had the same conversation.
Then again the following week.
He'd play for a while and start messing with his shoes.
Loosen the laces.
Retie them.
Pull at the front.
And when practice ended?
The shoes came straight off.
Sometimes before he'd even left the court.
It was driving both of us crazy.
Because every time I checked, I got the same answer.
There was plenty of room.
So why did he keep saying they were too tight?
I’d Been Doing The Same Test For Years
You probably know the one.
Press your thumb down at the front.
Make sure their toes aren't hitting the end.
That's how my mom checked my shoes.
That's how I'd always checked my son's.
If there was enough space at the end, the shoe fit.
Simple.
I'd never really questioned it.
Then one afternoon after practice, my son took his shoes off in the car.
Again.
I asked:
"Are your toes hitting the front?"
"No."
"Then where is it tight?"
He grabbed the front of his foot from both sides.
"Here."
That was the first time I really stopped and looked at where he was pointing.
Not the end of his toes.
The sides.
The Thumb Test Wasn’t Checking That
When we got home, I grabbed his shoes.
I did my usual test again.
Yep.
Plenty of room.
Then I looked at the shoe from above.
I'd seen that shoe a hundred times.
But I'd never really looked at the shape.
It got narrower toward the toes.
So I had my son stand next to me barefoot.
His foot didn't.
It spread out at the front.
I put his bare foot next to the shoe.
Then I grabbed another pair from his closet.
Same thing.
Then an older pair.
Same.
There was all this empty space at the end.
But around his toes?
Not much.
I remember thinking:
Oh. My thumb isn't checking that at all.
I'd been checking one thing and assuming it told me everything about the fit.
It didn't.
No Wonder Going Bigger Hadn’t Worked
We'd tried that too.
He'd say his shoes were tight.
I'd buy half a size bigger.
Then there'd be even more empty space at the end.
Sometimes his heel wouldn't feel as secure.
But eventually I'd hear it again:
"My toes feel squished."
And I'd think:
How?
Look how much room you have.
Now I understood why.
We kept adding room where he didn't need it.
In front of his toes.
What he'd been asking for was room around them.
It sounds so simple now.
But until I put his bare foot next to the shoe, I'd never thought about it.
I'd always shopped by size.
I hadn't paid much attention to shape.
Then I Started Looking At Shoes From Above
This is where shoe shopping got annoying.
Once I noticed it, I started seeing it everywhere.
A lot of athletic shoes looked roomy through the middle.
Then the front narrowed in.
I'd never thought twice about it before.
That's just what shoes looked like to me.
But then I'd look at my son's foot.
His toes weren't shaped like the front of those shoes.
I didn't suddenly become a shoe expert.
I just knew what I didn't want anymore.
I didn't want to buy an even longer shoe.
I didn't want to tell him to loosen his laces again.
And I definitely didn't want to keep saying:
"They just need breaking in."
I wanted his toes to have some room.
But He Still Needed A Court Shoe
That part mattered.
I wasn't looking for a huge, loose sneaker.
My son plays hard.
He stops quickly.
He changes direction.
He moves side to side.
The shoe still needed to feel secure when he played.
So I started looking for something pretty specific.
A real court shoe.
But with more room at the front.
That's how I found CUURT.
I'd never heard of them before.
And honestly, another brand telling me its shoes were "comfortable" wasn't going to convince me.
I'd heard that before.
I wanted to see the shoe.
The Muuv Looked Different
The first thing I noticed was the front.
It didn't narrow in the same way as the shoes we'd been buying.
There was more room around the toes.
CUURT calls it a wide toe box.
I'd never used that term before.
But by then, I knew exactly why I cared about it.
A wider toe box wasn't about buying a bigger shoe.
It meant giving his toes more room in the size he actually needed.
That was the part that made sense to me.
And the Muuv was still made for court play.
He could still stop and move side to side.
I wasn't trying to trade a secure court shoe for something roomy.
I wanted both.
Then I Saw Someone Call Them “Smooshed Toes”
While I was reading about CUURT, one customer used a phrase that made me laugh:
"No more smooshed toes."
That's exactly how my son had been describing it.
Not in shoe terms.
Not in some technical way.
His toes just felt squished.
And I'd spent all that time looking at the empty space in front of them.
Now I Still Do The Thumb Test
I haven't stopped checking the length.
Of course that still matters.
I just don't stop there anymore.
I check the space at the end.
Then I look at the shoe from above.
And I ask my son how it actually feels around his toes.
That last part should probably have been obvious from the beginning.
But when you've checked shoes one way your whole life, you don't really think about it.
You press your thumb down.
There's room.
Great.
Next.
That worked until my son kept telling me it didn't.
If Your Kid Says Their Shoes Are Tight, Ask One More Question
Don't just ask:
"Do you need a bigger size?"
Ask:
"Where does it feel tight?"
If their toes are hitting the end, that's one thing.
But if there's already plenty of room at the end and they're pointing across their toes, take a look at the shape of the shoe.
Put their bare foot next to it.
Look at both from above.
You might see what I did.
The shoe can be long enough and still squeeze them at the front.
And automatically buying another half size may just give them more shoe they don't need.
I Want The Right Size To Actually Fit
That's what I was trying to do the whole time.
I wasn't looking for a bigger shoe.
I wasn't looking for some special kind of footwear.
I just wanted his court shoes to actually fit his feet.
For us, that meant looking beyond the number on the box.
And beyond my thumb at the end of the shoe.
That's what made CUURT Muuv worth looking at.
If your kid keeps saying their court shoes feel tight even though you can clearly see room at the end, I'd check the front before automatically sizing up.
Check CUURT Muuv sizes and current availability →
Try the thumb test.
Then do one more thing.
Look at how much room their toes have from side to side.
Because I spent years checking whether my son's shoes were long enough.
I never thought to check whether they were shaped like his feet.
CHECK CUURT MUUV AVAILABILITY →
"These shoes really give me a lot of room for my wide feet. The design definitely makes it so comfortable. My tennis peeps have commented on how they like the design of the shoe. At 71 y.o. I play almost daily! Hoping the outsole will last longer than some of the other name brand shoes I have been buying." - Rosita S.
"Wasn’t sure these shoes would be a good fit, but WOW they are great. Can’t believe the room in the toe box and the excellent fit to the heal of the foot. The shoes hold the court when playing and no discomfort!" - Diane J.
"My husband has played tennis and pickleball in shoes and loves them! He's played tennis for 55 years and in the last year had had issues with foot pain and swelling, now with his muuv shoes no more pain or swelling. Recently played for 4 hours in a pickleball tournament wearing these shoes and had no pain or swelling! Customer service has been wonderful! We got the wrong size initially and each email was responded to quickly. A new pair was sent and received within a week. When ordering I would suggest you size up 1 size. This has been a great experience and really impressed with the shoes! Highly recommend!" - Tona C.
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