It’s not easy to replace the top selling tennis shoe, but that is the situation that Prince was faced with as they upgraded the popular T22 and released their newest shoe, the Prince T24. Not wanting to mess with something that clearly is not broken, Prince made only minimal changes to the T24 to improve stability without sacrificing the comfort and breathability of its predecessor.

The Prince T22 is widely known as one of the most popular shoes, and things like a forgiving forefoot fit, excellent shock absorption, and a plethora of available colors certainly did not hurt its popularity, especially amongst teams. Never wanting to fall behind in the technology war, how is it possible to improve on what many consider perfection?

Prince’s approach was to keep the favorite features like the ShockEraser heel insert and 4FootWrap and make subtle improvements to the stability and ventilation of the shoe. While the T24 takes away a small amount of mesh on the lateral side of the forefoot, the synthetic leather that replaced it offers even greater stability.

Regardless of performance, a shoe simply has to be comfortable to wear, and so a new ventilation design was added to the side of the shoe to allow greater air flow. One thing that is a concern to many is that by implementing more synthetic leather in the forefoot, that roomy fit is sacrificed a bit. As a result, the T24 has a bit of a Nike Courtballistec 4.3 sort of feel.

The Prince 4FootWrap design serves two purposes; to act as a locking system to not only provide support and stability for side to side movements but also help to prevent the foot from sliding forward, jamming the player’s toes.

In addition to all of the forefoot stability, the wYshbone shank was replaced with a new TPU shank called the Archbridge, providing enhanced midfoot support. Durability was not forgotten in the T24, as the PRC1000 Outsole remains and is still backed by a six-month outsole durability guarantee from Prince.

The Prince T24 offers a medium width fit and a medium arch. If the T22 was a little loose in the forefoot for you, the T24 will offers a more snug fit thanks to the added synthetic leather and different cut. Whether this is a good or bad change, is entirely dependent on your foot type, so give the T24 a try if you are looking for stability, cushioning, and durability.