Babolat Jet Mach 4 Men's Shoe Review

When it came to underfoot comfort, the Babolat Jet Mach 4s provided a smooth and adequately cushioned ride. According to Troy, the Jet Mach 4s are more comfortable than earlier iterations. He noted, "The overall comfort was good. Some of the older generations of the Jet Mach shoes felt a bit too minimal for my liking. The Babolat Jet Mach IIIs were much improved in terms of comfort and cushioning, and I think that this fourth edition is just as comfortable, if not more. I know lightweight speed shoes are usually more minimal, but I found just enough cushioning where I needed it in the Jet Mach 4s. The heel cushioning was nice and plush. The forefoot felt lower to the ground, but still had some decent padding. The upper material felt nice and plush on top of my feet, but it was strong enough to give me good support; there was a nice balance between the comfort and the performance. The uppers of the Jet Mach IIIs felt like they broke down and stretched too much after a lot of wear, specifically near the toe box.”

The Jet Mach 4s provided Mark a snug fit and excellent breathability. He explained, “The length of the new Jet Mach 4s was spot on for my size 11 medium-width feet, and there was just a little extra room in the toe box in terms of width. Without having to use the extra lace eyelet, I got a snug, comfortable fit in the heel as well. The ventilation was outstanding, and although I have a pretty high arch, the lower-than-medium stock insert was just fine."

Chris enjoyed the cushioning after a short break-in period, although the fit was a little wide for his feet. He said, "It took about an hour for the Jet Mach 4s to feel broken in and to flex well with my feet. From then on I was sprinting around the court comfortably in them. I liked the level of arch support, and it pushed the flex point of the shoe nicely up under the ball of my foot. The fit was a tad wide on me, so I was sliding around inside the shoes. The fit issue led to some discomfort from rubbing, which was noticeable on longer hitting sessions or if I wore the shoes for a couple of hits in a row."

For Oak, the Jet Mach 4s felt particularly cushioned in the toe box and forefoot, which encouraged him to stay forward in the shoes while on court. He said, "The Babolat Jet Mach 4s have an extremely cushioned middle section and toe box, which encouraged me to stay on the balls of my feet. The heel isn't rigid by comparison; it just isn't quite as plush as the midfoot section and the forefoot underneath my feet. The uppers also felt soft to the touch and not overly restrictive, despite the slightly narrower fit. Ventilation was adequate -- not too breezy, not too sweaty. Arch support was also adequate, but as always, it's not an area I'm particularly sensitive to in general. The fit was a little narrower, but I didn't mind it, and I didn't have to worry about wearing multiple/thicker socks. The comfort also sustained itself quite well over time, which I always appreciate."

Our team found these Jet Mach 4s to be fairly stable. Oak found more stability and support than he was expecting, especially considering the weight of the Jet Mach 4s. He explained, "Stability was quite good overall, and I didn't find any drawbacks in terms of mobility either! I typically appreciate how a shoe plays anytime the support-to-agility ratio is this strong. I also felt like the Jet Mach 4s were on the speedier side, which for me, is about as green of a flag as it gets. The support in the toe box feels really practical to implement, and I could lean into that part of the shoe to move and pivot with confidence. These shoes were also good for aerial movements, and I felt comfortable landing after a serve or an overhead, knowing that the shoes would keep me stable and moving."

Chris, however, had difficulty fully trusting the shoes due to their wider fit on his feet. He said, "On the upside, the Jet Mach 4s offered a fairly wide and stable footprint. The flip side of that was the shoes fit too wide for my skinny feet. While the chassis of the shoes felt solid and secure under my feet, I couldn’t find a supportive fit because I found myself sliding around inside the shoes too much. My heels were slipping up and out of the shoes on occasion when I was looking to sprint quickly forward, and in the forefoot my feet were sliding side to side. The Jet Mach 4s felt like they had plenty of support to offer, but it definitely felt like I would need wider feet to benefit from it."

The redesigned uppers impressed Troy, and they gave him ample support and enough confidence for more intense side-to-side movements. He said, “I feel like Babolat made some subtle changes that made a big difference. The comfort of the Jet Mach IIIs was good, but after wearing them for about a month the uppers stretched out and lost a little bit of lateral stability and support. Also, the new Starting Bloc Plate helped to add some rigidity to the midfoot and gave me a more stable ride compared to previous versions, which I noticed when moving aggressively side-to-side on the baseline."

Given the shoes' weight, Mark was expecting the uppers to break down somewhat, but to his surprise, he found them to hold up exceptionally well. He said, "If a shoe is extremely breathable when new, that level of ventilation will not decrease with wear, but often, the support of the upper does decrease over time. That said, the support was great right out of the box, and the support and comfort were still there after more than 30 hours of play on my pair of Babolat Jet Mach 4s. The somewhat low-to-the-ground stance and lateral side outsole outrigger delivered plenty of stability throughout the playtest."

The redesigned construction of the Jet Mach 4s proved to be fairly durable for a lightweight pair of shoes. For Mark, the durability wasn't as impressive as some of the other traits, but it was still adequate for speed shoes. He said, “The new Babolat Jet Mach 4s are very well-rounded shoes. Overall, the durability of the upper and outsole were good, especially for lightweight court shoes, but in my opinion their stronger suits were comfort, stability and traction."

Troy found the durability to be better than he anticipated. He noted, "As I have typically found throughout the years when playtesting Babolat shoes, the Michelin Rubber compound holds up well. The outsole seems to be thick where it receives the most wear and tear, and after about a month of playtesting (roughly 20 hours or so), there were few signs of balding or smoothing. I am not much of a toe dragger these days, but I was surprised by how well protected these Babolat Jet Mach 4 shoes are, especially on the medial side of the toe box."

Oak also found the longevity to be quite good. He said, "The durability of the Jet Mach 4s has impressed me a lot thus far. They have a very practical varied tread pattern that has broken in quite well without sacrificing the outsole's longevity. I feel like the outsole wears really well, even with how much sliding I've been doing in them. The upper also feels consistently soft without losing its functionality over time. I do tend to sweat a lot, and I think that has caused some discoloration on the uppers, with some of the navy accents starting to bleed a little on the shoes. Like I often say, if the durability issues are aesthetic instead of functional, the shoes are doing something right."

Chris also found the durability of the Jet Mach 4s to be better than he thought given the shoes' lightweight nature. He said, "I don't expect a ton of durability from shoes designed for speed, like the Jet Mach 4s, but they exceeded my expectations. The outsoles held up to hard court abuse surprisingly well. The uppers also didn't get too beaten up during the test, and the shoes still have many more hitting sessions to go."

Opinions on the Jet Mach 4's traction varied from tester to tester. After a short break-in period, Chris found the Jet Mach 4s to have an ideal blend of grip and give. He noted, "Out of the box the Jet Mach 4s felt a tad too grippy, but they felt great after an hour or so of play. I liked the blend of grip and give from then on. I was able to pivot and take small adjustment steps without feeling like I was stuck to the court, and I was able to get the grip needed to push off aggressively or come to a quick stop without sliding too much."

On the other end of the spectrum, Oak enjoyed the traction early on but found the shoes' outsoles to deteriorate too much for his liking over time. He explained, "For the first few weeks I didn't have any traction issues, but over time the shoes got a little slicker, which made me wary of them at times. I slipped out a couple of times, mainly at the net, and I had a bad one off the heel section of the outsole, which caused me to slam my other knee directly into the ground, so I definitely had something to be wary of in terms of the outsole traction."

The traction was more than up to scratch for Mark. He explained, "The rubber compound and tread pattern of the Jet Mach 4s were well suited to all four hard courts I tested these shoes on. Maybe for the first few minutes on court the traction felt a little sticky, but my starts and stops were predictable and safe for the rest of the playtest and beyond."

Troy praised the grippiness of the outsoles. He said, "The traction was great; there was plenty of grip when I needed to stop or change directions. The Michelin outsole rubber never feels too sticky, even though there is a high level of grip on hard courts. For me, there’s a nice balance of grippiness on the court, while still having some sliding properties; it feels like Michelin has created the perfect threshold level as to the amount of force it takes to go from the rubber gripping the court to giving just slightly. Michelin knows a thing or two about making racing tires, so I guess it makes sense."

The Jet Mach 4s are comfortably lightweight, and their lack of mass didn't prove detrimental to any other area of performance. Troy had nothing but praise for the lightweight and functional nature of the shoes. He noted, "I felt like the weight of these shoes was great. They are designed to be fast and speedy, so for me they are light enough to feel quick and explosive, but the increase in weight was actually a good thing. I felt like previous versions lacked a little bit of support, and the first couple of generations could have benefited from better cushioning. I think these shoes sit in a good place in terms of weight at 13.7 ounces for a men's size 10.5. They're not the lightest shoes out there, but they’re still lighter than the Nike Zoom Vapor 12s. They’re light enough, without skimping on comfort or performance."

There was nothing about the weight of the shoes holding Mark back on court. He said, "At an average weight around 13.7 ounces (size 10.5), the Jet Mach 4s feel and move like speedy, lightweight court shoes, and they match that speed with good support."

Oak found the Jet Mach 4s to be remarkably well balanced considering their lightweight construction. He clarified, "For their 13.1-ounce weight (size 9.5), they actually have surprisingly good steadiness and stability laterally, much more than I honestly was anticipating. I felt like they were fast too, letting me sprint up to short balls with ease or comfortably track down balls out wide. It never felt like the Jet Mach 4s were sacrificing performance with their distribution of mass, and they were reliably springy across the entire shoe. When I was forced onto my back foot, the heels did a good job of picking me back up and keeping me grounded, all without losing stability through the motion."

The Jet Mach 4s provided an excellent balance of weight and stability for Chris. He said, "The Jet Mach 4s felt fast on court. I was impressed that such fast shoes proved to be durable and stable. Any clunkiness I felt in these shoes was due to the fit not being ideal for my feet."