You don’t know what recovery shoes are, but should probably own a pair

When athletes finish a particularly brutal game, the first thing they want to do is get their shoes off. And after a couple of hours of sprinting and jumping and generally putting their feet through it, can you blame them? Performance footwear is designed to hold everything in place. Very useful when you're playing. Less appealing when you're sitting on the team bus eating a sandwich. That's where recovery shoes come in. And even if you've never set foot on a court or a pitch in your entire life, something soft, roomy, and easy to slip on still sounds pretty good.

While the term sounds fairly new, the idea definitely isn't. Before Uggs became associated with pumpkin spice lattes and very expensive leggings, Australian surfers wore sheepskin boots to warm their feet after cold mornings in the water. When Brian Smith founded Ugg in California in the ’70s, he brought that habit with him. They weren't called recovery boots – they were just really comfy boots that felt good after surfing. Makes sense, really.

Adidas had a similar idea with the Adilette, introduced back in 1972 for post-match showers and changing rooms. Since then, German sportswear brands have spent a lot of time working out what you should put on when you take your sports shoes off. And lately, the answer has involved quite a lot of foam.

Nike's Calm Slide arrived in 2023, with a contoured silhouette made from a single piece of foam and a wide strap across the top. Adidas' Adissage, meanwhile, has little massage nubs across the footbed. If you've ever wondered why someone's pool slides look slightly uncomfortable, that's what those are for.

Hoka's Ora Recovery Slide takes the brand's love of big-ass soles and removes most of the shoe above them. It has a sugarcane EVA midsole and ventilation channels to keep things nice and breezy. Asics went a bit weirder with the Actibreeze 3D Sandal, a 3D-printed lattice design that looks like something you probably shouldn't put in the dishwasher.

But what if you'd like to keep your toes covered? Well, there are plenty of options now. Nike's 24.7 shoe has springy cushioning and a seamless lining, while its ReactX Rejuven8 is a rounded foam clog. New Balance's Fresh Foam X RCVRY adds what the brand calls a “massaging” interior. Adidas' Purechill goes for a moulded, ventilated upper, and a cushioned EVA midsole. They're all quite chunky. Your feet have had a long day – let 'em take up some space!

Nike's Mind 002 gets a little more technical. Each shoe has 22 foam nodes that move independently beneath your feet, designed to stimulate sensory receptors and (according to the Swoosh, anyway) help you feel calm and focused. It's primarily a pregame sneaker, rather than a straightforward recovery shoe, but it shows just how much thought is now going into what athletes wear either side of actually competing.

Yes, most recovery shoes keep things pretty simple, but the Hyperice x Nike Hyperboot does the exact opposite. Released last summer, the battery-powered high-top delivers heat and air-compression massage around your feet and ankles with adjustable settings for both. You do have to charge it. That's slightly less convenient than putting on a pair of slides, but the slides aren't gonna massage your ankles for you.

And this week, images of Nike's brand new 24.7 Boot popped up. With a smooth suede upper and a big, rounded shape, it felt like a throwback to those post-surf Uggs. Unwrapped in two colour combos including ‘Dark Driftwood’ and ‘Pale Ivory’ (the former being the Ugg-iest of the lot), the rippled rear collar adds a little Air Yeezy 2 to the mix, while the bumpy sole comes straight from the 24.7 shoe. Handy timing, too. Nobody wants cold toes in October.

You don't need to have played a particularly brutal game to wear any of these, obviously. Five-a-side counts. So does spending all day on your feet. And if your main sporting achievement this week was watching the match from the sofa? Well, at least you've already got the resting part sorted.