Written by KineticShift on 03 August 2011
Everyone always talks about “the eye of the tiger,” but this month the talk could turn to the “shoe of the Tiger,” as in the new Nike prototype shoe for Tiger Woods, who has been working with one of the directors of Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. Tiger Woods and Tobie Hatfield, along with Nike Golf, have created a Nike Free prototype shoe that the golfer will wear during this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational (August 3-7, 2011).
Developed in 2004 by a group led by Hatfield, the Nike Free provided “natural motion” technology that mimics and conforms to the natural motion of the wearer’s foot, while providing the protection and traction of a lightweight performance shoe. The Free-inspired elements in the new prototype model allow for greater movement for the front of the foot, while increasing stability with mobility.
“This will help give Tiger greater stability as he addresses the ball,” says Hatfield. “The freedom of movement that natural motion technology delivers will also allow more power to be released through the swing rather than through the body, which can happen when your feet are too static.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: eye of the tiger, golf, Hyperfuse 2011, Innovation Kitchen, Nike Flywire, Nike Free, Nike Golf, shoe of the tiger, Tiger Woods, Tobie Hatfield
Posted in Equipment, Footwear, Research | No Comments »
Written by Peter Suciu on 02 August 2010

- He’s not an athlete, he just plays one (badly) on TV
Nike didn’t drop Tiger Woods as a spokesman after all of his “problems,” which suggests that even bad boys can still sell products. But the recent decision from K-Swiss to use a fictional athlete to market shoes seems way, way off base. A newly launched ad campaign for the TUBES fitness shoes from K-Swiss features “slightly delusional ex-professional baseball player” Kenny Powers, played by actor Danny McBride, from the HBO series Eastbound & Down. Considering that Powers seldom thinks before opening his mouth, it is an odd choice for a spokesman.
But David Nichols, executive vice-president of K-Swiss sums it up another way, “we wanted to deliver unfiltered straight talk about how awesome TUBES are. Who better to do that than Kenny Powers?” Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: App, Comedy Central, Danny McBride, David Nichols, Eastbound & Down, ESPN, Facebook, HBO, K-Swiss, Kenny Powers, Tiger Woods, training shoes, TUBES, Workout Wingman
Posted in Exercise, Footwear, Running | 2 Comments »