Image Source: Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
It’s here, tennis lovers! The first high performance tennis shoe EVER designed to support, control, and enhance the way we slide on hard court surfaces, allowing us to recover from a shot and get to the next one up to 30 percent faster! And it’s from Wilson Sporting Goods Co, of course!
Hans-Martin Reh, General Manager of the Racquet Sports division gives the deets:
The Glide is a completely new type of performance tennis shoe and is a direct reflection of how the speed of the game has changed. In studying how players use sliding, particularly younger players, it was clear current performance tennis shoes are not designed to protect the athlete and accentuate the sliding movement. We knew that if we could develop a way to do both, we had the opportunity to revolutionize tennis footwear and provide our athletes with a new level of speed and efficiency not previously available.
The shoe, which took Wilson Labs footwear engineers, materials experts and designers four years to develop, has been designed to allow players to precisely control forward and lateral slides on hard court surfaces. In play-testing, the Glide enhanced players’ natural speed, agility and quickness to command shots on the run, even stretched out wide shots.
Image Source: Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
The Glide is packed with the most innovative shoe technologies and construction elements available to players today:
Features
The Glide is packed with the most innovative shoe technologies and construction elements available to players today:
- GLIDE PLATES have been strategically sized and placed to allow for optimal slide when a player needs it the most.
- HIGH TRACTION AND DURABLE RUBBER DURALAST® provides the ideal amount of traction to help athletes explode to the ball once their slide
is complete. - RUBBER REINFORCED TOE AND INNER DRAG PADS offer a second wall of protection during lateral and forward sliding for increased durability.
- ENDOFIT™ TONGUE provides an intuitive, comfortable fit and added stability.
- DYNAMIC FIT™ (DF1™) provides players with improved feel and helps them control their slide via a low-to-the-ground 6mm heel drop.
Availability
The Glide shoe is currently available to players at select tennis academies in France, Japan and the US for $199 (USD) in the red and blue color. Both colors will be available worldwide in March 2016. Wilson will also sell the Glide at its US Open store on the Open Grounds.
For a list of current retailers and participating tennis academies, please visit http://www.wilson.com/dyn/racquet/glide/.
Because sliding is a more advanced skill, the Glide is really best-suited for the pros, high-level juniors, and accomplished recreational players. Wilson encourages all players to talk with their coaches/teaching pros about sliding and the proper techniques to slide safely and effectively on hard court surfaces.
To see if this shoe is right for you, check out this video and see it in action as well as learn the Gliding technique. Remember: Practicing is an important part of perfecting the slide on hard-court and getting the most out of the Glide shoe.
