Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a subsidiary of Amer Sports, is introducing something entirely new to the game of tennis. The Glide is a high performance tennis shoe designed to support, control and enhance how players slide on hard court surfaces – particularly Acrylic courts made of textured, pigmented, resin-bound coating, GreenSet type.
The launch comes as sliding has increased in popularity, becoming a technique competitive tennis players use to gain speed and agility.
Wilson Labs, the innovation hub at Wilson, developed the Glide to help tennis players slide into a shot, so they can recover up to 30 percent faster to the next ball. The shoe took Wilson Labs’ footwear engineers, materials experts and designers four years to develop. In play-testing, the Glide enhanced players’ natural speed, agility and quickness to command shots on the run, and even stretched out wide shots. Testing also yielded that the Glide should not be used on clay, grass, artificial grass, artificial clay, asphalt, concrete or carpet courts.
“In studying how players use sliding, particularly younger players, it was clear current performance tennis shoes are not designed to protect the athlete…” – Hans-Martin Reh, GM Racquet Sports, Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
“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,” said Hans-Martin Reh, GM of Racquet Sports. “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.”
Within the show, Glide plates, made from polyethylene technology, have been strategically sized and placed to allow for optimal sliding. High traction and durable rubber Duralast provides traction to help athletes explode to the ball once their slide is complete (while increasing the overall life of the shoe.) Rubber reinforced toe and inner drag pads offer a second wall of protection during lateral and forward sliding for increased durability, while a very low-to-the-ground heel drop (6mm) along with Dynamic Fit (DF1) provides players with improved feel and control. The tongue is made of Endofit. Overall, the Glide retails for $200 (USD).
Players and coaches are also invited by Wilson to visit its website for instructional information on why sliding may up your game and how to start using the technique.
Photos and Video courtesy Wilson Sporting Goods Co.
