🎾 Official Nike Tennis (and other brands as well) Thread

[georgek]

Found these from nusi p on Twitter
More These look better

 

[georgek]

Found these from nusi p on Twitter

 

[t21d]

So WTF started and Fed wasn't wearing those camos (thankfully).

Just a wild guess, but I think the genius' at Nike thought they'd continue the Veterans Day theme by offering camo. Unfortunately, the pics on the IG/Fb/twitter comes nowhere close to how they look in person.

P, Sad to say that nike hasn't had anything interesting pop up that has peaked my interest. At least Adidas is trying with Novaks Signature barricades and wall pack.

 

[georgek]

Looks to be another spring 16 colorway short

 

[Sinner]

P, Sad to say that nike hasn't had anything interesting pop up that has peaked my interest. At least Adidas is trying with Novaks Signature barricades and wall pack.

Man, it's been so disappointing... several years now... nothing gets my interesting nowadays.  

Just give me all the retros.

 

[Sinner]

Some Black Friday deals for those interested...

http://www.midwestsports.com/mens-nike-tennis-shoes/c/209/

 

[georgek]

Emerald vapors back up at tennis express if anyone interested. Limited amounts and sizes

 

[gusgrand]

OMG…..what an awful range of attire for the GOAT all that green stripe business not only looks childish, but also looks totally crap. Nike are officially out of ideas!

 

[hugree]

I won't forgive Nike for ruining both Roger's and Rafa's sneaker legacies with pure ignorance. 4 years in a row we get the same shoe?! WTF?!?!

I started playing tennis in the Under Armour ClutchFit Low-tops just because I was bored with using the same kicks.

Not to mention they don't even make a Clay version for the Lunar ballistec designed for the best Clay court player ever. Folks at Nike Tennis are stupid.

 

[rhino]

I won't forgive Nike for ruining both Roger's and Rafa's sneaker legacies with pure ignorance. 4 years in a row we get the same shoe?! WTF?!?!

I started playing tennis in the Under Armour ClutchFit Low-tops just because I was bored with using the same kicks.

Not to mention they don't even make a Clay version for the Lunar ballistec designed for the best Clay court player ever. Folks at Nike Tennis are stupid.

Look you have to keep in mind that for the two previous seasons prior to the Vapor 9, Nike tennis released comparatively unsuccessful shoes for Roger. The Vapor 7 Lunarlie and the Vapor 8 weren't even worn by Roger and everybody complained about it. "He's still wearing the Vapor 6, it's a con!", etc. So in a way Nike actually listened to the consumer. They brought in Tinker and got Roger to co-design a shoe that he would actually wear to replace the Vapor 6. Roger doesn't want a new shoe every season, he doesn't actually like change when it comes to footwear.

The Vapor 9 was a big success (although I can still recall people complaining about the way it looked when it first dropped). Roger wore it (albeit a custom version) and the people were finally happy.

But unfortunately there's always somebody complaining. The public wants a shoe that Roger wears... or do they? Roger continues wearing the 9 and then the tweaked 9.5, as opposed to a Vapor 10, 11 and 12 that would have everybody complaining again and probably be unsuccessful.

I don't think the people at Nike Tennis are stupid. No matter what they do there will always be people that are never happy.

 

[hugree]

Look you have to keep in mind that for the two previous seasons prior to the Vapor 9, Nike tennis released comparatively unsuccessful shoes for Roger. The Vapor 7 Lunarlie and the Vapor 8 weren't even worn by Roger and everybody complained about it. "He's still wearing the Vapor 6, it's a con!", etc. So in a way Nike actually listened to the consumer. They brought in Tinker and got Roger to co-design a shoe that he would actually wear to replace the Vapor 6. Roger doesn't want a new shoe every season, he doesn't actually like change when it comes to footwear.
The Vapor 9 was a big success (although I can still recall people complaining about the way it looked when it first dropped). Roger wore it (albeit a custom version) and the people were finally happy.
But unfortunately there's always somebody complaining. The public wants a shoe that Roger wears... or do they? Roger continues wearing the 9 and then the tweaked 9.5, as opposed to a Vapor 10, 11 and 12 that would have everybody complaining again and probably be unsuccessful.

I don't think the people at Nike Tennis are stupid. No matter what they do there will always be people that are never happy.

I'm never 100% satisfied, but being a sneakerhead for 10+ years makes you this way, I guess

Come on now... are you trying to say they can't make two good performing shoes in a row? I remember Roger's problems and that's OK. It happens. You have to move on and re-invent sometimes. Even in basketball. Pro's don't wear the exact same pairs anyway. Look at Rafa... he's always had huge modifications to his shoes and even his current Lunars are more like the previous Court Ballistecs. Seems that nobody cares. Same with tennis rackets... it's only a paint job.

Like I said before... not being able to play in the Lunar Ballistecs on clay is a huge FAIL in my book. How do you make sense of that??? We're talking about the best clay court player in the game of tennis. Young Rafa followers should use Adidas, I guess? or the Vapors at best.

I'm not ok with the way they do things. Maybe it's because I was raised in the Micheal Jordan / Penny / Payton era followed by LeBron James and the success of their signature series. Basketball ain't perfect either but I don't want to side track here.

And I know how Nike doesn't like to name shoes after Rafa and / or Fed cause some fans don't like both. That's the tricky part in tennis.

I'm not ok with folks at Nike Tennis ignoring special moments for both Rafa and Fed. The Nike Zoom Vapor 9 RF 287 was the only time when they got it right. And also the Legend colorways for this year's US OPEN. It took a while to get there, though, I've been waiting for something like THAT SIMPLE for years. However, I didn't like the price tag bump at all. What about other feats? What about Rafa winning RG 9 times? If I had such marquee athletes winning for me every Grand Slam win would be a reason for doing something different. They are both LEGENDS and we're fortunate enough to see them live in action. Who will follow them? I really believe the tennis market is a good place to do things that fans would really appreciate.

Nike did the Jordan X Vapor thing, but of course the shoes are super limited and wasn't even related to tennis. We all know the power of Jordan and what it can do, but even LeBron James didn't get that hype for any of his shoes in the past two years and I'm sure there are a couple of Nike execs trying to all the time. Mixing basketball and tennis in various ways would be interesting if done right. It's the same company after all. Let's put Nike Tennis and Nike Basketball designers in one room and see things happen.

To sum it up... I don't mind Nike taking a break every now and then. But 4 years in a row?!?! That's like 1/5 of Rafa's career given that he can play at least 6 more years. And the new color options are so childish... not something I will consider buying. I know what I will do... I'm OK with wearing different shoes even when I find the right fit for me... I like exploring so it's time to expand the search pool. I play 2-3 times a week, 50/50 hard court and clay. I need at least a couple of pairs per year. I currently have Nike, Adidas, Babolat in my rotation which currently includes non-tennis shoes like the Under Armour Clutchfit lows and the Nike Zoom Revis.

Right now I'm only excited about two things in tennis shoes... how will Adidas use Boost for tennis and how will Under Armour handle their tennis oriented footwear with Andy Murray.

They're probably not stupid... but they're ignorant as hell!

 

[Sinner]

^ I completely agree with that... and I feel your frustration.

Nike could have simply made special versions with small logos for the number of slams as a tribute.  Arguably 2 of the greatest in history and what do they have for us?  Nothing.

This is getting pretty ridiculous with the minor updates as well as a basic shirt, esp for Rafa with the same design for the 2nd year.  

Interesting that you mentioned the lack of a clay-version for the LB's.  Didn't really notice that before, but come to think of it, I've only seen clay V9.5's and Cages! 

As for the AJ3 x Vapor, I didn't like that at all.  Didn't make much sense to me as it appeared MJ isn't really all that into tennis... while I think it's been said that Fed liked Shaq growing up?  Overall it felt so forced and hyped.  

What sort of clay do you play on?  I've never played on clay, but would love to try it. 

 

[anhuynh16]

There are clay LBs, but you have to be a Nike player, or I think they might be available in Europe. I know an highly ranked junior who has them, but he is sponsored by Nike.

 

[hugree]

There are clay LBs, but you have to be a Nike player, or I think they might be available in Europe. I know an highly ranked junior who has them, but he is sponsored by Nike.

They're definitely not being sold at retail... I can tell you that.

What sort of clay do you play on?  I've never played on clay, but would love to try it. 

I'm not sue how to answer that I think I've played on all sort of clay courts... natural and hybrid that use different layers underneath a thin layer of clay "sand" that are less expensive to run.

 

[britkicks]

Interesting debate here and I agree with parts of it on both sides.

On the one hand the constant need to bring out the next model both from a technological advancement and commercial marketing point of view is a bit annoying sometimes because they tend to move on from a strong model too soon. I prefer a subtle evolution from one to the next rather than a complete change up year after year. For example back in the late 80s it annoyed the hell out of me when the AJ4 became the 5 after one year and 4 cws. The 5 was so different and I hated it and all the Jordan's that came after. At least the 4 was a natural evolution of the 3. Likewise the ATC 1,2,3 all evolved and flowed from the 1 and then model thereafter and even the 4 to a degree but then I disliked the route they went after the 4 with the Agassi line and never bought another of his kicks. I suppose if you like the current design which for the vapor 9 and 9.5 I really do you are more pro them keeping with it than if you don't. I like the subtle evolution that changed the 9 to 9.5. I agree the recent colours have been bs (those camos were a new low point) but that's the counter argument to keeping the same model so long - there is only an infinite amount of decent and commercially appealing cws you can do and once they exhaust them as is starting to happen to the vapor 9/9.5 it stars to become tired or desperate. For me the 9.5 works best when they keep it clean - I liked the recent white with black and black with white for example and the greys that were worn at the tour finals. Also the safari Wimbledon was a clean shoe still but with some heritage styling subtly applied.

Ultimately there are just not as many sneaker collectors into tennis as they are into basketball so there is not going to be the same rotation or commercial value.

From my view

Stan Smith - adidas never bettered them in that era until the Edbergs in 86 which were generations apart. Not liked anything they have done since.

Nike Wimbledons (now Tennis Classic) never bettered in that era until ATC line 10 years or so later (not counting AT1 as officially a CT) but when the ATC line was ended no tennis shoe interested me for a long time and I just played in a pair of cheap basic nikes or adidas until the Vapor 9.

So for me if it ain't broke don't fix it but as you say they can certainly do better with special editions and cws that actually relate to achievements on the court or the tournament being played in. That aj3 vapor hybrid was Frankenstein shoe ridiculous.

I'm hoping UA bring out Murrays line. I thought they looked great in the grey tour finals and Union Jack cws at Davis cup and I suspect they are tough and durable given they derive from barricades. Hopefully they are not too heavy. UA have had great success with the Curry so would be nice to see another player in the field.

In the meantime for me the Vapor 9.5 is the best tennis shoe for 20 odd years do I'm happy with it around for a while longer.

I realise I'm about to get flamed for most of the above!

 

[hugree]

@britkicks... no flame needed... I really do get your point of view. I'm not saying a year to year complete makeover is needed... I like the idea of improving upon your previous design, but it's 4 years in a row now. That's too long.

And I do enjoy playing in the Vapors a lot, but in comparison with the Barricade line... I think Adidas has the edge in performance now cause they did improve from 7 to 8 and to 2015. Come to think about Adidas is on the right path to make their performance footwear better each year without breaking the backward compatibility if you now what I mean . I know some players, even Nole, stayed with the previous version, but Adidas still makes signature colorways of the 7's so folks at Adidas are masking the best out of the situation.

Coming back to the Vapor line I don't get one thing... if it's aspiring to be the GOAT in tennis performance footwear why there's no carbon shank version available at retail? They do make that for the players. What's the cost of using that when you have the same design for so long?

We all know Nike dominates in basketball and owns like 95%+ of the market. I think they could do the same in tennis, but for some season they don't care.

I can't wait for Under Armour to step in with the Murrays and steal the show if done right. Tennis market needs a breath of fresh air. Let's hope they will be ready in 2016 cause Andy seemed to be OK with the clay shoe earlier this year and now uses UA on hard courts too.

Btw... Babolat made a great looking shoe

that might be a great performer, but for some reason they released like 140 pairs worldwide. I think they're releasing next year... but still making them that much limited in the first run and I don't think any pros are wearing them is not the best way to do this.

 

[anhuynh16]

There's no way that the Vapors can have real carbon fIber shanks. I'm not sure if you've seen the way that it is molded, but it's a tedious and expensive process. Mass production would be a nightmare. Also, CF is extremely stiff and rigid, and I don't think you would like that.

 

[britkicks]

I tried the barricade but found them a bit heavy for me but I know what you mean- there style has evolved whilst still pushing forward.

 

[Sinner]

All very valid and good points, Britkicks.

But ultimately, this is tennis we're taking about here.  Small market... small potatoes.  I can't even imagine how much of Nike's annual turnover it accounts for.  The money's in bball and running.  At least kids used to wear tennis shoes casually back then (referring to the ATC-line), but you won't see kids rocking "Feds" or "Rafas" casually nowadays.  It's becoming more and more of a niche market.  Oh well.

I always thought Fed was the only guy who got carbon-shanks... but it looks as though Grigor's also getting the PE treatment.  But for guys like NK or Kokk, I think even they get the normal outsoles we see on the GR (only basing that on the pics, of course).  But Nike would never do that for the GR's.  They probably think it's it's overkill and not worth the cost.  The number of players in the public who need that sort of performance that carbon offers are probably minute compared to those who are just casual, weekend club players.  They probably don't think it's even worth it for the collegiate players.  Oh well.

If UA are smart, they can really market the hell out of the Murray shoes.  Make some special edition with Union Jacks and whatnot.  Murray, Curry and Spieth... 

 

[britkicks]

Yes I have never seen a current pro shoe being worn casually and although I love the vapors to play in I can't see myself wearing them casually either so they remain performance alone. However the Vapors are the first time in 20 odd years that I have had a tennis shoe that I don't consider purely from a functional point of view and actually want to see and purchase new cws before existing are beat. As such in happy for them to stay or subtly evolve, especially as nearly all cw end up on racks.

Agree about UA - you look at that rosta and think wow but you look at their British website and there is one old photo of Andy on the tennis page and a couple of raid t shirts not in colours he has worn and you can't get them with his logo on etc. Can't help thinking they are missing a huge trick. At the least get the outfit colours he is currently wearing available on the site! I would of had his DC kit up there immediately and snapped it up

 

[Van Nostrand]

I wear my Vapors casually, I think they work pretty well for that purpose.

 

[georgek]

I wear casually , to play in and even to gym. Got to many color ways though.

 

[georgek]

Same shirt different colors. Omg. This must be for after Aussie So maybe new shirt for clay season???

 

[georgek]

http://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/252206060078
Good price for the shirt if anyone looking. But don't wear it with the shorts unless you are Rafa lol

 

[georgek]

When is nike going to lower the price on the us open green lunars?? I need them. But not at 200