What started off as a running shoe, and then moved on to become a huge hit in soccer, is now setting its eyes on basketball and tennis!
The Adizero was originally a concept for Adidas’ ultra light running shoes. After success in the running department, Adidas used the ‘Adizero’ name to hail their new speed cleat, the renowned Adidas F50 Adizero which hit the world by storm at the World Cup. Now, Adidas are trying to go two better by creating an Adizero shoe for basketball and tennis!
Just like soccer, Adidas started off behind Nike in the basketball market as Nike’s FlyWire revolutionized sports footwear. Now Adidas are looking to bump Nike off the basketball throne with the new Adizero to be worn by basketball speedster Derrick Rose (it’s weird to use Adizero in terms of basketball!).
Not only have Nike dominated in basketball, but they’ve had a firm grasp over the tennis market. Nike have had far superior tennis shoes with the Zoom Vapor Series. Adidas are going to come into the battle however in the beginning of the 2011 tennis season with the new ‘Adizero’ tennis shoes which is sure to cause a stir amongst tennis players. You may notice these eerily resemble the Adidas F50 Adizero Prime.
About James
James, thanks for your article. Lots of good info in there. However, I have to take issue with a few of your comments. The first is that Nike has been on top in the tennis shoe market. It just isn’t so on a worldwide level, or in any of tennis’s largest markets. The number one shoe in tennis has been the adidas Barricade for almost ten years running. Nike has been a distant second to adidas consistently at both the specialty store and overall levels. Nike has also been second to adidas on the pro tour for even longer. (Furthermore, the Vapor isn’t even Nike’s top-performing shoe. The Breathe series and its successor the Courballistec have far outsold the Vapors, and been worn by far more tour players.) Lastly, while the adizero will be a great addition to the adidas tennis offering, it probably won’t affect their overall control of the market that much, as it replaces the lightweight Feather series, which is the third most important series, after the aforementioned Barricades (durability/cushioning), and the Genius series. Hope this info helps.
Hey Lance,
Thanks for the comment. Sorry about the mistakes. I think it’s pretty evident we are a soccer/football based website! I’ll go ahead and edit James’ article and fix up the issues you brought up.
Thanks,
Ben
Hey Lance,
Thanks for your opinion. I actually play tennis as well (second to soccer though), and I compared the Vapor Tour to the Adizero because that is Nike’s closest competitor to the Adizero, as it is their lightest shoe on the market. The Vapor Tour has the edge on the Genius’ in the speed category because they are more then two ounces lighter. I didn’t mean to imply that the Vapor’s were Nike’s top performing shoe as well, I just compared them in terms of the speed market. I have been a huge fan of the Breathe and Court Ballistic series, and have been wearing them ever since they came out. The Barricade is a very good tennis shoe, but I’ve found it’s good pretty much only on hard court. That’s where Nike gain their advantage as most of their shoes are very good on all surfaces whereas, Adidas sponsored players seem to change shoes when playing on grass, hard, and clay.
Thanks,
James
Hey James,
Hope some of the info was helpful. Actually, in terms of speed/lightness, the adidas offering isn’t the Genius, which is a hybrid performance shoe. Their lightness/speed shoe is the Feather, which is almost exactly the same weight as the Vapor. The adizeros will replace the Feather line, which had originally been designed as a clay court shoe, before they transitioned it into the general weight/speed category. You’re right about Nike shoes crossing over more often from surface to surface, though this is mostly because adidas looks at it as an opportunity to sell serious players more than one pair of shoes. While many pros can get multi-surface versions of their favorite line, adidas encourages them to switch so that followers will want to as well.