Nike is paying homage to its 1998 Nike Mercurial soccer shoe, which was designed way back when for soccer legend Ronaldo. The new Nike Mercurial Vapor IX SE features the latest tech from today in the classic shoe. However, only 1,998 pairs are being made – so catch one if you can.
Tag: football
Nike Soccer’s Centennial
Downton Abbey fans might know that the show begins in 1912 (just after the 1912 sinking of the Titanic), but even soccer fans likely couldn’t tell you that American soccer began just a year later. But in fact this year does represent the 100-year anniversary of the birth of U.S. soccer, which was established through the United States Football Association. That 100 years has seen its share of ups and downs, but to celebrate Nike has introduced its Centennial U.S. soccer kit for both men and women.
These include minimalist jerseys that are inspired by the original ones worn in America’s first international match – a 3-2 victory against Sweden. However, while the look may be retro, these new uniforms feature advanced Dri-Fit technology that includes 96 percent polyester from recycled plastic bottles. The more things stay the same, the more some things change.
Learn From a Pro
Want to play like a Tennis pro? Just like playing at Carnegie Hall it comes to down to practice, practice, practice. But even with practice you need to know how to do it right and some new apps from Vstrator might help. These are designed to collaborative social coaching tools that allows users to capture, create and share videos of “coachable moments” and further allows coaches to train athletes remotely. Currently Vstrator has apps for tennis, strength training, golf and football. Game on.
Get Crazy, Get Quick
Adidas has introduced its new Crazyquick performance footwear line, which the company touts as being the latest innovation designed specifically to help make athletes quicker. This includes a line for basketball, football, running and training; and each gives athletes better controlled flexibility, better traction and optimal foot lockdown. So while it is good that Adidas is thinking of the “Quick” part, there are a whole lot of athletes that probably don’t need any help on the “crazy” part.
Laser Guided
We know – according to the movie Goldfinger – that a laser can cast a small point on the surface of the moon or cut through gold and nearly a 007 agent. A laser is an intense beam of light. The Nike Vapor Laser Talon is an intense running shoe that features a revolutionary 3D printed plate that can help football athletes perform at their absolute best. The shoe is a featherweight 5.6 ounces that can help players maintain their drive stance longer and even accelerate faster in the first 10 yards. This first shoe to utilize 3D printing technology can’t cut through gold however, but it can help wearers get the most out of every step.
Kick Starter
What the world calls football – and we Americans called soccer – is a game that is truly hands off. This requires a bit of a learning curve for many as it is just so intuitive to use the upper appendages. For those who want to practice but don’t have any to do so with the Zero G Soccer Trainer might just the thing to let younger players kick things off.
It features a weighted stand with a flexible arm that holds a regular soccer ball. This can be used to build confidence in ball handling and juggling, and features variable gravity settings that can be adjusted for varying degrees of challenges. Video after the jump
Helmet Study to Include Hockey and Baseball
Much has been made about concussions and football helmets, but now the Virginia Tech – Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences is looking to expand its ground-breaking research to include hockey, baseball, softball and lacrosse. The five year plan will look to rate helmets worn in those sports and determine the ability the helmets have to lessen the likelihood of a concussion resulting from head impact.
The ratings for the helmets will begin with hockey in the fall of this year, followed by youth football in 2015, and then baseball, softball and lacrosse in 2016.
[Via Product Design & Development: Sports Concussion-Risk Studies to Include Hockey and Baseball]
gForce Tracker Adds Up Trauma
Head injuries are getting a lot of attention, all the way from little league teams to the pros. While the focus is primarily on football, other sports including baseball come into play on the issue. A new device, the gForce Tracker (GFT) will help athletes (and parents of younger athletes) track cumulative trauma to help tell players when they need a time out. Continue reading gForce Tracker Adds Up Trauma
If the Virtual Shoe Fits: Shoefitr
The problem with shoe shopping online is that you can never guarantee the fit. Or can you? A new system from Shoefitr makes it possible to get a good fit when virtual shoe shopping. The tool lets users see a visual fitting comparison, which allows shoppers to determine fit. One store, SoccerPro, has seen a 28 percent reduction in its return rates since implementing the virtual fitting app last year. Continue reading If the Virtual Shoe Fits: Shoefitr
U.S. Naval Academy Researchers Look to Improve Brain Buckets
The military has often created new technology that trickles down to everyday products, and now researchers at the U.S. Naval Academy may have paved the wave towards making a more robust helmet. However, this isn’t a military helmet, although there is no reason why their research couldn’t help soldiers on the battlefield, but rather a football helmet.
Physicist Murrary Korman and student Duncan Miller reportedly developed a simple experimental model to study helmet-to-helmet collisions – the types that happen regularly during a football game. The pair were able to get a pair of helmets from the football program and then created a ring of plastic that was just a 16th of an inch and six inches in diameter (about the size of an average skull) to place inside. Continue reading U.S. Naval Academy Researchers Look to Improve Brain Buckets
New Technology Reduces Football Related Head Trauma
One would think that something called “Unequal” would return mixed results. But in fact Unequal CRT, an uneven supplemental helmet padding designed by UNEQUAL Technologies, has been found to reduce the occurrence of concussions during the season.
The Unequal CRT padding – CRT stands for Concussion Reduction Technology – dampens and disperses energy associated with blunt force trauma. This occurs enough to register significant drops in the Severity Index, a measurement of the hazard or risk of injury associated with helmet impacts. Unequal CRT has already been used by some pro athletes in the NFL, and is now available for high school and college football teams.
Riddell Brings Top of Line Helmet Protection in Entry Price
Riddell is bringing performance and protection to the masses. The masses of high school and college football players that is. The company is introducing its Riddell 360 for this season of football. The Riddell 360 helmet has several features that increase safety, yet it’s still affordable for most teams and individual players.
The helmet uses strategically placed hinge clips, and a flexing facemask that reduces force from frontal impacts. Energy is redirected away from the head. An enhanced occipital lock cradles the head for more comfort, fit and stability. All these features also help the helmet stay on and protect the head during tough plays. Riddell also used an aggressive design that includes extreme detailing and oversized vent holes, which allow air circulation around the player’s head. The nexagonal liner system includes a removable, moisture resistant overliner, another comfort feature.
Riddell already earned a five-star helmet rating from the engineers at Virginia Tech.
49ers Help Construct Fitness Zone
Instead of heading to the end zone in an NFL game, last week players from the San Francisco 49ers helped complete the new outdoor 49ers Fitness Zone at Peterson Middle School in Santa Clara. The 49ers reportedly traded in their cleats, shoulder pads and even game faces and picked up power tools, put on smiles and helped install seats and hang two gates at the new center.
The 49er Fitness Zone features green technology, and requires no electricity or scheduled maintenance. It is designed to increase physical fitness and encourage healthy lifestyles among the youth. Several philanthropic community businesses joined the 49ers and United Healthcare in erecting the outdoor fitness zone as part of the NFL-United Way Hometown Huddle Day of Service.
The dedication of the center also correlated with the NFL’s Play 60 program, a campaign to encourage children to be active for 60 minutes a day in order to help reverse the trend of childhood obesity.
NFL’s Play 60 Official Website
49ers Foundation Official Website
[Via Santa Clara Weekly: A Different Kind of Touchdown – 49ers Foundation and United Healthcare Join in Construction of Outdoor Fitness Center for SCUSD Students]