Nike recently highlighted some of their most recent renditions of their popular Zoom Air cushion system along with some of the different sports the tech crosses paths with.
Zoom Air pretty much spans across all sport categories. From Basketball to Running, Football to Tennis. On or off-court, Zoom Air is Nike’s most popular cushion and – in my opinion – it’s best. If you wanted to know what Nike’s latest models are sporting in the Zoom department, check out the information below provided by Nike Inc.
When greatness is measured in fractions of seconds, everything an athlete does has to maximize his or her performance and speed. This obsession has driven us for years, causing us to relentlessly push the envelope of sports innovation forward.
But as Zoom Air proves, innovation doesn’t always have to be in the form of new.
THE BIRTH OF NIKE ZOOM AIR
After more than a decade of research and development, Nike Zoom Air debuted 20 years ago and continues to provide responsive low-profile cushioning that athletes can feel. Athletes of every caliber want to feel responsiveness under their feet – which Zoom Air technology delivers.
Zoom Air made its original performance debut in three styles: the Nike Air Marauder football cleat, the Nike Air Go LWP basketball shoe, and soon after, the Nike Air Zoom LWP running shoe. Ever since, athletes have trained, competed and won in shoes featuring its responsive cushioning.
A LOOK UNDER THE HOOD
Tightly stretched tensile fibers are knit inside a pressurized Nike Air unit, giving the Zoom Air cushioning its snappy responsiveness. Each time an athlete’s foot touches down, the fibers compress to cushion the impact before quickly springing back to their original state, generating an explosive, powerful response off the ground. Whether elite athletes are racing or training, they look to Zoom Air for a fast, responsive ride and the snappy, quick-off-the ground feel that helps optimize their quest for speed.
“Zoom Air technology gives runners the benefits of a more responsive and energetic run. It helps rebound from the road, getting runner’s feet on and off the ground quicker into the next stride,” says Brett Holts, Sr. Footwear Product Director for Nike Running.
When dreams are realized in milliseconds, Zoom Air – the fastest, most responsive Nike Air cushioning – can change how fast an athlete feels in an instant.
Zoom Air technology is designed for athletes across multiple sports whose performance is based on speed. Whether that means an explosive drive, a powerful cut, or a lightning-quick change of direction, low-profile and hyper-responsive Zoom Air absorbs the forces applied to it by the fastest athletes in the world—and gives a little of it right back.
RUNNING: Nike Air Zoom Elite 8 — The Air Zoom Elite 8 features Zoom Air in the forefoot to provide responsive cushioning at the faster speeds of tempo runs, when runners are more likely to strike with the forefoot.
Nike Zoom Vapor 9.5 (NikeCourt) — Created for a full speed attack, the Nike Zoom Vapor 9.5 Tour tennis shoe helps athletes quickly move from shot to shot during fast-paced matches with Nike Zoom Air units that deliver low profile, responsive cushioning.
BASKETBALL: Nike KD8 — Zoom Air provides basketball athletes with dynamic responsiveness in a game that relies on constant impact and bursts of speed.
NIKE SB: Nike Zoom P-ROD 9 Elite — Zoom Air cushioning delivers maximum impact protection without excess bulk, allowing the rider to stay as close to the board as possible.
FOOTBALL: Nike Zoom Field General — Designed for speed training on the turf, full-length Zoom Air delivers responsive cushioning for fast-paced lateral changes and quick acceleration.
WOMEN’S TRAINING: Nike Zoom Flyknit Agility — Strategically placed, hexagonal Zoom Air pods in the outsole provide cushioning and responsiveness where athletes need it most, without compromising lightweight or flexibility.
MEN’S TRAINING: Nike Zoom Hypercross TR2— Hexagonal Nike Zoom Air units are designed to deliver ultra-responsive, ultra-agile cushioning for targeted quickness during dynamic workouts.
Its awesome and one of the best feelings when done right. Unfortunately Nike tends to skimp whenever they can. Especially on Retros. I bet if they retro’d the Nike Air Go LWP today the zoom unit would be pathetic. They would also probably be marketed as a Lifestyle model.
In 10 years they will probably retro the KD8 and offer only that thin rectangular forefoot POS zoom unit that they put in everything. They’ll charge $230 and put it in a orange or brown box.
lmfao!!! #truth
love these tech breakdowns.
Keep them coming!!!
Overrated by fans of Nike. It is probably the least supportive in all of Nike’s cushioning systems, because more times than not, it feels mushy instead of bouncy. There is no consistency in regard to feel, and Nike seems to have never gotten it right ever since they were forced to change the formula for air based systems.
What do you mean by “forced to change the formula”?
The original Air-gas was very toxic, that got replaced by a Greenhouse gas(SF6) in 1992, and since 2005 I believe they use Nitrogen(a much cleaner gas).
They forgot to mention the small rectangle unit that’s in every teamshoe…
I was about to mention that. Hiding the dark side of Zoom Air…
true2
Just give me the Jordan 13 zoom air in all nike zoom air shoes and I’m fine, they keep on gimmicking up the zoom air the last 10 years and there’s no point to.
Like a Mazda. zoom zoom. Zoom is still my ex girl friend I spent time with just so I can tickle the feminin fat. Some time it’s so good I keep texting and other times I’m on to the next girl. For a buried unit the lebron 6 is ill with 5 i’s, as of late the Jordan 14.5 is stupid comfy responsive dope and fresh.
Agreed that people don’t support Zoom Models because of skimping out on Zoom Units.
Zoom done right as it stands is any version of Full-Length Zoom, or a “high-end” signature model.
In other words, a lot of $$$ for it.
As Nightwing and the Weartesters staff often say, buying is a choice, be patient for sales, and don’t complain if we purchase something we don’t like.
word^^^^
can anybody help me? i know that mostly people expect from zoom is the responsiveness and low to the ground feeling, but does these kind of zoom air helps with those people with sore knees? i need clarification
No, it won’t help sore-knees, it might actually cause some soreness. Basically your knees get sore because they’re working hard to stabilize, Zoom as the animation shows bounces, and rolls towards the sides, to keep your movement dynamic, that’s the choice though, stability, or dynamics.
So the more dynamic a cushioning gets, the less stable they get, it’s why bigger guys tend to have more foam-based cushioning, and if you want to ‘flash it’ can use regular Air, Gel, but usually even those are packed in foam(EVA, or PU) to make sure they’re stable enough.
ok2 thanks dude, appreciate it
Great response. As someone who sometimes deals with sore knees, I can attest to this. When my legs are aching, I actually much prefer foam based cushion.
Also, maybe a good analogy to effective Zoom would be like a trampoline. You going to feel the effect. To add, that’s why bigger people wear Air Max shoes, but it is unstable since it is higher. With soreness, Good Foam based cushioning helps a lot. Consider with each cushioning there is tradeoffs to each i.e durability, responsiveness, impact protection, court feel, and stability.