New grass court shoe from adidas help Wimbledon's seeds

19 Jun '09

5 min read

adidas is proud to announce the launch of a new grass court shoe outsole, developed in conjunction with The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and designed to protect the most hallowed turf in tennis. adidas Tennis footwear developers have worked with Wimbledon for the past two years to create a new outsole for renowned CC Feather shoe that will provide the best possible grip on one of tennis's most testing surfaces, while also reducing the wear and tear of the grass.

The adidas CC Feather IV Grass shoe was developed specifically with the London 2012 Olympic Games in mind when tennis will be played on Wimbledon's grass courts just a few weeks after the Grand Slam has finished.

Traditional grass court footwear digs in to the turf to provide grip which in turn causes extreme court damage. The new outsole on the CC Feather IV Grass features an innovative dimple pattern with fewer, softer and longer spikes. As these spikes are dragged along the surface of the grass they provide unrivalled grip whilst also giving a flat push off area which ensures quick directional change for all players.

Former British number one and Wimbledon semi-finalist, Tim Henman and the British Davis Cup squad worked with adidas, the All England Club and the West Yorkshire based Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI), to test and develop the shoe, which was worn by Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi at Wimbledon's recent roof opening.

Henman commented: “I tested the new adidas grass court outsole extensively practicing on both Wimbledon and Queens courts and found it provided amazing grip and support on both dry and damp surfaces. Wimbledon is a very unique playing surface so I was especially pleased to be involved in the creation of an outsole that would reduce the wear and tear of the grass while also providing players with a truly high performance grass shoe."

Women's world number one Dinara Safina and Junior Wimbledon Champion Laura Robson along with Novak Djokovic, Fernando Verdasco, Marat Safin and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are just some of the players who will wear the new outsole during the forthcoming Grand Slam.

Wimbledon Head Groundsman Eddie Seaward expressed his delight at the introduction of this grass-friendly footwear, "The new dimple pattern created by the adidas Tennis footwear team is the perfect solution to reduce the wear and tear of the Wimbledon courts. The longer but softer spikes do not stick to the surface of the grass and pull it up. Instead these spikes flatten the grass giving players a flat push off area for quick directional change. We have monitored the development of this new outsole for a number of years now and I am looking forward to seeing it in action at The Championships next week."

Graham Williamson, Head of adidas Tennis said, “adidas has a wealth of tennis history and as official sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic Games was delighted to be approached by the All England Club tocreate a new outsole that would help protect tennis's only living surface. 2012 will be a very tough summer for the Wimbledon grass with a Grand Slam followed in quick succession by a full Olympic competition and we at adidas are pleased that we could make a shoe that enables the greatest court protection possible.”

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