Nike Flyknit spike side

We’ve seen it before.  Nike designs a breakthrough technology and spreads it through multiple channels.  Nike Flyknit is definitely one of those take off technologies, that more and more people are falling in love with.   There are several applications of Flyknit that could easily be suitable for a vast range of sports, but could soccer or football be one of them?

A shoe with a soul

Flyknit is basically like wearing a sock with a soul… or sole rather.   It gives you that highly sought after barefoot feel.  Going barefoot has become more and more popular as people realize that mother nature has been perfecting our design for millions of years and our feet work great already. A more natural shoe  provides more function to your foot by allowing you more feel and breathability for cooling.  The major problem with implementing this technology in the soccer world is durability and protection.  A good soccer shoe has to be able to take the stresses of slides, kicks, weather, and tares from contact with other cleats.  You’d think that a Flyknit soccer shoe would be out of the question.

Just Do It

While a Nike Flyknit Soccer Shoe would seem to have too many obstacles to overcome. They could easily be eliminated with a few tweaks and changes. And just think about the advantages of such shoes. The shoe would be incredibly lightweight and fast.  We are talking about Nike here, and they are the company with the “Just Do It” motto after all. If there is way to make it happen, Nike will do it. Just look at Nike’s newest addition to the soccer line up, the Hypervenom. It is already a move towards the Flyknit feel. While it may offer slightly less protection than traditional shoes, it makes up for it with the function and form of a great lightweight speed shoe. The Flyknit would take that design, one step further.

Application

nike-flyknit-track-spike-3-630x420What would this shoe look like? First off, it would probably be made from a slightly different material than the current Flyknit shoes, or at least have more material added to it. Think of a fishing line type of knit woven into the cloth top.  This would add the needed durability and structure so the shoe doesn’t rip the second it comes in contact with another shoe or heavy strike. Another obvious addition would be cleats. How would Nike go about adding a cleat to an already soft, supple, and thin sole.Well, to start with they’ve already done it, in the form of a track spike (top photo), but running in nearly straight lines is much different from the movement in soccer. First the sole would have to be strengthened to accommodate for the stress the player’s agility puts on the shoe.

Hypervenom Sole

This could either be done by strengthening the existing sole or using a sole similar to the Hypervenom… or more likely a combination of the two. The following picture is a possibility.  Granted this a photoshop hack job I spent about 2 minutes on, it’s just meant to get your imagination rolling and is by no means anything close to an actual shoe.

Nike Soccer Football FlyknitThe Future

Whether we see Nike Flyknit make its way into the soccer/football world is a question only time will answer.  I guess also the execs at Nike could answer it too, but I’m not gonna waste my time trying to get unreleased information.  When and if they’re ready for us to know, we will know.  My personal bet is we will see at least some Flyknit features brought into the soccer world.  Maybe it won’t be the entire shoe, but parts of soccer shoes could easily incorporate Flyknit material.  Stay tuned. 

 

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