Inspiring Sports Technology
Football and soccer
Nike mercurial safari football boots for Cristiano Ronaldo
Friday, October 29th, 2010
Great looking football boots for Cristiano Ronaldo; the Nike Mercurial safari’s. Not much to say really, other than Nike are a very innovative company. Introducing a spotty boot is something only they could pull off, and pull off well. Companys have to know their expertise, and marketing is certainly Nike’s. Great job.
Article by Bryan Roberts
Brightstar Sportstec football boot
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
http://brightstarsportstec.com/
Sportstechreview has been priveleged to welcome a new football boot technology by a newly formed company Brightstar Sports Tec Ltd. their technology aims to replicate compliance orf the skin, ultimately improving the ability for a footballer to spin (swerve) the ball upon comand.
. The technology has shown to create a greater mean spin than competitor boots by up to 26%.
. The mean spin results do demonstrate the prototype’s consistency in providing an enhanced level of spin when compared to the competitor’s boots in both dry & wet conditions.
. The prototype samples demonstrate higher COF than all competitor boot samples in both wet & dry conditions.
. The initial prototype shows remarkable potential with clear development channels available to reach class-leading performance in the future.
We got in touch with Iain Davis and this is what he said:
“I played football up till a knee problem forced me to retire at 17, I was still able to have a gentle kick about after an operation but was told that any contact sport was a bad idea!
Through out my life and as far back as Ii can remember Ii have watched football and the world cup has always amazed me,due to the difference in technique speed and effort that different teams from around the world have or dont have.
The team that had always stood out was brazil .They seemed to play effortlessly,deft touches,bending balls around the corner making the ball work for them!
Knowing that alot of the south American players came from playing bare footed as youngsters due to alack of money and yet had in their adult game afar better first,second and final touch than most of the rest of the worlds players got me thing,how,why??
I came to the conclusion that playing bare footed ,allowing the skin of the foot to have better grip on the ball as it would GRIP,STRETCH and MORPH to the balls surface,allowing greater contact time,enhanced grip and a general better control!! I was going to try to replicate skin on the outside of a football boot!
So now having this as my starting point i then started to source materials that would have these properties,grip,elasticty and morph to the surface of a ball.I was able with the help of a friend who was a cobbler to mock up a prototype that had these working properties.. All the time that i was doing this was just to prove a point to myself and for no other reason,
I played football for half an hour in my normal boots to get my natural touch and then changed into my prototype boot and absolutly straight away i was able to induce greater spin on the ball,thus proving my point,to me!!!
After afew days i realised that it may have a wider audience .I was on a train that stopped short of the station(Horley) and there beside the train line was a sign on a building for “EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEY”,,i phoned for an appointment ,went along and from there begun the process of gaining first the British Patent then going on to get 11 European granted Patents.
I then with the help of Sussex university went about applying for Goverment grants to do the R&D to prove the concept as it was still scientifically unproved and would be very hard to get proper interest from Brands and such,3 years later and failed applications I decided to try to get private investment which was achieved and i was then able to get Progressive Sports based at Loughborough university(one of the worlds leading sports rnd facalties) to undertake the R&D.
The RnD came back positive when tested against the worlds biggest brands boots which have enhanced grip,strike locations with results of upto 26% more grip,20% more spin generation and my material had protective properties that would protect the metatarsal bones of the feet!!
Result…
I am now at the point where the technology needs to be incorperated into a football boot and as such i am looking to raise more investment so that i can have arun of boots made up .With help from Howard wilkinson who has invested in this technology we will be able to make direct contact with top flight professionals and take their game to a greater level, exagerate their natural ability and allow greater team,game play”.
Good luck Brightstar and we hope it makes it big!!! We will keep our readers up to date.
What about the new Nike T90 Laser III
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
Cracking video about the new technology shown on Saturday 16th January edition of Sky Sports’ Soccer AM show
The Nike boots have been designed with the players in mind. Targeted accuracy and power zones according to Fernando Torres, Wayne Rooney, Robbie Keane, Rio Ferdinand and Gennaro Gattuso
Have a watch of the video
Adidas launch the Predator X
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
Adidas launch their new football boots – Predator X!
“Double up on dominating ball power with this adidas football PREDATOR_X X-TRX SG boot. With PREDATOR® forefoot power for top swerve and ball control, and POWERSPINE delivering unprecedented shooting power. With X-TRAXION® system for big grip on soft ground.”
Concave launch next generation of football boot
Saturday, October 2nd, 2010
TORONTO (July 1, 2009) – The long-awaited complete new line of technologically advanced Concave football boots is being introduced this fall, giving players at all levels the ability to increase their ball striking skills – in the areas of power, accuracy and control – while also protecting against foot injuries.
From top to bottom, Concave boots offer an entirely new concept in soccer footwear. Patented technology on the top of the boot gives players 30% better control and 15% more power, according to an accredited university study. Concave is unique in that respect.
Those remarkable performance improvements are derived primarily from the most effective ‘sweet spot’ ever introduced — rated at four times larger than traditional soccer boots. The benefit is an upper that conforms to the convex shape of the ball – essentially “hugging” the ball.
But improvements go even farther.
“Concave provides players with the confidence to make plays they may not have been able to make in the past,” says Jim Grimes, CEO of Concave Holdings, Inc.
Aside from the larger sweet spot – which is the most visible departure from other boot designs – there are additional important features engineered into Concave boots.
Below the concave upper are two technologies built in to help protect the feet, which is welcome news to players of all stripes and parents who are outfitting their youngsters.
. Concave Shank Balance Stabilizer (SBS) provides support and reinforcement to the mid-foot area to help control balance between the front and rear of the foot. The SBS protects from an over extension of the middle of the boot – too much flexibility can lead to metatarsal bone damage.
. MetaGuard is an extra layer of protection built into the boot. It’s a unique upper design featuring a flexible layer of TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane Elastomers) and reinforced cushioning foam composite offering increased protection against the occurrence of metatarsal injuries by adding a protective layer to the top of the foot.
