The Nike Free-Inspired TW’14 shoes didn’t even hit retail stores shelves before they marched to their first victory at TPC Sawgrass as Tiger Woods won The Players Championship in May. Not a bad start, but then again most things Tiger decides to put into play get off to good starts.
While this is Nike’s 14th iteration of a shoe for Tiger Woods, it is only the second-generation of a Free-Inspired golf shoe for the world’s number one player. As with most things, version 2.0 is usually better than 1.0, especially when Nike is involved. The TW’14 is a significant evolution from its predecessor as Nike focused on four areas for major improvements–fit, flexibility, stability and breathability.
Nike’s Dynamic Flywire technology (shown above) is a welcomed addition to the TW’14 and takes the flexibility, stability and fit of the shoe to a whole new level. While I didn’t wear the TW’13s, I have worked out in Nike Frees for several years and have had a love/hate relationship with them due to the stability issue. Recently I’ve been running and working out in a different model of Nike shoes that have the Flywire technology and it’s amazing how light and stable they are. The Flywire wraps around your foot like a glove. Putting the TW’14s on for the first time, I was definitely impressed with the level of stability that the Flywire brought to the shoes.
A common complaint of the TW’13 was the breathability of the shoe. Nike took a two-pronged approach to providing more ventilation in the TW’14 by strategically creating perforations in the upper and designing a new, more comfortable mesh tongue (shown above) while keeping the shoe waterproof.
The Nike TW’14 is available in two colorways (Black/Varsity Red/White and White/Black/White) with a third colorway (Cool Grey/Black-Vivid Blue-Venom Green) coming August 1st. This third colorway (shown above) is significant as it is the first Tiger Woods shoe that strays outside of the traditional black, white and red colorways.
These three colors aren’t your only options as the TW’14 is the first golf shoe that will be available for customization through the Nike iD program. You can truly make Tiger’s shoe your own. Live it up! Choose from hundreds of color combinations, mesh or waterproof leather uppers and the traditional TRI-LOCK soft spike system or the new Integrated Traction spikeless option (shown above). You can even add your name, initials or inspirational message.
Enough from me. Check out the video below to hear from Tiger and the man who engineered the shoe.
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