The long awaited Tiger Woods TW ’15 shoe was introduced by Nike Golf on Tuesday, and it is the first golf shoe to feature the brand’s Flyweave technology.
The TW ’15 is the latest collaboration between Tiger Woods and Tobie Hatfield, Nike Senior Director of Athlete Innovation. Woods wanted a shoe that was more stable and more flexible, so Hatfield integrated Dynamic Flywire into a Flyweave upper. This Flyweave material, first used in a basketball shoe in 2014, allowed Hatfield to create an upper for Woods that is both strong and supportive.
“Nike keeps answering the bell every time I want to push the envelope. The new Flyweave technology provides even more stability and support for my foot, and when you pair that with the Free-inspired outsole, I noticed I can push off the ground better and finish my swing with power.”
— Tiger Woods
To address Tiger’s flexibility demands, the Nike Free-inspired outsole received a few improvements on the TW ’15 to provide a golf-specific natural range of motion. Hatfield designed it to sit 3mm lower than the TW ’14 to maximize ground contact and feel. Combined with four replacement spikes, Hatfield utilized Integrated Traction in the toe area of the shoe for extra gripping power. The result is a shoe that is stable, supportive, flexible and lightweight (10% lighter than the TW’14 to be exact).
“Tiger epitomizes power. His power starts with natural motion, which begins with unleashing the foot from the ground up. Flyweave gives you that flexibility coupled with support.”
— Tobie Hatfield, Nike Senior Director of Athlete Innovation
Aesthetically, Hatfield’s design was inspired by Woods’ personal love of diving and spearfishing. His first sketch (above) of the shoe featured star-shaped traction, similar to a starfish. The traction elements in the toe are shaped like octopus beaks, and the rubber in the tip and the heel are inspired by shark scales.
The Nike TW ’15 is available in three colorways (University Red/Black, Metallic Silver/Black and Black/White) on March 5th with pre-orders beginning February 12th. A limited number will be available on nike.com beginning February 2nd.
