No love for the Wilson shoes...

Moonarse · Nov 24, 2017

Never had interest in any of Wilson's equipments. racquets, clothes, shoes, caps. They seem too much of the "Mr. Countryclub McSweater" weapons of choice and seem to be the common sense among the stereotypical tennis player. Always felt more intrigued with the "underdog" brands and the ones that try to break royal etiquette label of the sport.
As a clay player that tends to solve the puzzle more with stamina and sweat than with wits and technique, I always felt tennis more like a gladiator muddy coliseum battle than a Grassy English Garden Gentleman's Tea time.

So yeah, wilson never had me... but then I got a huge discount on one of their Rush sport 2 shoes.

Clay shoes are normally high class more expensive shoes around here and I was looking for something cheap that I might destroy in the trainings. Wilson sole got my attention as it looked like a clay sole, but without much of its sharpness, so I took the risk and bought on from the internet without testing.

Damn those shoes are great. They look great on the feet, work surprisingly well at clay and, despite of beeing more on the hard type, there is a lot of confort as there is good cushioning for the reels and support at the front part of the feet. And it seems that is gonna outlast the Barricades I had in terms of durability.

Why no love at all for them? I do not see many people wearing them in my club, neither in the tournaments and not even here at TT.

I am even planning on keep harvesting them in sales and strictly use them. Sure Asics are a tad more comfortable, but they tend to be twice the price and half the durability.

SpinToWin · Nov 24, 2017

Heard some great things regarding the Kaos too. Intriguing shows for the price for sure

KANZA · Nov 24, 2017

I use the rush 2.5. I am mr boring country club (aka classic styles) wearing the white version. I used to wear the tour vapor 9.5. Rush are much better. I find they are slightly wider and more accommodating. Also helpful for plantar faciitis

antonell07 · Nov 27, 2017

The first and the third replies are making my day.

I was the footwear designer in the team of 4 (mrkt develop 2d draft) dedicated to the 2015 footwear line in which we could count the Rush pro 2.0 back in 2013, before trying other interesting things.

I am happy to hear those comments as I put my science my time and soul particularly in the midsole and outsole construction. I heard the 2,5 has an even more comfy upper which is good as the first iteration was a bit dry.

I believe more people should stop by and try the rush pro and kaos families as we improved at that time of 2013 dramatically the fit particularly at the heel and the arch of the foot. Happy to hear the plantar faciitis part indeed.

Thank you guys and good game.

haqq777 · Nov 27, 2017

T Dub has a special going on which has me intrigued. Get a Burn and Kaos for $99. Anyone know how Kaos are? Looking for a comparison to other mainstream shoes, if possible.

airchallenge2 · Nov 28, 2017

There are so many good choices out there, it's hard for one to try them all. I'm happy with my adidas and new balance shoes.

mhkeuns · Nov 28, 2017

Almost broke my ankle with the first gen Glide. Other than that, Wilson is no better or worse than any other brand. Wilson is probably more comfortable than most brands. As far as support, I think most are pretty much the same. I just find that for my flat feet, Asics GR lasts much longer and does not give me foot pains.

PBODY99 · Nov 28, 2017

haqqani1777 said:
T Dub has a special going on which has me intrigued. Get a Burn and Kaos for $99. Anyone know how Kaos are? Looking for a comparison to other mainstream shoes, if possible.

I have a wider foot, the Wilson shoes have worked for me. Tried the Kaos on the earlier deal. Just ordered anothr pair. The frame is a nice bonus.

WildVolley · Nov 28, 2017

PBODY99 said:
I have a wider foot, the Wilson shoes have worked for me. Tried the Kaos on the earlier deal. Just ordered anothr pair. The frame is a nice bonus.

How is the toe box room? Specifically the toe box width in terms of the big toe line and space for the little toe. Those locations are where shoes usually cause me pain.

If a particular Wilson model has good toe-box room I'll definitely put it on my to-buy list.

GripItNRipIt · Nov 28, 2017

WildVolley said:
How is the toe box room? Specifically the toe box width in terms of the big toe line and space for the little toe. Those locations are where shoes usually cause me pain.

If a particular Wilson model has good toe-box room I'll definitely put it on my to-buy list.

I have wide feet, and the Kaos toe box is great. I've used K-swiss Bigshots which are also very roomy, but feel more clumsy on the court to me. I always thought the Kaos played "fast" on court. I'm picking another pair up with the Burn/Kaos special going on right now.

Chotobaka · Nov 28, 2017

Aside from the spiffy looks of my black & red Kaos, and they do look great, I cannot find one thing I like about them. Hate the sock liner, the shoes buckle at the ankle area when flexed forward (the outer side of the shoes open up), and their extreme wideness is a myth. Not nearly as comfortable for my wide forefoot as either Big Shot Lite 2.5's or Yonex Fusion Rev. Stability and cushioning are mediocre, at best. Really, a sub-par shoe in every respect for me.

Two of my students bought the Rush, again a shoe with really nice cosmetics, and both absolutely destroyed the toes in a short period of time -- extra ventilation at no extra cost.

WestboroChe · Dec 3, 2017

My understanding was always that Wilson makes some of the best tennis shoes out there. Unfortunately they seem to think that no men wear anything less than a size 8 as many of their models seek to start there. As such I haven't had a chance to try them out. Fortunately Yonex gets it and makes shoes for my little elf feet and I am pretty happy with them since K Swiss decided to go all in on light fast shoes (i.e. shoes with no cushioning or support).

California · Dec 3, 2017

With so many great shoe brands out there; adidas, asics, Nike, yonex etc.... why would you bother with Wilson?

WestboroChe · Dec 3, 2017

California said:
With so many great shoe brands out there; adidas, asics, Nike, yonex etc.... why would you bother with Wilson?

I don't know. Maybe because they make good tennis shoes? I have heard good things about them and unlike Nike Wilson has a big presence in tennis that goes beyond fashion and apparel. And IMO Nike are not good tennis shoes.

California · Dec 3, 2017

WestboroChe said:
I don't know. Maybe because they make good tennis shoes? I have heard good things about them and unlike Nike Wilson has a big presence in tennis that goes beyond fashion and apparel. And IMO Nike are not good tennis shoes.

Good tennis shoes? You are in the minority who thinks so.... don't like Nike? No problem, still have adidas, asics, etc... plus the 9.5 is a big seller, not my favorite, but they must be doing something right? In sales I would guess it would be Nike, Asics, adidas. Not sure in which order but Wilson is far down the list. Yes, they have a big presence in tennis, in racquets and string, not footwear.

Chotobaka · Dec 4, 2017

Wilson once made the very best tennis shoe on the planet. That was the all-leather upper Pro Staff with actual tire tread as the outsole. But that was five decades ago and shoe construction was pretty basic in those days.

WestboroChe · Dec 4, 2017

California said:
Good tennis shoes? You are in the minority who thinks so.... don't like Nike? No problem, still have adidas, asics, etc... plus the 9.5 is a big seller, not my favorite, but they must be doing something right? In sales I would guess it would be Nike, Asics, adidas. Not sure in which order but Wilson is far down the list. Yes, they have a big presence in tennis, in racquets and string, not footwear.

Yes they are way down the list. That doesn't mean they aren't good though. Shoe manufacturing isn't rocket science though and the only impediment to designing a good tennis shoe is the desire to make it.

California · Dec 4, 2017

WestboroChe said:
Yes they are way down the list. That doesn't mean they aren't good though. Shoe manufacturing isn't rocket science though and the only impediment to designing a good tennis shoe is the desire to make it.

Well they didn't do tremendously well in TW's reviews either so.... they don't sell well and didn't test well, maybe they aren't that good? You seem to think otherwise....

You are right designing and creating shoes isn't rocket science, yet many companies can't seem to get it right.

WestboroChe · Dec 5, 2017

California said:
Well they didn't do tremendously well in TW's reviews either so.... they don't sell well and didn't test well, maybe they aren't that good? You seem to think otherwise....

You are right designing and creating shoes isn't rocket science, yet many companies can't seem to get it right.

Ha ha. Perhaps you are right. As I said I can't get them in my size and the last pair of Wilsons I bought were over 10 years ago.

I was also thinking about this and how it's totally understandable why people would be reluctant to try a new brand as the shoes all go for over $100 and you can't know if it's going to really work for you until you actually play with it and then you can't return them.

Of course Babolat seems to have solved this problem as every other player at the courts now sports those shoes. I guess attaching your brand to someone like Nadal helps even if he wears Nike.

gusgrand · Dec 5, 2017

WestboroChe said:
I guess attaching your brand to someone like Nadal helps even if he wears Nike.

It's not like Wilson haven't attached themselves to the womans and mens champions with the most slams ever won in the history of the game!

Fanman · Dec 5, 2017

I have a pair of the Rush Pro 2.0's & I think they are outstanding tennis shoes. Right up there w/ the best of the other companies in terms of comfort, stability, support, etc. Overall just a great shoe. I got a pair of the Kaos & it wasn't as good though. I am really looking at getting a pair of the Rush Pro 2.5's as I heard great things about them.

Fanman · Dec 5, 2017

California said:
Well they didn't do tremendously well in TW's reviews either so.... they don't sell well and didn't test well, maybe they aren't that good? You seem to think otherwise....

You are right designing and creating shoes isn't rocket science, yet many companies can't seem to get it right.

Actually their Rush Pro 2.0 & newer 2.5's tested very well w/ Tennis Warehouse. Comparable to the top brands top of the line shoes.

I would have to agree with their assessment that the Rush Pro 2.0's that I have compared favorably with the Nike Lunar Ballistecs, Adidas Barricades & Babolat Propulse line shoes. I've had just about every brand shoe & the Rush Pro shoe is a great option.

The reason they are not as popular as some of the major brands is that they are primarily tennis focused. Whereas brands like Nike, Adidas, Asics, etc have an entire sports line, brands such as Wilson, Babolat, Yonex, etc are much smaller & focused on specific sports.

BorgCash · Dec 6, 2017

Chotobaka said:
Wilson once made the very best tennis shoe on the planet. That was the all-leather upper Pro Staff with actual tire tread as the outsole. But that was five decades ago and shoe construction was pretty basic in those days.

Correct. But not so long ago. Sampras used them for a while, even under different pj, I think it was in the beginning of the 90's, so just 2,5 decades ago

antonell07 · Dec 6, 2017

California said:
Good tennis shoes? You are in the minority who thinks so.... don't like Nike? No problem, still have adidas, asics, etc... plus the 9.5 is a big seller, not my favorite, but they must be doing something right? In sales I would guess it would be Nike, Asics, adidas. Not sure in which order but Wilson is far down the list. Yes, they have a big presence in tennis, in racquets and string, not footwear.

I had exactly the same feeling when I started my service at Wilson footwear. Holish.... what a global mess, especially the rush pro 1.0.

Uneasy, But we proudly changed the paradigm, we created a full 200 and so pages of best practice out of the best knowledge acquired after 15 years of shoe making. In a turn of a season, we jumped from dark to light. The job is still far to be done, but I believe the Wilson crew has a strong base to evolve from it.

From another stand point, It would be really interesting to see or measure an outcome if we could select a population and blind test the players from a selected amount of shoes out in the market (all best brands at a competitive price).

each player would test the shoes without knowing whats on their feet. Then we would rank from best to worse with a selection of objective points like heel hold, forefoot hold, arch of the foot hold, overall comfort.... regardeless of the design, colors, brand, which top athlete wears it etc....

I really doubt, but really, that the rush series from 2.0 an then, the Kaos and then would be at the tail of the ranking. I conceed the love or the attraction to the brand, but I know by doing that what we did is simply true to tennis players. Maybe too low to the ground at the heel with a drop of 6mm. If I could, I would have made it even better so 10 mm. I hope the Wilson crew will improve the drop with the next rush pro 3.0 by turning the 6 to 10 and make this opus even better. I would invite anybody to try a pair of 2.5 or kaos line with the improved fit, at the spec shop close to your place and come back here with objective opinion.

airchallenge2 · Dec 6, 2017

antonell07 said:
I had exactly the same feeling when I started my service at Wilson footwear. Holish.... what a global mess, especially the rush pro 1.0.

Uneasy, But we proudly changed the paradigm, we created a full 200 and so pages of best practice out of the best knowledge acquired after 15 years of shoe making. In a turn of a season, we jumped from dark to light. The job is still far to be done, but I believe the Wilson crew has a strong base to evolve from it.

From another stand point, It would be really interesting to see or measure an outcome if we could select a population and blind test the players from a selected amount of shoes out in the market (all best brands at a competitive price).

each player would test the shoes without knowing whats on their feet. Then we would rank from best to worse with a selection of objective points like heel hold, forefoot hold, arch of the foot hold, overall comfort.... regardeless of the design, colors, brand, which top athlete wears it etc....

I really doubt, but really, that the rush series from 2.0 an then, the Kaos and then would be at the tail of the ranking. I conceed the love or the attraction to the brand, but I know by doing that what we did is simply true to tennis players. Maybe too low to the ground at the heel with a drop of 6mm. If I could, I would have made it even better so 10 mm. I hope the Wilson crew will improve the drop with the next rush pro 3.0 by turning the 6 to 10 and make this opus even better. I would invite anybody to try a pair of 2.5 or kaos line with the improved fit, at the spec shop close to your place and come back here with objective opinion.

Great post and thanks for the inside info. Please keep in mind that design, colors and brand come first. Why? Because they are the reasons why one would pick up your shoe from the shelf in the first place. You might build the best tennis shoe ever! and nobody will ever find out because it's dead ugly.

antonell07 · Dec 7, 2017

airchallenge2 said:
Great post and thanks for the inside info. Please keep in mind that design, colors and brand come first. Why? Because they are the reasons why one would pick up your shoe from the shelf in the first place. You might build the best tennis shoe ever! and nobody will ever find out because it's dead ugly.

You are absolutely right. beautiful and meaningful is key for success for minor or medium brands. but trust me, even the ugliest shoe ever given to the most appealing athlete will sell through.Thats my other point here.
I will try an Uchrony by asking: would the vapor series sell that well without starring Roger Federer? We will never know. what I know instead, is how quick these shoes are wearing-off. I truly believe in specialist stores where variety of offer deserve to be tried mind open. Thats where Wilson footwear comes in.

WestboroChe · Dec 7, 2017

antonell07 said:
I had exactly the same feeling when I started my service at Wilson footwear. Holish.... what a global mess, especially the rush pro 1.0.

Uneasy, But we proudly changed the paradigm, we created a full 200 and so pages of best practice out of the best knowledge acquired after 15 years of shoe making. In a turn of a season, we jumped from dark to light. The job is still far to be done, but I believe the Wilson crew has a strong base to evolve from it.

From another stand point, It would be really interesting to see or measure an outcome if we could select a population and blind test the players from a selected amount of shoes out in the market (all best brands at a competitive price).

each player would test the shoes without knowing whats on their feet. Then we would rank from best to worse with a selection of objective points like heel hold, forefoot hold, arch of the foot hold, overall comfort.... regardeless of the design, colors, brand, which top athlete wears it etc....

I really doubt, but really, that the rush series from 2.0 an then, the Kaos and then would be at the tail of the ranking. I conceed the love or the attraction to the brand, but I know by doing that what we did is simply true to tennis players. Maybe too low to the ground at the heel with a drop of 6mm. If I could, I would have made it even better so 10 mm. I hope the Wilson crew will improve the drop with the next rush pro 3.0 by turning the 6 to 10 and make this opus even better. I would invite anybody to try a pair of 2.5 or kaos line with the improved fit, at the spec shop close to your place and come back here with objective opinion.

To me the issue of one of marketing. When most of the best players in the world are using a particular brand you think to yourself "If it's good enough for that player it should be good enough for me"*. So when it comes time to buy shoes you don't even think to look for a brand such as Wilson or Prince even if they make fine tennis shoes.

I was having a similar discussion about Prince racquets which are almost invisible on the tour these days. And its the same thing. If the brand is invisible, no one will even consider it. It's hard to match Nike's sponsorship dollars though.

*Nike's may be fine comfort wise, etc. but in my experience they tend to fall apart very quickly. That doesn't matter to someone like Fedal who doesn't pay for his shoes and probably uses new ones each day. But not for us workaday slobs.

GripItNRipIt · Dec 12, 2017

I will say the new Kaos that I just received fits even better than the original, and required no break-in out of the box. It's my go-to shoe for now, and just ordered another Burn 100S/Kaos combo for only $69. It's an awesome deal, basically the shoe for less than $70 and a free racquet.

haqq777 · Dec 12, 2017

GripItNRipIt said:
I will say the new Kaos that I just received fits even better than the original, and required no break-in out of the box. It's my go-to shoe for now, and just ordered another Burn 100S/Kaos combo for only $69. It's an awesome deal, basically the shoe for less than $70 and a free racquet.

Oh did it go down from $99.00 to $69.00 now?

GripItNRipIt · Dec 12, 2017

haqq777 said:
Oh did it go down from $99.00 to $69.00 now?

Yes, the Burn is on sale for $69, and when I put it in the cart it let me pick a pair of shoes. The cart showed $89 for the shoes, then -89 for the combo deal.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

haqq777 · Dec 12, 2017

GripItNRipIt said:
Yes, the Burn is on sale for $69, and when I put it in the cart it let me pick a pair of shoes. The cart showed $89 for the shoes, then -89 for the combo deal.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks, I just checked and you are correct. It was $99 a few weeks ago for the two hence the curiosity. Great deal nevertheless!

WestboroChe · Dec 12, 2017

GripItNRipIt said:
I will say the new Kaos that I just received fits even better than the original, and required no break-in out of the box. It's my go-to shoe for now, and just ordered another Burn 100S/Kaos combo for only $69. It's an awesome deal, basically the shoe for less than $70 and a free racquet.

If only they had my size and I hadn't bought new racquets in September. But that's always me. I always have to pay full price for shoes and I always buy something before it goes on sale.

scotus · Dec 14, 2017

Chotobaka said:
Wilson once made the very best tennis shoe on the planet. That was the all-leather upper Pro Staff with actual tire tread as the outsole. But that was five decades ago and shoe construction was pretty basic in those days.

I used to wear both the leather and mesh versions of Pro Staff all the time in the 80’s snd 90’s.

Crocodile · Dec 16, 2017

I've bought a few pairs of Kaos shoes (black and red) and they have a comfortable wide fit and the soles are pretty durable. However they seem to cause heel blisters.
I wonder if anyone can comment on the 2.0 version and whether it's a better shoe?

AllTennis01 · Dec 17, 2017

I got the racquet/Kaos deal just to see how these shoes fit, at $70 this was no brainer. I ordered size 10 as some seem to think this is similar fit to Prine T22. In this shoe size 10 does not fit as well as T22 and I’ll try to replace them for size 9.5. Mind you I don’t seem to have wide foot, just like roomier forefoot section, I’m also in between sizes it would seem so this shoe might be true to size just a littlebig for me. While this shoe seems comfortable it’s nowhere near as plush as T22. There is room in forefoot but it’s not just a little wide but too roomy on top of the foot. I guess I just don’t like all the plasticky feel some of similar shoes to these have. I tried big shot lite 2.5 that had similar plasticky feel. Some people like those a lot and probably would like Kaos as well. But for me I need softer material. I also have SFX2 which have plasticky feel as well but they seem a bit softer and like them better than these, even if original SFX was better for me still. So I will exchange these for size 9.5 but will not play in them as they look and feel good enough for casual wear.

Ozellman · Jan 23, 2018

I owned and used the the first gen Rush Pro but was disappointed with the heavy feel and, for me, poor fit. I was sceptical but someone convinced me to put a pair pf Rush Pro 2.5's on. They instantly felt really good so I bought them. They worked really well straight out of the box, none of the mid foot discomfort I usually experience with new shoes irrespective of model. They are really comfortable, supportive and pretty fast feeling. They also seem to last quite a while, almost on par with the Barricades. For me, they are the best shoes I've used and I've been through all of the high end Nikes, Adidas and Asics.

antonell07 · Jan 25, 2018

Ozellman said:
I owned and used the the first gen Rush Pro but was disappointed with the heavy feel and, for me, poor fit. I was sceptical but someone convinced me to put a pair pf Rush Pro 2.5's on. They instantly felt really good so I bought them. They worked really well straight out of the box, none of the mid foot discomfort I usually experience with new shoes irrespective of model. They are really comfortable, supportive and pretty fast feeling. They also seem to last quite a while, almost on par with the Barricades. For me, they are the best shoes I've used and I've been through all of the high end Nikes, Adidas and Asics.

This is the best answer and justice to the crew who did the job.

I acknowledge the incredible Factory involvement when we decided to establish the midsole and outsole packs we did in 2013 for 2015 market introduction.

The toolings are still supporting the new uppers today, for my extreme satisfaction. Fred, Antoine, Jason, Fanny and I, had an extreme short time to make it happen back in 2013.
The new crew continued and improved the path.

Success is quantified over time and feedback of yours, thank you.

The Rush pro 2,5 upper is more comfortable than the 2.0, which was more dry in term of support. some prefer the firm uppers some softer.
I am Happy to have then initiated and co-driven the development an extensive best practice document that has made the Rush series one of the best tennis shoe in the Market.

Too bad Wilson doesn't have a top 5 ambassador player to stand the message.

No love for the Wilson shoes...

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