Why herringbone?

[chikoo]

Why are more and more tennis shoes having a full herringbone pattern on the outsole?

On the face of it, it is the most unfriendly design in terms of athletic performance. It prevents you from sliding forward and sideways, and also from transitioning your position smoothly from facing the ball to positioning yourself to hitting the ball.

Then why are so many popular tennis shoes incorporating this full herringbone pattern?

 

[Bobby Jr]

Why are more and more tennis shoes having a full herringbone pattern on the outsole?...

On the face of it, it is the most unfriendly design in terms of athletic performance. It prevents you from sliding forward and sideways...

Preventing you from sliding forwards or sideways a ridiculously fringe attribute by level of need. Most people rarely slide at all and even pros actually slide maybe 1% of the time on hard courts.

Herringbone probably is a highly efficient compromise between amount of contact area (which is a key factor for grip in dry conditions), and for playing on loose or damp surfaces (where a pattern that has enough angled edges can cut through the dirt/water and onto the surface). If they had a bigger herringbone pattern there would be less grip in the dry and the soles would wear faster. If they had a smaller pattern there would be more grip in the dry (generally) and less wear but the shoes would be terrible in anything but dry, clear conditions.

As for the pattern itself. I think they've worked out over time that a variation on herringbone is one of the all-round most efficient patterns.

 

[airchallenge2]

Plus, it's a time proven design: I think it was introduced by adidas in their basketball shoes (ProModel or Americana, whichever came first) more than 40 years ago. It is considered to be the best combination of grip, flex and durability.

 

[chikoo]

I think I should have made it clear why most incorporate only the herringbone instead of including the grip that allows your foot to twist on the ball of your feet eg. The $39 Barricade court previous gen has it, and the Novak Pro has it. Everything else in between and above it does not have it. Why?

Adidas Barricade Court (previous gen)

Adidas Novak Pro

Adidas Ubersonic

Adidas Energy Boost

Adidas Barricade 2016

Nike Zoom Vapor 9.5

Asics Gel Resolution 6 (small circles)

Babolat Jet

Babolat Propulse

 

[airchallenge2]

Oh, you are referring to the "pivot" area. I guess that it is not necessary to have it's own design. A simple, straight forward herringbone design does an excellent job, no need for a designer's "fluff" there.

 

[Matthew Lee]

Does this count?

 

[chikoo]

No pivot point.

 

[Matthew Lee]

I don't understand what the Pivot Point has to do with much...I prefer the Classic Bounce over the Barricade Court or the Novak Pro...