This is how ASICS makes Novak Djokovic’s shoes

The sports brand ASICS combined some of its fortresses this Wednesday in Puente Romano (Marbella), in an action where they met Corentin Moutet, Harriet Dart, Jasmine Paolini, Petra Marcinko, Àlex Corretja and the brand’s flagship Novak Djokovic. One of the main points of the event was the presentation of ‘ASICS Court FF3 Novak’, custom-made shoes made for the Serbian player with direct participation in its development by the twenty-one-time Grand Slam champion.

Djokovic and ASICS They worked together for two years, from 2020 to the end of 2022, to design special shoes that the Serbian player will wear next year in the same aspect, a blue model and a red one. To carry them out, the brand has all the data sent by its Institute of Sports Sciences, which analyzes all the parameters involved in each movement to adapt the shoes to the player’s feet in the best possible way .

“In Djokovic’s case, we are looking for the best combination between stability and speed“, explained René Zandbergen, senior manager of ASICS. “To make this new model we achieved a better balance between stability and flexibility of the foot,” he said. The key to achieving this balance occurs in a single made with three independent pieces with the aim of strengthening the heel support and thus providing better foot support while allowing the easy performance of all the movements that the Serbian player usually performs on the court.

ASICS does not only study movements in displacements. The brand has a big team already players’ serves, forehands and backhands are analyzed to analyze support positions and see what part of the shoe should be strengthened based on the characteristics of each player’s foot. In addition, brand models have evolved into a anti-breeze material Designed to reduce the effect of sweating on players’ feet.

“All the steps we took to configure the new shoes were very professional”Djokovic explained. “When we started the process, I explained that I didn’t like some parts and the brand changed them until this final version”, said ‘Nole’ about his new shoes. “We followed a long path because we wanted them to adapt to every type of surface,” he detailed.

Because of the conditions of his game, Djokovic needs shoes with more slip, a movement that often damages the ankles unless the available shoes offer good flexibility. “I come from a family of skiers and for me it’s an acquired movement. Flexibility, speed and stability are important for my tennis and I need some shoes that will allow me to have those skills to make changes of direction”, said ‘Nole’.

Another ASICS problem is Djokovic’s sweaty feet. “Changing shoes is like changing rackets, a process that causes a lot of doubt,” acknowledged the Serbian. “But with earlier equipment I had to change a lot of socks on the court on very hot days“, he used as one of the reasons to bet on the change. “We had to find shoes that allow sweat without losing the flexibility of the foot,” he said. A two-year work that will see the light of day in start of a new season.

This is not an isolated process: Iga Swiatek or Matteo Berrettini also have custom-made shoes

ASICS’ effort with Novak Djokovic is not an isolated case. The brand also works honestly Iga Swiatek and with Matteo Berrettini to make your slippers. In this sense, the same will soon bring the ‘Gel-Resolution 9’, an evolution of the previous model 8 specifically designed to promote lateral movements along the baseline.

The goal in the model of the Polish tennis player and the Italian is reduce track bottom recovery time from side movements to center position, where there are more opportunities to dominate exchanges. As shown, the stopping time after a displacement, that is, the time used to recover the position after hitting a ball, was 0.416 seconds on average with ‘Gel-Resolution 8’. Now, with 9, ASICS expects it to be 0.397 seconds. It’s a slight difference in the eyes of the beholder, but representing a reduction of 4.6% of total time working in the movement.

that time of the recovery after performing the movement also allows you to reduce the time needed to regain the central position below the track. On Gel-Resolution 8, the average time required to perform these movements was 1,843 seconds. In the new model, it is estimated to be 1,809, a gain of 1.8% of the total time. In other words, there is nothing improvised in every part of ASICS shoes.