Rafael Nadal Wears These for a Reason
Posted on August 29, 2009
Filed Under Tennis
Rafael Nadal has never liked change. The same player who lines up his water bottles just right after every court change and was hesitant to put sleeves on also didn’t want to give up his Nike Breathe Cages for the Nike Air Courtballistec 1.3.
While the switch was a big deal to Nadal, it seems like he’s become well accustomed to his new sneaker and he’s got to love the colors too. His sneaker is black, white, and a classic gold, giving him just enough flare to go with the classic neutrality the shoe brings.
The Nike Air Courtballistec 1.3 is a slick looking sneaker, but the feel of it is more important. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a trial pair, and didn’t want to take them off. Easily more snug than the Cages and Breathe Frees.
Weighing in at 17.7 ounces, they’re actually quite heavy. Due to the architecture of the sneaker, the weight is distributed in such as way so that the sneaker doesn’t weigh you down. We were definitely light on our feet, and you have to assume that Rafael Nadal and many other pros wouldn’t settle for a heavy feeling sneaker either.
Perhaps this is due to the new LunarLight technology, which features some first of its kind padding at the shoe’s core. Then there’s the DragOn X, which lends support to the toes (especially the big one) to make sure that collisions with the front of the sneaker are minimal. Anyone who plays enough tennis knows exactly what we’re talking about here.
If there’s anything bad to say about these sneakers, the bad we experienced took place during the first day or two. Out of the box, these are very stiff sneakers. Don’t wear these out for the first time to a critical match. Walk around in them for a day or two, practice in them, do what you need to do to break them in.
For those concerned about the wear and tear that hits all tennis shoes, there’s a little comfort here knowing that Nike gives you a six month guarantee regarding any wearing down of the sneaker. If you send the sneaker back and prove that there’s wear beyond what’s reasonable, they’ll give you a voucher for equal value to the sneaker. Not bad.
We’d definitely go with the Courtballistec 1.3 if you’re looking for a competitive tennis sneaker that lets you wear what the pros do. There are some great deals online, and we’d suggest shopping around a bit before choosing the right pair.
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