Nike Golf Delivers an All-Around Faster Golf Shoe

Pushing the boundaries of human potential on the links, Nike collaborates with Brooks Koepka to bring life to the company’s most innovative golf shoe yet, the Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour.

With golfers walking, on average, 4 miles on the course, comfort should be king on the green. Inspired by Koepka’s habit of chipping and putting in Nike Running shoes, the Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour was designed to provide speed and comfort to golfers, leveraging maximum energy return from the ground up. 

The idea started back in November 2017 when Nike was asked by Koepka to make a running shoe that he could play golf in. Challenge accepted. The prompt generated by Koepka — who has one of the fastest swing speeds at up to 128 mph — quickly put Nike Golf designers to work on how to blend the comfort and style of a running shoe while enabling one of the best golfers in the world to generate as much power as possible from the ground. 

“Golfers look at their clubs and golf balls as pieces of equipment, but never really their footwear,” says Matt Plumb, Nike Golf Product Line Manager. “Brooks was instrumental in the Air Zoom Infinity Tour iterative process, helping us get to the point where we can now help golfers look at their footwear as part of their equipment on the course.” 

“Brooks was instrumental in the Air Zoom Infinity Tour iterative process, helping us get to the point where we can now help golfers look at their footwear as part of their equipment on the course.” Matt Plumb, Nike Golf Product Line Manager

The source of a golfer’s kinetic energy comes from the feet, and every time a golfer swings, they lose some of that energy. This is where Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour steps in, re-harvesting and redistributing some of that lost energy. 

Analyzing data from pressure maps, Nike designers looked at where traction elements need to be positioned on the shoe for an ultimate return on movement. Developing a holistic system that transfers more power up the kinetic chain, Nike obsessed the areas of fit (to reduce in-shoe movement), ride (for maximum energy retention) and traction (for zero slip in any direction).

To get Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour’s areas of fit just right, Nike Golf worked across all Nike categories to source particular elements that helped create the company’s most innovative golf shoe to date. As a result, the Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour:

• Leverages Nike Zoom Stroble technology and moderator plate, first tested on court by Kevin Durant in Nike Basketball’s KD12, to provide the structure, comfort and enable energy return needed on the golf course
• Features weather-resistant Nike Flyknit, first tested on the pitch and introduced by Nike Soccer’s Mercurial Superfly and Vapor 360 Boots 
• Borrows design elements and Nike REACT foam from Nike Running’s Nike React Infinity Run Flyknit for game-changing cushioning and energy return on the golf course

Nike worked with external researchers to create a golf-specific mechanical test that benchmarks the cushioning platform for the Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour. And designers also received some real-life validation from Koepka himself: Nike measured his driver swing speed to be faster in the Air Zoom Infinity Tour than it was in the Nike Tour Premiere model he wore when he won three previous majors. 

Nike’s Air Zoom Infinity Tour golf shoe releases April 1 on nike.com.