So last night I decided that my ankle was alright enough to play… I was wrong. My ankle buckled under me when I can down from a layup, yeah… a layup, so now I really can’t play for at least another week. But I did play in the KD IV until I hurt myself so that’s a good thing, in a way. So here is another performance teaser to hold you over until the final review. *Note: The KD IV did not cause my ankle injury… stupidity did*
Traction – The traction design I pretty much don’t like… at all. However, it actually works depending on court conditions.
The surface is smooth and flat, not something you want to see at the base of your hoops shoe. The rubber used is very sticky; this is why it ends up working on clean to moderately clean floors. I’m talking about working really well too… To say the least, I was very surprised with how well these end up keeping you planted during all types of maneuvers at any speed.
Of course there is a down side. I took these for a few runs on a dirty court… that turned out to be a huge bummer. The sticky rubber allowed for all the dust and debris to adhere to the outsole causing a lot of slipping and sliding. The Slipp-Nott traction mat I had brought along with me couldn’t even help as the darn court was so poorly maintained.
Bottom line; the traction is superb on a clean or moderately clean floor. Dusty floors you will want to stay far away from… or convince someone to clean the floor prior to playing on it… good luck with that. I don’t play outdoors anymore but I will assume that if the courts surface is rough then you may be able to use these outside but don’t quote me on that as I have not experienced this for myself.
Stay tuned for the full review as well as some others coming up once I’m all healed up.
can’t wait!
It works outside, I tested it, I swear mine never breaks in though so it kills my flat feet.
Thanks for the info! They def dont break in… Ive been trying for weeks and they are still stiff.
are these good for outdoors ?
They should be good for outdoor use.
I am Asian and I play outdoor in 15years. I bought Nike Zoom KD 4, guess what? the traction is superb in outdoor play.. but its hurting my feet with 3 games in the mid-foot where the adaptive hooks are stitched under the insole.
I played with my KD 4 for about 15+ games and I love it.
Good to know that theyre great outdoors. The flat sole is deceiving.
A bit off topic, what do you think about the air huarache bball 2012?
Ive only seen the runners in person. I will be testing the bball ones out once the release more colorways.
You should break out the ol’ Lebron 9′s i bet you can’t sprain your ankle in those boots *ehm* i mean sneakers. Hahaha. Also, are you gonna release a full review of the zoom rookies? i wont blame you if you don’t.
Lol, i prob wouldnt have rolled it as bad in those. Zm Rookie review is coming real soon.
Why did you come back so soon?
Never rush back from injury until you are certain.
Thank the basketball gods you didn’t tear an ankle ligament.
Hope you recover fully.
Yeah i know man… I played the night before and was okay, not perfect but okay. Pushed it too hard by playing back to back and thats when i went down again. Wont be doing that again…
Were you at least wearing ankle braces or tape?….C’mon man….you should know better..
I rarely use tape or braces… I looked for my brace and couldnt find it but i shouldve taped it. I do know better… I get anxious to play which isnt always a good thing.
Get better soon, Nightwing. We’ll be waiting patiently for your next review.
Thanks bro
Compared to the KD3′s are the shoes more narrow, or similar? If I bought a 10.5 for KD3 should I buy 10.5 for KD4?
They fit me fine personally but the midsole does press into your foot near the pinky toe area during break in time. If you have wide feet you will want to try them on to make sure theyll work for you.
Oh well, I couldn’t wait for your review on these so I copped them yesterday (not blaming you or anything) and I’m glad I had them
Pardon me for asking a silly question, to my knowledge these KD’s have Zoom bag in the forefoot and nothing in the heel right? However, I don’t feel any Zoom bag in the forefoot at all! Am I misunderstanding something?
Ps. Get well really soon bro, can’t wait for your reviews (“,) Peace
You are correct on both accounts… The forefoot is stiff and firm, i cant feel the zm unit either and ive played in them numerous times.
Would you prefer the KDIV over the KDIII? Hyperfuse?
There are things i like in both the KDs that are only on one shoe or the other… If they had blended the features i liked in each of them youd have nearly a perfect shoe at a perfect price. Id go with the hyperfuse personally.
To speed up your ankle recovery, Take a contrast bath for your feet. Cold ( to make the blood go away from the surface of your ankle) and Hot ( to bring blood to the surface of your skin,This causes a flushing effect) water to flush the scar tissue from your injury to bring fresh blood from your body to your leg, Use Castor Oil, the cold processed type, to massage it, it has Healing properties to speed the healing up. And keep the ankle moving to maintain mobility. And be sure to rehab it properly, make it strong. dont wanna play on it weak again nightwing, do this and you’ll be good to go.
Thanks for the tips!!! Are you an athletic trainer lol.
No, Lol but i want to major in sports medicine and orthopedics, I have spoken to expert trainers about recovery specifically from injury’s from sports whether it be knees, ankles, sprains, fractures etc. I witnessed and sprained my ankles and did research to get back into playing on the court. So far, without having professional help like NBA players do, I find this to be the one of the best ways to heal up fast in regards to a 1st or 2nd degree ankle sprain. My recovery was 9 days with this method after a 2nd degree sprain with a very small hairline fracture. After that it was a strengthening period and back into playing. Its way better than the traditional R.I.C.E. Method that can take much longer to return to play
Well i appreciate your advice and hope that you can major in the field. Would be awesome to do what you love!
Hey Nightwing2303, I’m a big fan of KD (I mean who isn’t these days?) and I tried on the KD III’s and didn’t work out for me. I guess it’s because I have wide feet and the shoes I ended up wearing the most last year were the Kobe VI’s and Nike Air Max Flight 2011. Are there any new shoes this year that you’d recommend to me?
At this point all the shoes ive tried on this yr have had a fairly narrow fit to them. Im injured right now so i dont know which new products could work out since i havent been going to the stores and seeing whats new.
just balled in this the other night. amazing court feel and traction! felt so low to the ground. cushioning was adequate. to be honest i wanted to return this after the initial wears. good thing i didn’t because they were amazing after broken in. excited for your full review man! wanna see if your views are similar to mine
I agree with most of what you said. I felt cushion was lacking personally… Not the usual Zoom feeling IMO. They def get better once broken in and the traction was very surprising.