Phantom luna looks dope. Is it a women's exclusive though? I am reading it is for the women's world cup
I just watched the unisport video on it
Rant incoming:
Has anyone else noticed the sudden talking points pushed by ESPN, podcasters, etc. in the last 4-5 months about the sudden (and insane) frequency and severity of women's footballer injuries? I feel like both Caught Offside and Gab & Jules hit this topic in late April, about some study where women are 50% more likely to incur lower body injuries in football b/c of physiological differences between the sexes.
Right on time, Nike drop a boot driven by "women's development" of the game, purporting to address suddenly recognized physiological differences highlighted in these recent statistics.
Nike talking points push 3 primary technological advances that address the women's injury crisis: 1) the DF collar; 2) the outsole tooling; and 3) the narrower fit.
1) We all know those guys who regurgitate the idea that flyknit DF collars give "ankle support" and we all know its bogus. There is nothing structural about the collars on Superflys, Obras, Hypervenoms, or anything recent. It's a purely cosmetic detail to change up the profile / silhouette of the boot. It's doesn't provide any degree of structure--let alone to contemplate injury prevention at the ankle--to coincide w/ Nike's talking points. And this one about being designed to specifically address female ankle placement/proportions is laughable on its face.
2) You make boots have less bite in the ground by any one or a combination of three factors: 1) shorten stud length; 2) increase stud frequency / concentration; and 3) conical shapes. This new proprietary women's focused outsole does none of those things. Instead we have these big thick blades at the forefoot almost looking like early 2000s Predators on the TRX outsole. And sure, the primary blades are shaped in a circular pattern, but how many of us have EVER on a football pitch rotated cleanly on our toes/forefoot in one motion? If you stood on the circle studs, and spun around 360 degrees, that might work. But if you go into the ground on any sort of an angle, and your rotation is anything besides a perfect, linear rotational motion, those blades are going to grab ground and resist. It's nonsensical.
3) Women, by and large, have narrower footshapes than men in similar sizes. So, to Nike's credit, the "B" width last makes sense. That could legitimately result in increased lockdown, fit and comfort for women compared to silos produced on male-sized lasts. Finally, a potentially legitimate performance benefit.
So I'm not buying the marketing. I don't think the problem is made up, but I think this boot doesn't do anything legitimate to solve the fact women are physiologically predisposed to increased injury in soccer just because of their bone and musculature structures. In the meantime, it looks like an (admittedly cool) hybrid of a Magista Obra and Hypervenom 3, with gripknit. So all power to that combo.
If Nike and Adi really wanted to make a significant difference as to the safety and injury resistance and resilience in the women's game, then time and effort needs to go into getting women off of AG-turf and onto natural grass pitches. That's where your ankles, ACLs, MCLs and all that will be more consistently prevented.
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