Two years ago, Under Armor launched the Drive Pro golf shoe. At the time, it was a huge step forward in performance for a brand that doesn’t get enough love in the golf space.
of The Drive Pro featured a revolutionary design with a focus on land use. Everything from the custom directional spikes to the dual foam target midsole is designed to give you maximum energy transfer from your lower half to the golf club and ultimately the golf ball.
The tech story this year, however, is less about what’s under your feet and more about what’s covering them. The all-new Under Armor Drive Pro clone features the same great tools as the Drive Pro: HOVR and loaded foams, UA S3 spikes.
But it also features a new upper material that harks back to Under Armour’s heritage.
Under Armor is rooted in apparel innovation. I mean, the company was founded on the idea of ​​a moisture-wicking half shirt to wear under soccer jerseys. So when they got feedback from players like myself that the TPU upper on the original Drive Pro was too stiff, restrictive and offered a poor fit, they dug into their roots to find a proper solution.
Sign in Clone.
Been in Under Armor football (and football) lineups for a bit, but it’s new to golf so it deserves a proper introduction.
At its core, Clone is an auxetic material (Google that!) designed to move with your foot, not against it. For those unfamiliar with the term auxetic, let’s perform a simple experiment.
Do you have a garter belt nearby? Grab both ends and stretch. Notice how it gets shorter in the middle as you move the ends further apart? This is what happens to most things when they stretch.
not auxetics. When force is applied to an auxetic (such as stretching or pulling), the material also expands in the opposite direction of the force.
Here is a short example of what this looks like in practice.
Now for the practical application in golf. What if a golf shoe had an upper material that didn’t restrict your movement, but moved with you to provide better support, more comfort and fit?
That’s what the Clone aims to do, and that’s the whole point of bringing that crazy cool technology to the Under Armor Drive Pro Clone.
And in this way, it makes this whole story not just a material story, but an engineering story. Auxetics like the Clone top on the Drive Pro Clone are an engineering marvel. It’s also a labor of love for the crew at Under Armor who have worked so hard to remind everyone that they make great golf shoes.
What can Clone do for you?
“Traditional golf shoes create gaps, pressure points and lost power because they are built around a single, fixed shape,” said Jake Haley, Senior Manager of Golf Footwear and Apparel at Under Armour.
“With the Drive Pro Clone, we set out to completely eliminate those compromises. Every golfer deserves a shoe that fits them, not the other way around, and this design gives athletes a truly custom fit that stays consistent from first swing to last.”
A shoe for every golfer.
Or, rather, a shoe that fits every golfer properly.
At least that’s the goal.
A high one. But a decent decent one. Because you deserve a pair of golf shoes that work with you, not against you.
The Under Armor Drive Pro Clone launches on February 6th. You can learn more at underarmour.com.
Post Under Armor returns to its roots with Drive Clone golf shoes, new material innovations appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
