TCU researchers helped test prototype Nike sprint spikes that produced shorter sprint times in a study of 15 track and soccer athletes.
Participants completed 130-meter trials in conventional and prototype footwear. Their times were 1.7% shorter in the prototypes. The speed advantage grew during the sprint, reaching 3.9% at the finish line. That figure describes finishing velocity, rather than the improvement across the entire run.
The study appeared in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Its authors include TCU’s Sunil Prajapati and Peter Weyand, Lance Brooks of Bridgewater State University and Emily Farina of the Nike Sport Research Lab.
Nike supported the research. The findings come from a small group using specific shoes over a 130-meter distance; they should not be read as a promise that every runner will see the same improvement.
