Nike Air Max Wildcard Women's Review

Comfort - Score: 2.6

To find the right fit, all of our testers had to make adjustments with the Air Max Wildcards, because their regular sizing was far too small. Michelle described, "When I initially tried the Wildcards on, they were very tight. So tight that I immediately went up a half size and then sized up again, going from my normal size 10 to a size 11. I can't remember the last time I wore an 11 in my tennis shoes. I like a snug feel on my feet, but the 10 was suffocating and uncomfortable. Once I adjusted to a bigger size, the initial comfort was good, but it was obvious I would need a break-in period because my feet started going numb before I even hit the court. However, the insole was very well padded, and the Max Air unit provided good cushioning underfoot. Once I was on the court in these shoes, I was happy I had sized up since some of the playtesters were struggling with some pinching that I did not experience. I also want to note that I did wear the Wildcards around a bunch at the BNP Paribas Open, and while I wasn't always playing in them, I was comfortable standing and walking for hours. I think they look really nice and fashion-forward, even if I'm not wearing tennis clothes with them."

Tiffani loved the look of the Air Max Wildcards and had high hopes for them, but her hopes were dashed when she tried them on. She said, "Unfortunately, my expectations went by the wayside rather quickly. I have never attempted so many modifications to try to get a pair of shoes to fit comfortably. I didn't try this since I couldn't get a second pair of shoes to playtest, but I think the winning combination would be staying in size, swapping out the stock insole and inserting a very cushioned aftermarket insole like a Cadence. Let's break down how I arrived at this conclusion. First I tried on my usual size 6, and it was a tight squeeze for both width and length. I then tried the 6.5, and the length felt better. While it still felt tight width-wise, I'm used to that feeling since I have wide feet and am often testing medium-width shoes. After I wore the 6.5s for an hour my feet felt numb. I then pulled out the insole, which is super thick and wraps up over the toes on the lateral side, and put in some supportive aftermarket insoles with less cushioning. The shoes were then too long, and even too wide, because the Wildcard's cushioning lies pretty much just in the insole rather than the midsole, which is where tennis shoes usually have their cushioning. I decided I needed more cushioning so I went back to the stock insoles, but I first cut off the part of the insole that wraps over the toes. That ended up helping, but my feet would still get numb because the fit was so tight. I am bummed about this because I love the design and want to wear the Wildcards for style, but I just find them too uncomfortable."

When Brittany first tried the Wildcards on in her usual size she found them to be too tight and slightly short. She said, "I went back and forth a couple of times between a half-size and a full-size up, and I ended up choosing a full-size up because the uppers were putting pressure on my big toe joints. I had a pretty significant break-in period and ended up wearing the shoes around the office for a couple of days and for a few gym sessions. When I did hit the courts, it was only about 20 minutes before I started experiencing some numbness and tingling in my forefoot. With a recommendation from Tiffani, I ended up modifying my insole by removing some extra padding around the edges. This gave me some extra room and alleviated some of the pain I experienced. One thing I noticed was how cushioned the insole was. I did like the padding in the tongue and around the ankle."

Our newest playtester, Julie, is a big Nike fan and loves the Air Max family of shoes. She said, "The idea of wearing my favorite casual shoes on the tennis courts was very exciting. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the overall quality of these Air Max Wildcards. The main negative was the overlapping insole on the lateral side of the toe box, which caused uncomfortable numbness on my pinky toes and painful rubbing when I changed directions and stopped quickly. When I was running for balls the lack of flexibility made the heel-to-toe transition uncomfortable as well. After my first hit I simply decided to save these shoes exclusively for doubles since I wouldn't have to worry about running around the court as much. These shoes definitely needed a break-in, and after a few hits, the midfoot and toe box loosened up a little to offer more flexibility. I didn't have any arch pain, but the arch support accentuated the supination of my feet. I clearly felt my weight rolling onto the outer edges of my foot more than usual, which kept me from scrambling for the extra ball because I didn't feel well balanced. The Wildcards also lack breathability."

Foot Support/Stability - Score: 3.5

Although the Air Max Wildcards made a rough first impression, our team was more pleased with the support and stability of the shoes. Brittany was pleasantly surprised with this aspect of the Wildcard. She explained, "Because of past ankle injuries, I need more than average support and stability from a shoe. Thanks to the Wildcard's narrow fit, I didn't have any issues moving around in the shoe (granted I didn't play any hard singles matches, but I did test them out on some drills). The eyelets also sat in the right area, so I was able to tie my laces securely and found some stability around the ankles. Could I have used more? Absolutely."

Tiffani noted, "These Wildcards felt fine in terms of support and stability. However, I didn't feel like I could push my movements on the court because my feet weren't very happy in these shoes. After I installed the aftermarket insoles I had some toe jamming. I think that's because the shoes were too big, and I was moving around inside them quite a bit. Again, if I stayed in size and had a cushioned aftermarket insole in there, I think these shoes would feel and perform much better on the court."

"I didn't find great stability with these shoes," added Julie, "and I couldn't cover the court efficiently during point play. I experienced painful toe rubbing from my feet sliding laterally in the shoes, and I didn't get to recover effectively. It was very roomy by the ankles, and the arch support accentuated my supination, which made me feel unbalanced. I was too concerned about rolling an ankle to move aggressively on the court."

Because she sized up a full size, Michelle did find some of the Wildcard's support and stability to be compromised. She said, "I was looking for an extra eyelet because I couldn't really cinch up my shoes enough for my liking. I felt like I was sliding around a little bit inside the shoes, especially on quick cuts. After a week of playtesting I relegated these shoes to being more of a doubles option. I just couldn't trust them when I was pulled wide and needed to recover quickly."

Overall Sole Durability - Score: 2.0

Our team was not impressed with the durability of the Air Max Wildcards, and they started to see significant wear after less than a week of use. Tiffani said, "Sadly, I was not pleased with the outsole durability of these shoes at all, and no modifications I can make would fix that. I saw significant smoothing of the medial forefoot area by the fourth hour on court in these Wildcards, and I am not as aggressive a mover as I once was. The toes are holding up better than the outsoles, but that would be a moot point once the outsoles were gone."

Echoing a similar sentiment was Julie, who had never experienced such severe outsole damage this quickly. She said, "Just 30 minutes of hitting was enough for the outsole to smooth out as much as my Asics Gel Resolutions had after three weeks of solid training. This was really disappointing. Regarding toe durability, I didn't notice anything alarming besides a few scratches."

Michelle added, "Durability was not great. I wasn't expecting the Wildcard to be the most durable shoe, but there was some smoothing within a week of wear. Aggressive movers who are hard on their shoes are not going to get a lot of wear out of these."

Just by looking at the tread pattern, Brittany feared the Wildcards might be lacking in the durability area. Unfortunately, her suspicions were confirmed after just a couple hours on court. She said, "I started to see some premature smoothing in high-wear areas, especially under the big toe. These shoes will probably last 15 to 20 hours max (I have about eight hours on them now). The toe bumper doesn't come up super high on the upper, and the upper material isn't the thickest. Toe draggers could do some real damage in this area as well."

Traction - Score: 3.4

For the most part, the traction of the Air Max Wildcard was adequate for our playtesters, though there were some mixed opinions. Michelle was perplexed when she first saw the new tread pattern, and she found that it didn't always work for her. She elaborated, "I was surprised it worked as well as it did. It was definitely a bit slicker and better suited for sliding on the court. I didn't always feel confident and was worried I would slide out at times. I would prefer a bit more traction."

Julie found the outsoles to be too sticky, which sometimes made adjusting to the ball harder than normal. She said, "The outsole smoothed out after a couple hours of hitting, and I started sliding slightly, but the sticky feel on ball adjustment footwork remained. The slides were very uncomfortable and intensified the rubbing on my toes."

"Throughout the playtest, I thought the Wildcards had slightly slicker than average traction," added Brittany. "I really enjoyed this little bit of give, and I never felt stuck in place. For the most part, I thought the traction stayed pretty consistent throughout the playtest, though it was maybe slightly grippier right at the beginning. I didn't really have to adjust my movements at all."

For Tiffani, the Wildcard gripped the hard court well, and she didn't have any issues. She commented, "I wasn't thinking about feeling stuck or slipping, I was just rather distracted by the fit. As I recall, though, the shoes felt a little stickier initially and then began to offer a bit more give as the tread pattern wore down."

Weight - Score: 4.0

The weight of the Air Max Wildcards was definitely one of the most positive features for our team. Brittany thought that they were nice and light on her feet. She said, "I felt very quick moving around the court in the Wildcards, and I never felt like they weighed me down. I would say that this was one of my favorite aspects of the shoes."

"These shoes weren't too heavy, but they didn't always feel super quick because they fit a bit bulky on me," said Michelle. "In all honesty, they felt great walking around. I wore them on site many days at the BNP Paribas Open, and they were super light. I just couldn't cinch the shoes up enough on the court, and I just felt that they were bulky."

Due to other issues with the shoes, Tiffani found it difficult to pinpoint exactly how the weight impacted the overall performance, but she was confident that the weight was not part of the problem. She said, "The Wildcards felt light on my feet and certainly didn't make me feel weighed down. I can't really elaborate on the weight because the shortcomings in comfort overshadowed all other attributes."

Although the shoes weren't the most comfortable for Julie, the weight was not an issue. She concluded, "The Wildcards didn't weigh me down on quick starts, and I could pick up my speed fairly easily."

Overall - Score: 2.8