Mizuno Wave Precision 10 (2010)
Written by: Jeroen van Geelen
Date: Mon Apr 12 2010
This is Mizuno's top lightweight trainer. In this model Mizuno uses its proprietary Acceleration Polymer. The shoe is fast and reactive, but not suitable for athletes who like a softer ride. Due to this harder midsole there is little energy lost as will happen in a softer shoe.
Before we go any further, let's have a discussion about the Wave technology Mizuno uses in its models, so you understand what makes Mizuno shoes different than most other brands.
It took a long time for Mizuno to get accepted as a real running brand. It struggled with models that just weren't good enough for different reasons, depending on the model. It all changed when Mizuno introduced the Wave technology, a plate that separates the midsole of the shoe into upper and lower segments. The Wave plate can be made with different hardnesses and shapes of “waves” on the inside and outside. These waves can make shoes more neutral or stable without adding a medial post.
In other shoes, the absence of a medial post means you’re dealing with a neutral shoe. Not so with Mizuno. None of its shoes have medial posting per se, but changing the shape of the wave works like a medial post. A shoe with a Wave plate with evenly shaped waves on the medial and lateral side is a neutral shoe.
Back to the Wave Precision 10. The shoe feels light and stable at a weight of 9.7 oz. The upper is made of lightweight breathable mesh, but the big feature is this shoe’s Wave plate. In the Precision the Wave plate is made of rubber, to keep the from feeling hard. It has a so-called parallel Wave, which means that it is of the same shape on the medial and lateral side of the midsole. On the medial side they add a midfoot shank to give the shoe a bit of extra torsional support.
This makes the shoe suitable for neutral to slight pronators and for midfoot strikers. In my experience most high-arched athletes prefer this above other Mizuno models.
Before we go any further, let's have a discussion about the Wave technology Mizuno uses in its models, so you understand what makes Mizuno shoes different than most other brands.
It took a long time for Mizuno to get accepted as a real running brand. It struggled with models that just weren't good enough for different reasons, depending on the model. It all changed when Mizuno introduced the Wave technology, a plate that separates the midsole of the shoe into upper and lower segments. The Wave plate can be made with different hardnesses and shapes of “waves” on the inside and outside. These waves can make shoes more neutral or stable without adding a medial post.
In other shoes, the absence of a medial post means you’re dealing with a neutral shoe. Not so with Mizuno. None of its shoes have medial posting per se, but changing the shape of the wave works like a medial post. A shoe with a Wave plate with evenly shaped waves on the medial and lateral side is a neutral shoe.
Back to the Wave Precision 10. The shoe feels light and stable at a weight of 9.7 oz. The upper is made of lightweight breathable mesh, but the big feature is this shoe’s Wave plate. In the Precision the Wave plate is made of rubber, to keep the from feeling hard. It has a so-called parallel Wave, which means that it is of the same shape on the medial and lateral side of the midsole. On the medial side they add a midfoot shank to give the shoe a bit of extra torsional support.
This makes the shoe suitable for neutral to slight pronators and for midfoot strikers. In my experience most high-arched athletes prefer this above other Mizuno models.
[Editor’s note: Our capable editor-at-large for footwear Jeroen van Geelen owns Total Running, one of the more important running and triathlon retail establishments in The Netherlands.]
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