A Review of The Salming Hawk Indoor Court Shoes

Salming Description of the Hawk:

The Hawk features a low to ground profile fuelled with energy, stability and an impeccable grip. The ExoSkeleton inner cage is connected to the lacing system and offers excellent support.

The HexaGrip outsole featuring two LMSplus 8°areas allows for stability during multidirectional movements. The new midsole Recoil ERF - Energy Rebound Foam - with its added offset cushioning heel area (SoftFOAM) provide energy return and comfort in every step. The upper is a 4 layer construction with air mesh for maximum breathability.

Our take:

The Salming Hawk are a terrific blend of comfort and performance ...

They are designed for the player that is looking for excellent cushioning but also wants a very high performance pair of indoor court shoes.

Cushioning is important in an indoor court shoes to protect your feet and joints from the hard movements we squash players have to make. As we age, we tend to need more cushioning in our shoes. Too much cushioning though, or the wrong type of cushioning can hurt performance …

The Hawk provides excellent cushioning in the midsole of the shoe in both the heel and the forefoot area of the shoe. The heel is a straight cushioning foam designed to protect against hard heel strike which is very common in squash.

In the forefoot area there is excellent cushioning provided by an Energy Return Foam (ERF), called Recoil ERF, that not only provides great cushioning but also provides energy back to the player. This helps mitigate the loss of energy found in a shoe with too much cushioning or that does not have ERF.

The upper of the shoe is a 3-layer upper. It consists of:
A soft, comfortable inner mesh layer
A fully integrated Exoskeleton layer that really locks the foot in place
A mesh layer on the outside
The inside and outside of the shoes being mesh helps keeps the weight down and really allows the Hawk to breathe well. The fully integrated Exoskeleton layer provides the structure the shoe needs to keep your foot locked in place.

The tongue of the Salming Hawk is quite unique in an indoor court shoes as it is very thin and made of rubber material compared to a traditional thicker tongue. Looking at it I was not sure how it would feel but it is very comfortable. It does not bunch up at all and you virtually don’t even notice it is there. Considering how comfortable the upper of the Hawk is, it is a smart design choice.

Overall the Hawk is a very comfortable pair of indoor court shoes. Other than the exceptional cushioning underneath my feet I hardly noticed I was wearing them which is the mark of a good pair of shoes …

Now on to the performance of the Salming Hawk …

The Salming Hawk perform very well on the squash court. They are not an all out performance shoe like the Salming Viper or Asics GEL-Blade though. The Blade and Viper are very low to the court and have much less cushioning. As such they are a bit harsher on the body. The Hawk provide much better cushioning while still performing quite well. They provide a good balance between comfort and performance.

The Salming Hawk is uniquely constructed from the outsole up rather than the upper down. Salming’sHX120 outsole with Hexagrip wraps up over top of the bottom of the upper rather than the upper coming down to meet the outsole.

This design really gives you incredible grip all around the outsole. No matter what direction you are heading, or where you weight has shifted the outsole of the Salming Hawk is going to provide excellent grip.

Salming’s LMS+ system found in both the heel and forefoot area on the lateral side of the shoes that provides good stability. The LMS+ unit flares out 8° to provider a wide base to help protect your foot from rolling outwards. It works extremely well and the Salming Hawk provide excellent lateral stability.

They are designed for the player that wants their shoe to provide good stability, performance and cushioning all in a light and breathable design. If that sounds like you don’t wait to pick up your pair...