IMPROVE MY GAME
Articles
Does your Golf Shoe Fit ?
Tue Dec 25, 2012 by Dave Phillips
Footjoy the world's most authentic golf shoe brand has been making shoes and apparel since 1857. They know a thing or two about golf shoes and offer more styles, sizes and widths than any other golf shoe brand in the business. (see the attached PDF for detailed information on Footjoy sizes and lasts ).
Buying a golf shoe is not that hard, you find something that you like the look of, or you see a tour player wearing a particular style or color and you order up a pair in your size, simple or is it? We all have different shape feet, size and width. We different arches to our feet some are high some are flat, but did you ever stop to think about the shoe your wearing and if it is affecting your golf swing.
We know from 3D biomechanical research and the use of force and pressure plates, that we use the ground to develop power, if your feet were not attached to the ground and you tried to even start a golf swing you would have no chance, you can even sit in a chair and swing a golf club as long as your feet are on the ground, lift your feet off the ground and you cant create any kind of force or power.
The shoe that you wear is your contact with the ground and if it does not support you correctly or limits your mobility by being too stable you put yourself at risk of losing power and consistency. The body works in an alternating pattern of stable segments connected to mobile joints. Your foot needs to be stable, ankle mobile, knee stable, hip mobile and so on in this pattern throughout the body. That being said you would think that we should all run out and buy the most stable shoe we could find, but wait if you lack ankle mobility due to one too many sprained ankles from football or basketball, and put on a stable golf shoe, now you have a stable foot and ankle, that's a broken pattern and you will have trouble moving your body effectively during your swing, which could hurt your sequence of motion and hurt your golf swing.
Elite level atheletes don't buy a shoe based on the way it looks, they all get it fitted properly for optimal performance in their sport, why don't you. Ask your golf professional to watch you hit some balls in a couple of different pairs of shoes or ask them to have a reputable shoe rep like those from Footjoy talk to you and the members at your club about shoes.