With the right clubs in hand, it might be time to look to your feet.
Golf shoes are like the parents of a wild teenager: They don’t get any respect. Just like a 14-year-old thinks their parents are more hindrance than help, many golfers don’t think their golf shoes are a vital piece of equipment. It is an ill-conceived notion.
The lack of understanding extends to the professional ranks, too. Adam Schenk used to wear extra socks on one foot to achieve a proper fit, and Justin Thomas once told FootJoy, “I never even thought shoes could perform differently.” When you consider we take some 10,000 steps walking a course, there’s no disputing that a properly fit pair of shoes will improve athletic performance.
Enter FootJoy’s Fit Lab. Utilising more than a dozen cameras, the lab’s fitting device produces a 3D map that measures the length, width and, perhaps most importantly, volume of each foot. At our most recent Hot List Summit, our testers went through the whole process, gaining an education in footwear as equipment. What they learned is that their ability to use the ground to enhance energy transfer is critical to playing better golf. Not only can Fit Lab quickly and accurately get players in the right fit, it can help match a shoe’s performance characteristics to each golfer’s unique swing needs.
If you think about shoe-fitting as seriously as you would customising a new driver or set of irons, you’ll be 1 up standing on the first tee.
