Golf is a sport; do it carelessly and it can result in serious injury. Like most sports, a degree of preparation improves both performance and pleasure.
I’m going to start this blog with a confession. For years, I have been a golf critic and skeptic. However, I recently came to realize that if I wish to spend any quality time with our two sons, I had better learn to enjoy the game!
Despite my prior reluctance to play the game, I have for years treated golfers with overuse injuries and structural instabilities. One of the greatest advantages we historically had in treating golfers was the stability and integrity of the footwear unique to the activity.
Traditionally golf shoes relied on screw in spikes for traction and control. By design, these inserts required the shoe to have a stiff outer sole. This coincidentally helped stabilize the heel and midfoot, significantly improving control and function.
About the same time as mainstream athletic shoe manufacturers entered the competitive golf scene, so too the trend toward spike-less athletic-type footwear gained momentum. Sponsorship and endorsements furthered the trend, and before long, the traditional style of golf shoe became more of a declaration of fashion or social status. Comfort for walking has become less important or obvious with the prevalence of using carts. As a result the stability and integrity of design and construction of golf shoes have suffered drastically reflecting similar trends in sport and street shoes.
We regularly stress the importance of stable footwear in the management and treatment of many foot conditions. This is a crucial factor in the performance of that most intricate of dances, the golf swing. Not only do they provide a stable platform, but improve rotation, reproducibility of the motion and generation of increased power through torsional force.
A quick test will assure basic stability, click here to see that test.
After identifying a couple of likely candidates (regardless of brand), try them on and possibly even swing a club to better ensure comfort, fit and satisfaction. If you wear orthotic devices, ideally, you should be testing that they fit and feel equally as good as your casual shoe. For those with very aggressive orthotic prescriptions, sometimes we will recommend using an older device or a less aggressive design to facilitate follow-through on the back foot.
Well-designed golf shoes will likely lower your score, avoid injury and keep you whacking golf balls off into the tall grass for many years to come with a smile on your face.
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