I noticed that the new buzz in golf shoes surely must be the low profile.  Get closer to the ground.

Adidas 360 Tour 4.0 golf shoes and the ladies’ Signature ranges – all low

Nike Air Tour Saddle – low profile

FootJoy – the LoPro as shown very recently on Golf Shoes Blog again

The Callaway Men’s Palmares – low; the women’s Vela (as pictured) - low profile

So is low profile the way to go? Is it better?  Then why are so many golf shoes still “high”?  And what about the higher heel concept as conventional wisdom? Or is it because the trend for a lot of regular players is to fashion a trainer/sports style golf shoe which is (almost by definition) lower?

You see the questions all over the tinternet (drumming up business for someone, with a link, no doubt).

So let’s answer the question of why golf shoes… from at least one angle: Because when you play golf you are realtively stationery (given your swing) but the ball is completely at rest – like snooker/billiards/pool.  (Are there other games with a stationery ball?)  You have to stay firmly on the ground because you’re making a comparatively big swing (compared to snooker for example) and you want maximum control and staility. When you read about golf shoes they talk about stability a lot -whilst allowing the movement of your feet, legs and weight distribution.

This is very different to tennis, football, hockey etc where the ball is travelling often toward you at a rate and you are running to get to it.  (In some of those games there are penalties/free kicks when the ball is still but that’s not really the main strike in a game.)

Maybe the closest – apart from the moving ball but for the stability and grip - would be cricket or baseball.  Cricket shoes cetainly have (had?) spikes as do baseball boots (as left with some nearly-seen odd-looking bar style spikes).  And they are probably the most similar spikes.  Could you play golf in cricket or baseball boots?  Probably but….

When you’re choosing golf shoes for hot weather it may be that you consider mesh golf shoes because they breathe.  Not a bad idea but do remember that if the golf courses that you play are spraying or using chemicals, then those chemicals may get to your feet and may irritate your skin (or if you’re allergic to these this could be worse)*.

Otherwise good leather shoes will be more breathable and many offer wicking to help breathability.  There are a wide range of ways of keeping your feet dry.  There are 21 posts on Golf Shoes Blog that talk about or mention “breathability” so heck those out: Though I did notice that I ducked out of the subject once before (siting the need to get out to attend a quiz!). I’ve not a done a test of dryness so I’m dodging any specific recommendations again.  The Ecco Casual Cool Hydromax (as pictured) are supposedly good in that respect.

I’m checking out one golf shoe that claims air conditioning.  Watch this space. 

*The gist of this, I just picked up from the PGA Tour site: Thanks.

It would be hard to be a golfer who spends much time on the internet and not know the Golf Channel for it’s “Golf news, features and commentary, tournament coverage, statistics and schedules, video clips, television listings and promotions” but how many people are aware that they have a comprehensively good on-line shop on the site.

At Golfchannel.com you can go to see the latest news in the world of golf – I’ve just watched a video of Phil Mickeson’s press conference thanking everyone for their support since his wife discovered her cancer.  (We’re still looking for pink golf shoes)

But if you skip along the top bar (so called navigation) on the site you’ll see the full range of what’s on the site (and what isn’t).  Hit “equipment” and then golf shoes – or just hit this link to see their range of golf shoes now! You’re going to see mens, ladies and junior golf shoes as well as SALE golf shoes (including FootJoy “blems”) and then a final section for clearance at cost or below!  That’s what we like to see. 

Bargain Golf Shoes

Sale shoes seem to be priced at 50-60% and the final clearance best golf shoe buy I could see today were the FootJoy Mens Classics Tour Factory Blem Golf Shoes at just 40% ($129).  funnily enough there was an even greater saving for what i think is a very good looking golf shoes – as pictured here – the Bite Derby Bicycle Toe Golf Shoe for less than 40% at £39.88 with leather uppers and a 2 year warranty!  Go  for it!  And to be honest nearly all the golf shoes on the site are at good prices although I haven’t exhaustively checked every one…

For each of the mens & ladies there’s a section for golf shoes (proper) and also sandals, casual and dress shoes and accessories.  (The casual shoes include Cole Haas as seen recently here with their golf shoes. But you can buy them at Golf Channel’s golf shoes.)

You can search by brand, size, colour (color they’d call it!) or width.  It looks like they have thought it all through pretty well.

Two golf shoe things are coming together in my Golf Shoes Blog mind today… One is the fact that some golf clubs (I’ve read about these in The States, not in the UK) are dropping their dress codes.  Public courses have been informal for some time but clubs have had dress codes from time immemorial (well since they started 1X0 years ago or so).  This code includes golf shoes.  They say that people need to just drop in for a game or turn up when they feel like it and the gear including golf shoes stops this.  They then say you don’t need golf shoes just trainers.

Two… is the fact that golf shoe makers do make golf shoes without spikes.  Look at these FootJoy Spikeless Golf Shoes (Classics Dry Premieres to be precise).  I can’t find anything that FootJoy say directly about these spikeless golf shoes.  I’d think it were a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face, to go on about  them too much.  What about all the other blurb about grip and design torsion and cleats and so on.  Someone else* said “Unless you are going to play in the rain, or are prone to slicing and landing in bunkers” you don’t need golf shoes to have spikes.  Personally I don’t agree.

But if you do agree, then surely just wear trainers.  SO do golf shoes need spikes because if they don’t nedd them [a] then you don’t need golf shoes and [b] no-one will buy them (but they do buy them in the million).  Any views out there?

*Apologies, I lost the reference…

I keep reading about golf shoes giving support and if I’m 100% honest (that would make me a remarkable man) I don’t know fully what this means.  I can imagine that your foot needs support and to be held all round but that’s what we’d normally call stability. 

So is it arch support?  That would come from the sole design and the right insoles with a little extra support about 2/3rds of the way back towards the heel.  (Quoting from Golf Shoes Blog earlier post on golf shoe comfort “The mid-section of the golf shoe should be slightly raised where the arch of your foot is, in effect providing a resting place for the length of your sole. ) Most shoes have that and I know that when you wear very thin plimsoles with no definition that you do notice the difference.

Or is it the slightly raised heel which we are told is better for your feet and better for your golf. (See same earlier post as above.)

Perhaps our  foot expert friend from Austarlia would tell us?

Meantime conventional wisdom says that you must choose the right golf shoes for your feet with good support and ones that fit.  This makes the whole round of golf that much better (despite your actual golf) and in the long run will help you avoid any knee, hip and lower back pain or damage.

Picture courtesy of Excelsior Chiropractic – get in touch with them if you’d like to know more about your aching bones.  Maybe they can tell me what exactly “support” is in a golf shoe!

Spring has Sprung and it’s variably wet and dry but often the grass is quite wet, especially if you’re an early riser and the dew’s still on the grass.  If the course is watered in the summer the same applies!

And you don’t want wet feet!  Then the easy answer is to buy waterproof golf shoes and most of them are guaranteed for 12 or 24 months.  Then you must look after them – see earlier post about that.

But having said that you realy want them to be “breathable” and that may involve letting some of the water OUT!  Yes you are making damp-ness inside your shoes when they’re trying to keep the water out!  Materials such as gore-tex that “wicks”  moisture away from your feet. So look out for what the makers claim about wicking and airing and keeping dry.

I have to go to a quiz now!!!! I’ll return with some suggested makes and models!

First of all you should read Part One of Choosing Golf Shoes and then you should read Part Two and then you really know it all – or nearly most of it!  But I’ve had a nag that I haven’t said it all about choosing golf shoes…

Yes, we all read the blurb about how far you walk playing a round (or two) of golf:  Yes, there’s all sorts of modern materials and technology OR there’s good old leather: And then there’s old style (variously called classic/or described by a feature, like “saddle”) and then there’s the newer chunkier versions of these…  and then there’s trainer styles.  Yes, yes, yes, there’s all those things to think about – and you have to worry about not getting wet from the outside and staying dry from the inside and there’s a million miles of copy and bullet points about all that.

But what about the golf shoes fitting?!

 All the business that has been discussed before and that’s flippantly mentioned above does count but the shoes also have to fit!  And fit your feet.  If they don’t then they’re not comfortable and then it’s more tiring – apart from wear and tear.  I’ve noticed lately that walking shoes or ordinary shoes that you walk in (just like  golf shoes – but I walk more than I golf!) demand “holding” if they don’t fit exactly – almost as though you’re trying to keep them in place with your toes or by subconsciously arching your feet.  This of course is conceptually miles away from “not feeling them” or not even thinking about them which is the ideal.

Now we’ve all got different shaped feet and shoes do not all fit the same.  I’m a size 9 (43 Eurppean style) (we’d say size nine in “old money”) but some shoes are too big and some too small when I try them on. I don’t have wide feet but some shoes pinch in places where they shouldn’t.  So how do we get golf shoes that fit?

Well – trying them on -yes that’s obvious.  But the volume of on-line sales is enormous and growing!  (I NEED TO CHECK RETURN POLICIES).  The other thing I can bring to this discussion from real life (non golf shoes) is that the only ordinry shoes that I’ve bought mail-order were verycomfortable when I got them out of the box.  I suppose that they have to be so that they don’t get sent back instantly.  But the trade off is that they are made less sturdy which would take longer to “bed in” and consequently they end up falling apart.  In other words they’re comfortable rubbish!  do golf shoes have to be more like that to accomodate on-line shopping.  I’m not going to answer that today but leave it there and hope for some answers from out there…

Last word… remember to try shoes on at the end of the day when your feet are more like they’d be when you play golf.  And walk around for 20 minutes before you try on any shoe.  And wear socks you’d wear for golf!

Call me old fashioned (as some have been known to do) but I cannot get past these “lite” golf shoes looking like trainers with spikes!  Trainers are really comfortable – that’s what they were made to be – but so were “heavy” golf shoes (just read all the blurb).  Some of the reviews that we have posted here say that they have put on heavier golf shoes out of the box and have worn them for 18 holes with no problems.

So maybe I’m behind the times in two ways! (i) I think real shoes hurt when you first wear them - like the clssic leather welt shoes that fit like a glove but only after you have worn them in.  The last pair of regular shoes which were comfotable from the mail order box were soft but rubbish in the long run.  So should I conclude that golf shoes are just made better than ordinary shoes (they certainly think about them more) and so should I buy golf shoes for ordinary wear and just take out the spikes?!  (ii) I think golf shoes shoud be “heavy” especially for Autumn/Winter/Spring.  Am I wrong?  Am I just uncomfortable with the “contemporary” look?

Seen here above are the Etonic Lites Plus Golf Shoes with synthetic leather uppers, cushioned, supportive insole, stabilized lightweight midsole and golf style traction outsole with removable cleats

Seen below are the Adidas Complite Golf Shoes with full-grain leather uppers, die-cut EVA lightweight insole, injection-moulded EVA midsole (20% less weight to reduce fatigue) with adiPRENE cushioning – all for comfort.  And durable adiWear rubber outsole with Traxion clog-resistant DTAC cleats.