Update on Choosing Golf Shoes… For Comfort & Fit
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!
