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High-Handicappers: Golf Shoes?

High-handicappers: Do you wear golf shoes and, if so, do you feel they've helped improve your game?

  • Yes, and I feel they helped improve my game

    Votes: 41 69.5%

  • Yes, but I don't feel they necessarily helped improve my game

    Votes: 18 30.5%

  • Nope, sneakers (or whatever) work fine for me

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    59
Duffer Seamus

Duffer Seamus

C'mon ball, do your thing
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I imagine all the low-cappers here on THP wear 'em, so this is more aimed at my fellow high-cappers. (But you more accomplished players are more than welcome to comment, of course!)

I recently figured-out that "ground force" seems to be very important to my executing the mechanically-sound swing I'm seeking. So, while golf shoes have been on my ponder list for quite some time, they've been more a "maybe, someday" thing than anywhere near the top of my list.

With the way I'm "getting into the ground," now, I'm wondering if I should maybe get golf shoes sooner, rather than later?
 
Yes - without a doubt. It's slippery out there. 100% invest in them, even if it's a last seasons clearance it will help.
 
They probably help on grass. I wear spikeless shoes and on the range I can't feel any difference than just regular sneakers.
 
Spikeless work just as well for me as ones with soft spikes unless it’s wet out. It also depends on how aggressive of a move you have as well. Some sneakers out there have just as much traction as some of the new spikeless out there, but I wouldn’t be going out in basketball shoes.
 
I like wearing golf shoes to get better traction, but I can’t necessarily say they improve my game. Just more comfortable not slipping
 
I’m a good Guinea pig for this, as I’m a new golfer and somewhere between a double and triple bogey player. I just got my first pair of golf shoes about two weeks ago, played my first round with them last week. It helps plant my feet during my swing, never going back to regular sneakers agin. Golf shoes are essential.
 
Yes definitely they help. I've forgotten them a few times and slipped while swinging.
 
Not a high capper, but even the shape, heel height, structure of the upper, etc affect this for me. It shows up on monitor. It seems decently important.
 
Not sure they've improved anything. Just help to not slip if that counts
 
Yes, i have and use them. I have played without and noticed less grip and definitely see it impact my swing using them vs not. When it is bone dru in the middle of summer it is less impactful, but i still feel it is helpful.
 
Yes I’m a dew sweeper I’d be slipping all over the place without golf shoes. Even considering going back to spiked for this reason.
 
My feet have slipped enough times in the past to know that good traction helps. A well designed golf shoe is designed with the swing in mind, so qualities like traction and comfort are important. I definitely feel my golf shoes help compared to just everyday shoes.
 
Daluteh said:
Yes - without a doubt. It's slippery out there. 100% invest in them, even if it's a last seasons clearance it will help.
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This^^. While I think they are very beneficial in stability during my swing, it is definitely a golf product that I do not splurge on. Typically hit up the budget golf sale page when needing a new pair and try and keep it below $100. I have a wide foot so that is a limiting factor, but have had a lot of success finding New Balance golf shoes on Budget golf.
 
Of course you have to have golf shoes! How the heck are you going to fool people in to not looking like an AWESOME THP golfer, if you're out there in your velcro New Balance?
 
fuffle master said:
I like wearing golf shoes to get better traction, but I can’t necessarily say they improve my game. Just more comfortable not slipping
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It's the slipping thing that prompted this poll.

I didn't want to turn the intro to the poll into a novella, but, what's happened is, in my swing training/drills I discovered that, when I added a new element to my training, and particularly when I added a club, the hard-won balance and centered-ness I'd achieved degraded. <Ponder mode engaged> Tried something in isolation: Getting my feet aggressively into the ground. "Hmmm..." Added that to my drills. That of course at first messed me up, but, after backing my training up a couple segments, now integrating aggressive "ground force" into my motions, and getting my balance and centered-ness back, I'm back up to where things started going wrong and am now staying well-balanced and -centered.

When I write "aggressively into the ground" I mean, in watching myself in a front-facing mirror I can see my knees move slightly outwards as I begin pivoting back. I mean as in: When I first started doing this I could feel it in my hips and buttocks, afterward.

When I do this I achieve something one of the instructors mentioned: All the way at the top I feel so stable, so anchored, that you could give me a light nudge from any direction and I wouldn't move much--much less become unbalanced.
 
Would you play soccer, tennis or any other sport that you at least semi serious about without proper equipment?
You can play golf barefoot or in sandals for all I care, but I can guaranty your performance will suffer.
 
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El Rayo X said:
Would you play soccer, tennis or any other sport that you at least semi serious about without proper equipment?
You can play golf barefoot or in sandals for all I care, but I can guaranty you our performance will suffer.
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That's a very good point, @El Rayo X (y)

Back when we were sailing I would never have considered going out without proper deck shoes to keep my feel stable on the decks and proper gloves to protect my hands and improve my grip.
 
Oh they absolutely make a difference to me, I'd say go get them and get them now - Puma is where you need to be! Where I play is pretty much always at least slightly damp, so if I didn't have spikes on then I'd be slipping on every shot. IS a nightmare when that happens, lose confidence during every backswing and can never properly commit.
 
I’m just trying to stay upright, whether that’s during a swing or while walking a course.

Bonus is you usually have a level of water resistance there. Nobody wants a swampy foot.
 
I wear shoes (this year) but shot a PB shoeless last year

I love my Puma Pro Adapt Deltas they are the most stable shoes I've worn.

Sent from my NE2215 using Tapatalk
 
Always golf shoes on the course, found that the sneaker type are not good for me when I'm walking (torn Achilles) so now always ones with a heel....

A
 
Fascinating. 100% of those who've replied so far wear golf shoes, but only 60% feel they help improve their game.

Given how expensive golf shoes are, I find this somewhat mystifying.
 
I wear golf shoes because they're the proper thing to wear on the course, and they do help with traction.

Now, whether a particular golf shoe can help you generate better ground forces than another golf shoe, I'm skeptical about.
 
i have not noticed any difference between spiked FJ Hyperflex, Puma spikeless, or my True eco spikeless in the my golf game.
 
I don't wear golf shoes. Sneakers, and I have been playing a lot of rounds in deck shoes lately because it's summer.

I wore a pair of golf shoes from Play It Again Sports years ago, didn't really see a difference with them, so I took them back. Maybe it's because I have a slow swing or play 100% on desert courses, but I have never had issues with traction.
 
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