Salted Smart Insole Review

Bryndom

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Apologies if a thread already exists for this, I didn't find one here. I recently got from a friend a pair of the Salted Smart Insoles. He's a data geek like me and thought I could use a bit of holiday cheer with these.

The product came in this week and I gave them a test run today.

Product Overview

Salted Smart Insole's are intended to give you information about foot pressure and how it shifts over the course of time. From their website at https://www.salted.ltd/insole, these have a number of applications, including:

  • Recording pressure shift in a golf swing
  • Recording running gaits
  • Verifying body balance and pressure tendencies
Obviously, I cared most about the first. There are a number of instructors (mine included) that look at the weight (pressure) shift of the body in the downswing and how the force is used to create clubhead speed.

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We were warned by the OEM to go a half size smaller than the regular foot size (I can verify this one, would definitely recommend going a bit smaller to fit them in your shoes).

Unboxing and Setup

This was very simple, the insoles came in a box with a set of magnetic chargers. The insoles have a little port in the middle that open to reveal the charging plate. Because there's some padding over the port, it didn't bother me when I was wearing them (there were other things that made it a bit uncomfortable, but more on this later).

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I downloaded the Salted app to my iPad for this test and synchronizing the insoles with the app was a breeze. I didn't even have to register in their app (something relatively rare these days)! The technology synchronizes using bluetooth, and that was a snap with the iOS app.

Connecting and Calibration

The Salted insoles connect over bluetooth and the first connection was simple, once I got the hang of it. The insoles have to be flipped upside down to initiate the pairing process. Pairing was straightforward and worked without issue. Simply flip the insoles over and hit the connect button in the app. It connected both the left and right insoles without a problem!

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General Use

It didn't take much to get used to the app. The app uses your camera to record your swings and overlays your foot pressure at each point in the swing. The speed of the swing can be slowed down to as much as 1/8th of normal. The app also uses your microphone, because to activate, it requires you to sit still(-ish) for 3 seconds after taking your setup stance. The application sends a beep to you when it detects that you are ready to swing and it will capture your swing.

When the app detects movement, it records your swing and the pressure data from the connected sensors. This information is stored and you can upload it to the app server (presumably to share with a coach in the future), or save it locally for review. There are a few recordings of pros you can compare with (they seem to be centered in Korea, where I believe the product originated).

The insoles are put into your shoes (any shoes would work for this). The insoles are reasonably thin, but given they are a bit larger than expected, they fit tightly in my Nike running shoes I was using with the test. The insoles were more troubling to get into the shoes because of the tight fit than out at the end of the session.

After sync, it is recommended to calibrate the insoles. This is done in the app, and again, is very straightforward. Simply lift one foot for 3 seconds and then the other. The one tough thing is you had to hit a button in the app, and doing that Karate Kid style required some physical gymnastics I haven't done in ages.

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Pros

1) Data seems to be captured correctly. It was interesting in that I saw very clearly the pressure shift throughout my swings. When I started getting tired toward the end of my session, I could clearly see that my timing and pressure shift was off (my common issue), that caused me to get "hung up" back and have to perform feats to try to square the club (which doesn't ever end well for me).

2) There were no issues with connection, and every single swing where I waited for the insoles to detect my stillness were recorded. I can't be certain as I have nothing to compare it to, but the data seems very accurate.

3) Data is useful as I'm trying to work on my use of ground forces in my swing, so it helped me with an area of focus that I have

4) App stability and reliability - many of these type products seem rushed to market and the app and/or the product isn't quite ready for primetime. Almost like the producers rushed to capitalize on a new product without productionizing their innovation. This seems to be a stable app that is reliably showing data. Having said that, there's definite room for feature improvement and new features, but the app and product as a whole doesn't feel rushed

Cons

1) Cost. Apparently, my buddy had a great coupon for these, but they are rather expensive as a training aid that just measures foot pressure. I wouldn't have purchased these on my own, but I realize different people have different budgets so it may not be as big of a hit to your checkbook. On Amazon, these run about $229 USD without coupons. I couldn't find them on Budget Golf to see if the THP code would work for them

2) Foot tightness. The insoles were comfortable, and the bottom of my feet had no issue with the 90 minute range session. However, the insoles lifted my foot in the shoe (duh, they sit at the bottom), and the top of my foot was uncomfortably pressed against the bottom of the laces. I laced my shoes up a bit looser to accommodate, so my feet weren't hurting, but they were uncomfortable

3) Having to sit still for 3 seconds. One thing I apparently learned is that I'm incapable of staying statue-esque for any length of time. It was annoying, because if I shifted my weight around, the 3 seconds started over. GRRRR. It took a bit of try and go, but I got the hang of it and was able to use it

4) Transferring the grab of the information isn't easy (I ended up recording a playback with my phone), this could be improved upon

Overall Impressions

In its current form, it is quite useful to gain information about pressure shifting and the use of ground forces in your golf swing. However, the data captured is limited to that one part of your swing, so it's generally going to give you insight into one piece of the overall puzzle.

I hope this video plays! Enjoy

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Any more feedback on these? Curious how they might help with speed training.

Recently went for a lesson and the guy used Swing Catalyst (pressure plate) and it was interesting. Of course this won't compare to a crazy expensive system like that....but...
 
Any more feedback on these? Curious how they might help with speed training.

Recently went for a lesson and the guy used Swing Catalyst (pressure plate) and it was interesting. Of course this won't compare to a crazy expensive system like that....but...

Great question! I definitely still use them, generally on my practice sessions upstairs. I'm working now on my vertical force (there's a great video and my coach confirmed it) of how the foot pressure should feel in the backswing and downswing. Salted soles comes in handy as I'm figuring out what works there and what doesn't.

One question I have longer term, is - once I figure this out, will I have much use for them? They are WAY less expensive than things like Swing Catalyst plates, which is nice, the use case is very limited IMO. I'd like to see it do more in the training space for the app - how to use pressure and what that feels like.
 
Cool video speaking of ground forces....

 
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