There are few things worse than breaking in a new shoe.
For me, it usually means blisters, stiffness and sore feet after the fact. Most of my experiences surrounding this issue started on the basketball court with some shoes being added to my own personal “do-not-buy” list because of how poor the breaking-in experience was.
The main culprit? Donovan Mitchell’s original adidas shoe. My feet felt TERRIBLE after two days of playing basketball. If I’m going to spend a pretty penny on a new shoe, you better make damn sure breaking it in is seamless.
Golf shoes are no exception with most golfers walking anywhere from 1.5 to six miles per round (cart golfers included).
With that much time and distance on foot, you’ll be in a world of hurt if you aren’t prepared for the process of breaking in your new golf shoes. In this article, I’ll (1) help set realistic expectations on how long it takes to break in a new pair of golf shoes and (2) give you some tips and tricks on how you can make the process easier.
Breaking in new golf shoes
To make things simple, I’ve created a ranking system based on three tiers.
Tier 3: The golf shoe takes you longer than one full round to break in.
If the golf shoe you’re wearing takes longer than 18 holes to feel good on your feet, you’re dealing with what I like to call an “L-7-Weenie” of a golf shoe. Avoid Tier 3 like the plague.
Tier 2: The golf shoe takes you a full round to break in.
Honestly, 18 holes of golf is a pretty typical timeframe to break in a new pair of golf shoes. There’s nothing wrong with this tier and you can feel confident purchasing models with this track record.
Tier 1: The golf shoe takes less than a full round to break in.
You’ll notice a Tier 1 find pretty quickly. The minute you step into the shoe, you’ll feel it hug your foot in the best way. Tier 1 shoes feature a perfect mix of comfort, stability, traction and durability.
How to determine a golf shoe’s tier
When you buy a car, it’s a must to take it on a test drive before taking it home. Most people don’t have the ability/desire to follow a similar routine with golf shoes. You are taking a major risk when you take a golf shoe home without having any details to back it up.
We test more than 100 golf shoes every year to make sure that you get some type of “test drive” experience. If we can give you an expert’s opinion, you can buy with much more confidence. Our testers focus on every single aspect with the majority of scoring weighted heavily on comfort and stability.
In terms of breaking in a golf shoe, the areas to look at on our scoring charts are also comfort and stability. For example, the Alma Mater Beta Lite was touted as being “so comfortable that you’ll forget you even have it on.” This is the type of feedback you can base a purchase on.
Tips and tricks
To close, here are my basic tips and tricks that can help make the process of breaking in your new golf shoes easier.
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Use your hands to bend them and move them around a bit.
I find it beneficial to bend the shoes every direction possible for a couple of minutes after taking them out of the box.
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Mentally prepare for slight soreness.
A good handful of golf shoes won’t provide instant comfort. If you go into it with the knowledge it might not be instantaneous, you’ll save yourself some frustration. Think of the quote, “if you expect disappointment, you won’t ever be disappointed” from Spiderman.
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Wear socks that deter heel rubbing.
A big issue I run into consistently when breaking in new golf shoes is blistering at the heels. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got a bad golf shoe; it means the break-in process is going to take slightly longer than the best shoes in the game. Lace them up tight and wear socks that protect those heels.
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DO YOUR RESEARCH.
This is easily the most important piece of advice I can give. Dive into our Most Wanted testing and look for golf shoes that provide out-of-the-box performance.
Following these simple tips and tricks will not only save you from pain and frustration but will make your golf game better.
Let’s be honest. We all play our best golf when we can focus strictly on the golf we’re playing. Some golf shoes take longer to break in or may never break in and this will surely affect your game.
Here at MyGolfSpy, we do the research for you and you can find the best spiked and spikeless shoes of 2026 by clicking the links below.
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