FOR as long as I can remember I’ve been told and I am constantly telling my students the importance and associated advantages of having golf clubs which are fit correctly. The same principles apply when we talk about ball fitting, But now as an industry first our friends at Footjoy have brought a new fitting option to the market ……shoe fitting!
If I talk about my experiences in the past with golf shoe fitting I can comfortably say that I see some really bizarre shoes on my students and customers, which must lead to an uncomfortable fit, a shorter life span of the shoe and a lack of being able to maximise the performance of your feet. That has all changed now and I couldn’t be happier about it. I am sure that the Footjoy team were sick of me emailing them asking them when I was going to get my shoes fitted properly!
Nonetheless the week finally arrived, and I couldn’t have been happier, mainly because I find my feet are an awkward fit and I was keen on seeing what I could and couldn’t fit into! I must note I had a couple of my students a few days prior to my fitting go through the process and they couldn’t speak highly enough about the whole process. The outcome from the shoes was no surprise on my end, however both were shocked at the results, with my students going down a full size and also fitting into different widths.
In running through the process and results, firstly, you without shoes on you stand into the portable Footjoy scanning machine and within around 10 seconds it captures various measurements across your feet. Length, width, instep height, heel width and arc height. All measurements are in millimetres, and you can move the image around to get a better understanding of the size and shape of your feet. From here we get recommendations in order according to the size and shape of your feet, and the best match with a Footjoy shoe.
Initially before coming in, I had my eyes on a par of Footjoy Premiers and as at it turned out after going through the parameters, while it was the first recommendation it was slightly different to what I thought it was going to be.
The Footjoy Fit Lab’s first recommendation was the Premier Series Packard model with a size 11 narrow, which was a surprise. I knew I had a slightly narrower width of shoe however I had no idea I would be a narrow fit for that shoe.
One of the best features from the shoe fitting was the fact you can try just about every Footjoy shoe in every width and size, plus on site Footjoy have a specialised shoe fitting staff member assisting with how the shoe feels, if its slipping or if the width is correct. Interestingly, I loved the feel of the Premier Packard shoe, but when I was walking around in it my heel was slipping too much, so I then had the ability to change the width and length of the shoes, however I couldn’t get the correct feel in the heel. From here we proceeded to completely change the shoe and go to the next best option, for me that was the Hyperflex, which is what I currently wear. The Footjoy Fit Lab gave me the same length and width, which was 11 medium. I loved this shoe and my heel wasn’t slipping, it felt great for width and length, and I knew I could wear this shoe straight out of the box and onto the golf course.
From the fitting we then get this information on email with each shoe in order, so it makes it crystal clear what model, size and width we need to perform our best and to feel our best whilst chasing the white ball around all day!
Footjoy have always been an industry leader in design, performance and quality. What every day golfers have access to now is a fully functional and a seamless process, allowing golfers to find the exact fit for our feet. We have had club fitting, ball fitting and now shoe fitting and Acushnet have always been at the forefront of these categories.
Michael Cooney is a teaching professional at the PGA Centre for Learning and Performance at the Sandhurst Golf Club in Melbourne and is always on the hunt for the latest and greatest in golf products.
The post WE TRIED IT! Footjoy Fit Lab – Shoe Fitting first appeared on Inside Golf. Australia's Most-Read Golf Magazine as named by Australian Golfers - FREE.
Article Link: https://www.insidegolf.com.au/gear/golf-shoes/we-tried-it-footjoy-fit-lab-shoe-fitting/