Spiked vs Spike-less Golf Shoes and do they make a difference?
So, the question about whether spiked or spike-less golf shoes are important, and if they make a difference?
So, when you are making the golf swing, the grip and traction in the swing and how your feet make contact with the ground is very important. This is really important so we all are able to make the best golf swing and the finest contact with the golf ball possible.
In this article we are going to discuss what are the differences between spiked and spike-less golf shoes, and if they make a difference to the golf swing and how we hit the golf ball.
Top Three Spike-Less Golf Shoes
Then years later the soft spikes replaced the metal spikes on the golf shoes, which indicated times were changing and so much so that now most golf courses have banned metal spikes.
From my junior playing days, I remember very well having metal spiked golf shoes with those awful leather tongues, and these shoes would damage the greens at my local golf course, and I was only a very light junior at the time, so I would have hated to have seen what a grown person would have done to the greens and the damage they would have caused.
When the new plastic spikes, entered the market it was quite surprising at the time, but even they would still damage the greens some of the time.
Then came along spike-less golf shoes, and when these new shoes first entered the market, I was as sceptical as a lot of the professional golfers were of the spike-less golf shoe.
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Top Three Spiked Golf Shoes
I did however think about the shoes I wore at the time for football. When I was playing a lot of football on Astroturf, I found the shoes with the little nubs to be very good at gripping the ground. So, I thought I’d give them a go on the golf course, and I have not been disappointed to date, I would also like to mention that each year these spike-less shoes that the manufacturers are releasing are getting better and better.
Another great feature of spike-less golf shoe, is you can wear them on the course and off the course, so without a doubt they are a much more versatile golf shoe. They are more like a trainer now, and can be worn both on the golf course and off.
Why is traction or grip so important in the golf swing?
The grip or traction of the feet is really important, so you can maintain a good balanced golf swing and be able to transfer more power into the floor to generate power and this has to happen without slipping.
Having this acceptable and grounded grip on the grass has a huge bearing on how you can rotate through the golf swing and hit the golf ball with power.
When you lose traction or slip because of poor grip what normally happens on connection with the golf ball, is the golf club would either miss the ball totally, or the face of the golf club would rotate too much, which would either make the golf shot hook (so go left) or the ball would slice (go right).
So, from my experience I have used both spiked and spike-less golf shoes, and in reality, I have not slipped from memory, and being in the UK we get terrible weather, and a lot of rain can arrive which can make the ground very wet and slippery.
In the past years I have used both the spiked and spike-less types of shoes in the winter months without issue.
One of the major issues that I see with golf shoes, is the support of the shoe and the structure of the shoe, what I mean by this is when you have a golf shoe that supports your ankle and your foot, it generates confidence in the golf shot.
Some manufacturers in my opinion are targeting the comfort aspect of the golf shoe over performance, and some of these shoes I feel they have moved away from having a solid core to the shoe to increase how lightweight and are targeting a more crossover trainer type shoe. When I have worn these lighter weight golf shoe, it really didn’t instil much confidence when wearing them, it might have just been a mental issue but I didn’t feel I could generate as much power through my feet as I would have liked.
Longevity of the golf shoes I buy is really important to me, and one thing I find quite annoying with spiked golf shoes is how easy it is to break the spikes on the bottom of the sole.
Then you have to go out and buy the replacement spikes to fit your model, and to change the spikes is not that expensive, but I would rather not have to do it, as I can be lazy and it can take a while to get around to it.
When I am golfing, I do find that I am quite good at snapping the plastic spikes or grips.
When I am wearing the spike-less type golf shoe I am more confident because of the number of little nubs on the bottom, that cannot break.
Also, I do not like the idea of the spikes ripping up the greens so I gravitate to spike-less because of this reason, and also find that while playing and especially putting that if you walk on another golfer’s by accident, it makes less of an impact over the spiked shoes, so you are not effecting you’re playing partners chance of making a solid putt.
So, when I am in the market to be buying a new pair of golf shoes, I am looking for style, comfort and support. When I am deciding to make a purchase, I am personally not that concerned about spikes on the golf shoe, but I have friends who only wear spikes, it is a really personal preference.
I would not be surprised if the spiked golf shoe started to be replaced by the spike-less type of golf shoes in the coming years, because they are more versatile, and if you are not losing grip on the golf course then why would you want a shoe that can only be worn on the golf course. Spike-less golf shoes are so much easier to drive a car in, and enter shops in, whereas wearing spikes can really only be worn on the golf course.
What I would recommend for you, is to test both types of golf shoe and see what suits your golf swing better.
You may want to ask yourself if you generally play in wet conditions or dry, it may be an idea to have a pair of spiked shoes for winter and spike-less for the summer months, yet I personally would not be that concerned about that.
For those two scenarios I would be more concerned about support in the golf shoe, how waterproof is the golf shoe, and what it looks like.
If I had to make a decision to only ever be able to buy one type I would definitely only be buying Spike-less golf Shoes going forward.
