Fitness Friday: Treatment for bone spurs

*Every week my colleague Ron Kaspriske, Golf Digest Fitness Editor, presents Fitness Friday on the Instruction Blog. This week he discusses bone spurs, a common injury in golf, and how you can treat and prevent them. Look for Weekend Tip tomorrow, and remember to follow me on Twitter: @RogerSchiffman**.

Roger Schiffman

Managing Editor

Golf Digest

Here's Ron: Whether you walk or ride when you play, two common golf injuries can easily be avoided if you wear properly fitted golf shoes. How do your current golf shoes stack up? Consider these checkpoints:

-- Is there room in the tip for your toes to wiggle?

-- Do the uppers feel comfortable against the sides of your feet?

-- Do the insoles adequately support your arches?

-- When you walk, do you feel enough cushion against your heel?

-- Do the uppers feel comfortable around the heel?

If you answered "no," to any of these questions, especially the final three, you're putting yourself in jeopardy of developing bone spurs and/or plantar fasciitis.

As you can imagine, these injuries go hand in hand and the root cause many times are tight-fitting shoes with poor arch support and cushioning.

"You need shoes that allow for more motion in the foot and ankle because that puts less torque on your knee and hip," says Dr. Vernon Cooley of Park City (Utah) Medical Center. Cooley performed knee surgery on Tiger Woods in 2008.

It's important to understand that the new "street" style of golf shoes, or golf shoes that look like sneakers, aren't automatically the correct choice. They can have cushioning or tightness issues just as easily as traditional golf shoes. That's why it's important to test several models and sizes before purchasing. Ideally, you should see a podiatrist for an accurate fitting, but it's not mandatory.

*Ron Kaspriske

Fitness Editor

Golf Digest*

(Illustration by Bonnie Hofkin)