The one piece of equipment you forget. The right shoes are more about substance than style

Golf shoes are like parents of a wild teenager: They don’t get any respect. Just like a 14-year-old thinks their parents are more hindrance than help, many golfers don’t think their golf shoes are a vital piece of equipment. It is an ill-conceived notion.

The lack of understanding extends to the professional ranks, too. Adam Schenk used to wear extra socks on one foot to achieve a proper fit, and Justin Thomas once told FootJoy, “I never even thought shoes could perform differently.” When you consider we take some 10,000 steps walking a course, there’s no disputing that a properly-fit pair of shoes will improve athletic performance.

Enter FootJoy’s Fit Lab. Utilizing more than a dozen cameras, the lab’s fitting device produces a 3D map that measures the length, width and, perhaps most importantly, volume of each foot. At this year’s Hot List Summit, our testers went through the process, gaining an education in footwear as equipment. What they learned is that their ability to use the ground to enhance energy transfer is critical to playing better golf. Not only can Fit Lab quickly and accurately get players in the proper fit; it can help match a shoe’s performance characteristics to each golfer’s unique swing needs.

If you think about shoe fitting as seriously as you would customizing a new driver or set of irons, you’ll be 1 up standing on the first tee.