Golf shoes and your swing balance

I would like to share a thought with everyone! I have been suffering with the shanks for the last ten years off and on, but the last four years they have been really bad and have ruined many excellent rounds. This only happens to me for the 60/70 yard half shot with the wedges and not with any other club. I have had loads of instruction and have read many threads on TST as a guest before becoming a member, I have tried everything. The big problem is when I come down into the ball I move forward, so apart from standing fully on my heels nothing works and sometimes even that does not work. Today I had an idea when cleaning my golf shoes..why do they point upwards at the toe! As I bend my right knee outwards when taking my backswing this makes my toes go forward for grip, but also my upturned golf shoe re-grips on the toes of the shoe and effects my balance by tipping me forward.....then the shank on the though swing! To test this today I went to the range with a friends pair of those summer trainer type golf shoe which are flat on the sole and tried to simulated falling forward.....couldn't do it...because they were flat... I had more balance on my feet and just couldn't find a shank. So why do the manufacturers make shoes like this...do they want us to play bad, because I think this could be a reason perhaps people have problems with other types of shots. We have not got all our feet on the floor/grass so we must be out of balance at set-up, a turned up toe shoe would be great if we are running as it would give us a forward motion easily....have a look at your own shoe. I would like to know your thoughts Tref

Welcome to TST.

Shanks are pretty bad. I know exactly how you feel about it. I hope to hear some good answers soon.

I own a pair of soft spikes, but rarely ever use them unless the turf is wet, and/or slippery. I play most of my rounds in a pair very comfortable walking shoes.  I get plenty of traction with my non spike shoes. Then again, I am not swinging for the fences either. I would have no balance what so ever  if I tried to swing full speed while wearing spike less shoes.

If you think your shoes are the culprits that are causing  your shanks, try a different pair shoes. Maybe something with flatter soles.

I found out a long time ago that just because I like to golf, that I don't have to fall into that bottomless pit of golf accessories.

You might also want to see what you might be doing different (if anything)  from your other swings when you hit  your 60/70 yard half shots. Wedges are usually the shortest clubs in the bag. All I ever do is stand closer to the ball when using those shorter clubs. That and I know the swing is more upright with those clubs.

Tref, when you say 'when i come into the ball i move forward' do you mean you fall towards the ball or the target?  I think falling forward, towards the ball, is pretty common. Probably has beginnings in

a.  half swing.  With full swing  the shoulders turning fully.  Half swing not so, and the upper body is unbalanced.

b.half swing not using hips as much as  full swing so lower body static and upper body moving in round-the -clock pattern (aka, OTT)

End result is that shaft and club head can't find the proper plane and big mis-hit happens. A and B, above ,happen with me plenty, but few shanks.  Mostly zoom to the left.

 

http://venturebeat.com/2016/02/15/samsung-backed-smart-shoes-hint-at-whats-to-come-at-mwc-2016/

Thought this shoe was interesting to help with balance. Maybe deserves its own thread?

Quote

“Balance is an essential aspect of all fitness workouts and golf swing mechanism,” explained Jacob Cho, CEO of Salted Venture. “Without it, there is greater exposure to injury and wasteful energy consumption, making fitness workouts a lot less effective and [more] dangerous. For golf, proper balance and weight shift is crucial to generate club head speed and power. We wanted to solve this problem not just with our guts, but with actual data telling us how we are performing.”

Screenshot of the display from the shoe's interface:

On December 2, 2014 at 7:45 AM, Tref said:

Today I had an idea when cleaning my golf shoes..why do they point upwards at the toe! As I bend my right knee outwards when taking my backswing this makes my toes go forward for grip, but also my upturned golf shoe re-grips on the toes of the shoe and effects my balance by tipping me forward.....then the shank on the though swing! To test this today I went to the range with a friends pair of those summer trainer type golf shoe which are flat on the sole and tried to simulated falling forward.....couldn't do it...because they were flat... I had more balance on my feet and just couldn't find a shank.

Tref

I don't understand what you are saying here.  It is not clear.  If the shoes are doing it why are only the wedge shots affected?

I used to shank maybe 5-10% of the time.  Then I bought some impact tape and went to the practice range.  I found that with every shot the ball was coming close to the hosel.  I was a shank waiting to happen.  I then focused on trying to hit the ball with the tip (toe) of the club.  More impact tape showed that when I try to hit with the toe, the impact is nicely centered.