I love that Ian has been mulling this over in his head. Ian’s wife upon seeing him gaze off into space with a furrowed brow: “Whatcha thinking about, honey?” Ian: “I think a golfers swing would evolve over time if they were going at it barefoot.” Wife: “Alrighty then.” 👌

TXG has the best thumbnails. They’re always simple and straight to the point. Unlike a lot of other golf KZfaqrs they don’t fill it with clickbait.

"I feel like I'm toeing it" wish they would have addressed that barefoot is like making him 3/4 inch shorter throwing off club length.

I golf with a guy who goes barefoot 100% of the time, he's legit crazy though.

I just have to say Ian and Matt that this video was right on time for me. I’ve been struggling with having an open club face with my iron shots. I watched this after a particularly bad range session and the thought occurred to me to try my spiked shoes ( I had been gaming my spikeless ones for about a month). I didn’t have one shanked iron all day today and I’m not sure I would have thought to try that without watching this. Love the content, keep it up boys!

This will be a great video for outside, not only on wet turf but on some awkward lies, specifically, I know I struggle with spikeless on bare lies! Excited for the continuation of this video outside!

Loved the test, loved the video. Reminds me of when i was in my early 20's. I practiced in flip-flops at the range to "quiet" my feet. Helped with shot dispersion when i put my spiked shoes on for the round.

Love it always great stuff. I've had a few slips with spikeless so now I have a winter and summer set of shoes.

8:23 Matt channeling his inner Ho-sung Choi. Looks good.

Awesome!! Definitely notice that as well more often than not. Spikeless I tend to turn the ball over and spike I tend to hit a little straighter. Interesting to see on the green which would be better, feeling slope wise.

--Dirty Dog needs to change to the Mad Bomber! --Absolutely loved the new camera positions, rather than just the "fixed" positions from the past --Thanks for approaching the spiked/spikeless conversation. This confirms my position to remain "spiked". Love Matt's thoughts on his experience with wet grass and the tee box. Keep up the great work as always!

Great timing boys! I’ve been thinking about this myself over last couple weeks. I wear spike less FJ’s but been thinking about going back to spikes...

This should be outside on grass. That is wet. That’s where you will see differences.

Holy smokes. That guy has one of the smoothest power swings I’ve seen in a long time. Looks like a completely comfortable swat without appearing to force the power. Nice. 👍🏻😎👍🏻 EDIT: Just watched more of his drives. I’m convinced Matt is a robot. How can a human smack so many golf balls so effing straight practically every time? He’s a machine. Now we know, lol. 🤔🤣

Another great video guys! Can you please do a video on putter ball position! I've never seen one and what impact it has. And also touching on what De lofting the putter does, as most pros do with moving the wrists forwards just before take away. Why and what affect does it have when it's done vs when the putter and wrists kept straight.

Classic I used to have titanium spikes in brogues style shoes. Also played the black windows in some FJ classics. Now in some Ecco spiked and some FJ Spike-less for comfort and convenience.

The production quality on this one is so good! A tip of the TXG bucket cap to you.

Great video guys (Shocker, right?)! Ian, I have same problem with my right foot sliding back on the downswing and NEVER thought to adjust spikes to prevent this. Definitely something I will look into!

Before watching this, thank you! I've been curious about this topic for a while! 👍

You guys should test zero drop shoes vs traditional. A lot of people swearing zero drop helps them stay off their toes in the downswing.

Interesting test. Glad to see you don’t give up much with spikeless shoes. I love them & never want to go back to spikes. I’ve seen those G4 shoes at the stores but never tried them on. I’ll have to try next time.

I use spikeless always unless it’s wet/early in the morning. Have about 4 pair of spikeless. 1 pair of spikes. Just so convenient. Favorite for traction in spikeless is the tour 360 XT-SL. ProSL are also pretty good. CodeChaos are by far the most comfortable golf shoe I’ve ever worn but they’re a step back on grip and tend to wear quickly.

Super interesting vid! I have played the last week barefoot due to a blister and a slight interest in seeing if it impacts my game...long story short, yes.

Big fan of my FJ Pro SL’s, but still have a tendency to bring out my spiked pair unless it’s pretty hot and dry. Great video 👍🏻

It’s like you guys have my been looking at my search history. I’ve been looking around for some nice golf shoes for a while now ! I think it’s time to retire my Vans when I play golf lol

Excited about this.... been thinking a lot about this lately

Cool vid. I think it depends on the shoe too. I've slipped with a spikeless Nike golf shoe but just got some FJ carbon SL that have "claws" all over. Still spikeless but noticeably better grip. I am one of those where the ground is torn where my feet were. No way I could play non golf shoes but hate wearing spikes for comfort.

From memory, the old steel spikes came in short and long (I think Tiger used long maybe for wet conditions), but there was lots of talk about the damage they caused around the course, and the cost, in high traffic areas like on paths and timber steps etc, not so much the spike marks on the greens.

A friend of mine always used spike shoes but played his best round (75) with his Nike Air Force.

This makes me think back to one of the earliest rounds of golf I played. I went out for an early-morning round with my brother wearing basketball sneakers.... On the First tee box I went after it with an all out swing and ended up with a bruised ego after a humiliating crash to the ground. Feet, hands, and club flying everywhere.... Would be hilarious to see a replay of that moment someday. I'm pretty sure that same day I went out and got some golf cleats 😀

I have a pair of eccos. But I have recently started golfing in my Birkenstock’s and then go barefoot mainly because I have severe RA and all shoes hurt to wear. Both options but preferably barefoot has greatly increased my consistency and accuracy with my irons and wedges.

Interesting results, as there were some reports on the internet about an research done in 2019 where they compared spikes vs. spikeless and found a distance gap of 4yds on average in favor of the spikes.

Thanks guys! I've been debating what to buy.

like the feeling added by the additional camera

I’ve been wearing the Ecco biom hybrid 3. Before that the 2. The less rigid sole in spikeless is so much more comfortable for walking and I don’t notice a traction issue, And will most likely never go back to “traditional” spiked shoes. Also right now with the Covid my local course isn’t allowing carts so these shoes are amazing looking to get another colorway the white is a pain to keep clean. Love the Vids man can’t afford to come to Canada rn but eventually I’ll come for a fitting! Much love from Cali..

Odd request, can you do a video on golf gloves and how they can impact your swing/shot like New glove, worn glove, different materials, etc. I noticed recently in my game I switched from like a talormade off the shelf glove to a more premierr Asher glove that's got more tack and it seems like I have been over drawing, it could be anything in the swing, but curious of how much impact a glove can have.

I just played a round with beach shoes (basically sandals with a canvas covering). Was a dry hot day, but had a great ball striking round

Definitely a factor, for me going without spikes contributes to a slice, which is interesting. Spikes are a must for me.

Very interesting. Great video guys. I have way more spiked shoes than spikeless, but saying that I have more golf shoes than 'normal' shoes :)

Having played with spikes and spikeless shoes this is spot on with my experience. The only other point is on dry hard pan (think cart path hard) the spikeless can have better traction.

Great video... again! Interesting what Ian was saying at the end about metal spikes in the toe... I remember reading about a golfer from years back who added an extra spike in the toe of his shoe... I also wonder about non-golfing shoes. The human foot is quite well adapted to a lot of movement... I bet there are shoes that would perform worse than bare feet. Leather soled brogues for example would be hilarious!

I purchased spikeless Skechers this year and so far they are comfortable and no slipping. I do have spikes shoes for wet weather.

In my 3rd season with Ecco Biom 3 boa, they are done for. May go for spikes the next pair I buy. ⛳

Hey TXG guys, great content as usual. There's a shoe called Athalonz EnVe that Bernhard Langer and some WLD hitters wear. It claims that it gives you more power and more stability. This might be a great segway to test this shoe in line with this video.

Hey TXG, have you guys do a follow up video to this video yet? The outdoor test yet?

Hi guys very good video, just a word of caution when doing this outside please be careful when barefoot, I was at my local range that had been vandalized one morning and stood on a shard of glass that was in the range mat that I didn't see. I never play without either my sneakers or Golf shoes now :) great work

"There is a weird feeling to it"... proceeds to carry the ball over 300 yards 😂😂

Superb video, looking to buy new shoes for my lawn work

Is the TXG / Sir Nick Faldo rivalry taking off? Gotta test his shoes that "increase clubhead speed" (his quote not mine)

Years ago when I wore hard spikes in very structured shoes I developed a problem on the outside of my left knee (right-handed golfer) where it would be extremely painful to walk after only 9 or 10 holes. I gave up on spikes then and switched to New Balance 790 running shoes just so I could continue to play. I don’t feel like I’m having any grip problems that translate to my swing but, then again, I’ve never tried modern soft spikes. I just felt like if spikes were the problem then I would get rid of them altogether. Maybe it’s time to revisit them or check out the G4 shoes. The nice thing about the running shoes though is I don’t have to change shoes before or after golf.

Awesome topic!!

Nice video, I think the type of footwear depends on the player more than anything. Personally I prefer a more structured spiked shoe, similar to Matty I had a spikeless shoe slip out from under me on a dewy tee box and that was that. There are a lot of pros who wear spikeless shoes though and still absolutely bomb it like Tony Finau, Koepka, Freddie Couples etc. Great quote I heard from Paul Azinger “There’s a reason they put spikes in your shoes and it’s not because you hit it with your arms”

I have always worn footjoys original shoes and worn them straight out of the box and no blisters. But I’m getting on so I thought about the lighter more flexible freestyle. My swing speed is 95. For the first time I had blisters on my heels after a round. I haven’t worn them since as I feel my foot move and I want to feel anchored. It might be worth comparing these styles of shoes as they both have spikes but the freestyle could be bend in half.

Depends on conditions, I wear spineless in season but I play at a links so have pretty tight and relatively hard surfaces. So think depends on what type of course you play too

Great new test guyssss!!! When is the 3 wood bracket mizuno video cming up?

Looking forward to the outdoor test, or an indoor one where you wet the mat. Dan Whittaker did a similar test back in December and for him the results were somewhat different. His club head speed was about 1.3 mph faster (on average) with no shoes compared to runners and about 2.2 mph faster in golf shoes compared to bare feet. So a statistically valid difference of 3.5 mph faster in golf shoes than in runners. That's nearly 5 mph ball speed, assuming decent efficiency. Would love the see the combined difference between runners with range balls indoors and golf shoes with premium balls outdoors off grass. Go on fellas, you know you want to do it 😀

I finally upgraded my first and only pair of golf shoes to a newer, still spiked pair. Now I'm not hitting my 3 wood as consistently as I used to. So I'm upgrading that too.

I done a study on this at university. So interesting to see your findings but I'm imagining they will be the same as mine. I tested 4 different types of spikes; metal, metal/soft spike hybrid, champ stinger and normal softspikes (like you get on adidas etc), spikeless shoe, 3 types of lies, fairway, rough and artificial grass (simulate a mat used on tee boxes in the UK - winter time). Then tested them on dry and wet ground for each spike/each lie

I want to come get a fitting so bad! Im in Sarnia Ontario and wish you guys weren't so FAR!!!

Thanks, Guys that was an interesting departure from the usual TXG output. Most of my golf is played early morning when the dew is pretty heavy and if you wear spikeless shoes in those conditions you slip all over the tee box, like a drunk bullock trying to skate on ice (not a pretty sight)! Ps great camera work! 👍

Would you do a video about how wind direction and speed affect the flight of a normal height shot? Then a few fun shots to see how far you can drive it with crazy wind...

Dynamic Loft differences with that hook in round 3 and similar final ballspeeds would indicate Matt wasn't comfortable swinging quite as hard shoeless. Apprehension maybe? Foot stability may be even more important than we thought. Great convo starter guys!

Matt really loads on the outside of his trail foot during his backswing. It certainly doesn't affect him indoors. I wonder if it affects his driver swing outdoors? Paging LC! Great video gents!

My biggest issue with spikeless is performance out of fairway bunkers. That’s the only place I feel at a disadvantage really but haven’t done any testing to the degree you did here.

Always spikes outside. Will wear spikeless or sturdy Nike cross trainer type shoes indoors. I agree with Ian the Nike Fly Knit types training shoes are way too floppy. Outside will be the real test. Love the floating camera shots by the way!

omg try playing this video at half speed from 08:00 onwards >< they sound hammered. All jokes aside, really informative video. Many Thanks!

I switched over to spikeless footjoys but switched to true linkswear OG Feel. I feel super planted into the ground. Haven’t slipped yet but i don’t swing as hard as Matt or Ian.

I play golf in an old pair of long distance running shoes. Would love to see them compared to even the spikeless golf shoes and obviously spike golf shoes

I like the camera angels on Matt. Some “The Office” vibes

I love it when Matt tries to prove he’s human after all and misses a drive 300+...

Will definitely be interesting outside 💪💪💪👍👍👍

Can’t wait till we evolve to testing different spiked shoes!

Using the Nike air zoom infinity the last couple rounds and I really can’t tell a difference from them and the footjoys I always wore.

do these kind of spike can endure sudden movements. Like for playing baseball?

interesting that alot of big hitters on Tour have spikeless shoes

On this topic I would like a review of athalonz. Very popular in long drive and they claim to improve swing speed it would be cool to see the concrete numbers.

Hats off for trying barefoot swings. I have bruised toenails with shoes on.

Have you guys seen the Athalonz shoe that Bernhard Langer is endorsing? I am using them and feel that their claims have merit. Testing them would be very interesting to see.

Anyone have experience with the Gfore shoes? Deciding between the Nike Air Zoom Infinity Tour or the MG4.1

TXG is gonna start doing golf shoe fitting for optimal Ball striking🤔? Great video shoes make a difference... Footjoy Tour X most stable shoes ever... not sure Nick Faldos shoes will beat them... Comfort many shoe companies fit that.. me personally Nike... but I’d say each golfers foot shape would be the deciding factor on best shoe combo... My brother has past knee injury he compensated for... and I installed different style champ cleats to stop his right foot from sliding out from under him... Food for thought....

Stopped into a golf store and hit balls wearing some Rockports. More of a dress up Sunday shoe. I felt like I made much better contact. Always wondered if it was the shoe. Felt like they put me more over the ball?? Not sure but always wondered

Thanks for getting out of your comfort zone for science, Matt 😉

This is one video I would have been embarrassed to ask about. I golf in regular Nike sneakers, and have always wondered if there is really anything to gain with “golf shoes” be it spiked or spikeless

Mr TXG, you just popped up on my Facebook as people u may know. Didn’t realize u were a Helensburgh boy. U will know the Vale of Leven GC, imagine going spikeless there in the wet? U would spend most time on ur ass. Keep up the good work!

Is it worth wearing spikes for indoor season ?

I’m sure you guys mentioned it and I just missed it but you can have the “best” golf shoes ever manufactured and they still not help you at all because you purchased the wrong size/width. Until 4 years ago entire 21+ years I’d been playing golf until this point I had only ever had one pair of golf shoes that I liked and worked well for me so I had always stuck with a well fitting but more aggressive tread athletic shoe for when I was playing. Then, while on a family vacation, I went to a shop in Myrtle Beach that specialized in nothing but golf shoes and the manager, who I also suspected was the owner, helped me find a pair that fit properly and it made a huge difference.

This is very relevant spikeless depending on course conditions and lie I have slippage issues occasionally spiked almost never

what model are the nike's tested at the beginning?

Would the 1/2 inch - 1-inch loss from shoe to no shoe make a difference ??

How about the effect of sole transition? Some shoes are lifted more in the heal while others have zero transition from heel to toe.

I’ve had to put insoles in mine for heel spur/ Plantar problems.

Soo close to 100k guys keep up the great work!

Got the G/fore Gallivanters and absolutely love them. Recently ordered so e MG4.1 but as much as I love the Gallivanters, I equally dislike the MG4.1 as golf shoes. They are very comfy and look great but I feel my feet are all over the place in the shoe. Not stability whatsoever. Needless to say, I send them back. Will keep wearing more stable shoes for golf.

Tony Finau wears basically running shoes and I think we all know how far he hits it. Hogan used to practice in barefeet. I think it all depends on how stable you are during your swing as to what you need to wear for spikes.

Which spiked Nike model is featured in this video?

I had a weird round a couple weeks back. Made a hole in one on the second hole, stood in a fire ant bed on the back 9 and took my shoes off, finished out the round hitting every fairway and green after I took the shoes off. John Daly was onto something.

As a podiatrist I find the more swing speed or quick tempo you need stability. Many new shoes have poor construction that is too wimpy. Also many good shoes need over the counter foot orthotic. Golf is not enjoyable if feet hurt. If ever want to discuss let me know. I use custom designed orthotic in my NB shoes.

Adidas CodeChaos would be interesting the test. They would be the best case scenario for spikeless due to more ‘spikes’ contacting the ground

The Golf Myth busters!

where does a FJ Pro SL Carbon sit in this spike/spikeless realm. i would think its in the middle