Shoe choice?

[DoWork]

I usually swap between light hiking boots for mountainous courses and approach/hiking shoes for less treacherous terrain.

I play with a guy who almost exclusively wears sandals.

I've seen just about everything though- Skate shoes, sneakers, barefoot, flip flops, muck boots... Waiting for a Dutch team to show up in wooden clogs someday lol

It got me thinking though- what's your go-to? Regular runners/ hiking shoes? It makes me wonder how long it will take Nike et al to create a sport specific shoe (gimmicky but still...) and who they'd sponsor. It can only be a matter of time!

 

[rusch_bag]

It is going to take something special to get a specific shoe made for disc golf as no other sport really would want all of the same features. You are going to want the tread of a trail running shoe with the lateral support of a tennis or basketball shoe, and then depending on the time of the year either a lightweight breathable mesh or a gortex upper. That being said, a trail running shoe is normally the best bet, but there are plenty of other options that work equally as well depending on the conditions.

 

[Venefice]

Latitude 64 made disc golf specific shoes, but I haven't looked into them much to know how they're reviewed. I have always just worn running shoes, but I've never had to play any real mountainous courses. I recently got the Merrell Trail Crushers as they are a little more rugged than my normal running shoes but are still light weight.

 

[DoWork]

It is going to take something special to get a specific shoe made for disc golf as no other sport really would want all of the same features. You are going to want the tread of a trail running shoe with the lateral support of a tennis or basketball shoe, and then depending on the time of the year either a lightweight breathable mesh or a gortex upper. That being said, a trail running shoe is normally the best bet, but there are plenty of other options that work equally as well depending on the conditions.

Companies make like 800 different variations of trail/hike/approach/trail run/scramble shoes, why not a line for DG? The market exists and there are no *real* players stepping into the void.

I would love a pair of the shoes you described, and many shoes are very close already. Minor tweaks and some directed marketing, somebody could have a winner IMO. So many nothing shoes get built everyday with no market association aside from an ocean like "trail running". Differentiation can be pretty powerful stuff and enthusiasts spend money. Open markets like that are hard to find these days!

 

[Broken Shoulder]

Companies make like 800 different variations of trail/hike/approach/trail run/scramble shoes, why not a line for DG? The market exists and there are no *real* players stepping into the void.

I would love a pair of the shoes you described, and many shoes are very close already. Minor tweaks and some directed marketing, somebody could have a winner IMO. So many nothing shoes get built everyday with no market association aside from an ocean like "trail running". Differentiation can be pretty powerful stuff and enthusiasts spend money. Open markets like that are hard to find these days!

Flip it around.
If they market a shoe as disc golf specific, how many potential sales would they lose from shoppers who aren't disc golfers and would be turned away by a specific designation?

 

[DoWork]

Flip it around.
If they market a shoe as disc golf specific, how many potential sales would they lose from shoppers who aren't disc golfers and would be turned away by a specific designation?

Do they care how many non-golfers aren't interested in golf cleats? A market is a market. Not that I don't disagree with the premise you've presented, it just doesn't honestly matter when you're making a sport specific offering. Non DGers already have a billion choices, this would be about capitalizing on differentiation *because of* market expansion not attempted differentiation in a saturated market. You can buy cricket shoes, bocce shoes, badminton shoes and even curling shoes. DG shoes reveals minimal choices generally polarizing in design by companies already involved in DG.

Just sayin.

 

[melo]

It's already been mentioned, but I like a trail running shoe. Personally, I like minimal ones that allow the foot to flex and adjust to terrain. I don't think more stability is needed. I've been tempted to try a soccer turf or indoor cleat, but haven't tried.

 

[culinarywiz]

Id have to say my favorite DG brand is Salomon (pick your style).

Second would be Keen. I don't think they are as comfortable as Salomon but they are built for abuse.

 

[Broken Shoulder]

Do they care how many non-golfers aren't interested in golf cleats? A market is a market. Not that I don't disagree with the premise you've presented, it just doesn't honestly matter when you're making a sport specific offering. Non DGers already have a billion choices, this would be about capitalizing on differentiation *because of* market expansion not attempted differentiation in a saturated market. You can buy cricket shoes, bocce shoes, badminton shoes and even curling shoes. DG shoes reveals minimal choices generally polarizing in design by companies already involved in DG.

Just sayin.

Fair enough.
It's a small market though. They must not see potential profit to make it worthwhile.

 

[Putt for D'oh]

It got me thinking though- what's your go-to? Regular runners/ hiking shoes? It makes me wonder how long it will take Nike et al to create a sport specific shoe (gimmicky but still...) and who they'd sponsor. It can only be a matter of time!

Lat 64 has made DG specific shoes. The general feedback seems to be that their durability is poor at best but they seem to be the type of shoe that I would think would make a good shoe and popular among serious DGers.

And Adidas has sponsored a number of players including PMB with their TerraX that are at least somewhat marketed as DG shoes. Several pros on instagram are hyping them here and there in their posts.

As some have said the market itself is not that large and for those that would bite on a DG specific shoe it is not growing all that fast. OP said himself he knows people that throw in sandals. As with the sponsored players throwing other discs, with the increase in visibility through better and better and more common tournament coverage what shoes they are wearing and what discs they are throwing will become a bit of a bigger deal and may change stuff but for the most part a DG specific shoe is a very niche market especially when there is so little consensus of what that is. Me personally I think a light trail shoe is best, and the lat 64 shoe and Adidas TerraX seem to fit that type of shoe but I don't have a reason to sniff those when there are so many others I would try first including what I wear.

This thread has a lot of info and might was well skip to the pages that are more recent in date but its sticky'd for a reason. When I started I was throwing in as neutral and flat a sole as possible Adidas classic Sambas indoor soccer shoes. Pain in the ass on a hilly muddy course but I still liked a lot about that shoe. Tried trail runners and running shoes but the padding/cushion in most running shoes is horrible for bracing and after a bit of form work I think could be serious problems for knees... same as turf shoes or cleats but just a different force on a different side of the knee. I moved to Merrell trail gloves after falling in love with them for running but not good IMO for DG. I settled on the Merrell Capra Sport and love them, but I think there are a number of light trail shoes from Merrell, Keen, Soloman that fit the bill as well as a few that are built like those such as the Adidas TerraX.

Something sturdy with not to much squish for the brace, and wide for planting and fairly neutral lift and durable sole and toe box.

But some people are going to wear Jordans and Sambas and Sandals and those people actually make up a pretty sizable % of the DG community so it is pretty hard to market a shoe made just for the sport. To go to the ball golf comparison what % of those people are going to adamantly not give up their Jordans or Sandals?

 

[zontar]

trail runners

 

[olkok]

Merrell for the most rounds. Sometimes just a pair of sneakers as long as the grass is dry.

 

[da Crippler]

Latitude 64 made disc golf specific shoes, but I haven't looked into them much to know how they're reviewed.

They're nothing special, just another athletic shoe really. They don't have any DG specific features that I can see except for the logo. The one complaint I keep hearing is from flickers who tend to drag a toe on their drives saying the toes don't hold up well.

 

[Shamis]

I like the altra lone peak for disc golf. I think their footbed is very well suited to getting a good weight transfer while driving, and the traction is perfect for most disc golf situations. Trail shoes with too aggressive of an outsole make it tough to pivot in the grass. They aren't really the most durable shoes though. The only major drawback apart from durability is the lack of a fully waterproof model (although you can fairly easily waterproof them yourself).

The perfect disc golf shoe for me would feel like the altra lone peak, but have a really rugged outsole similar to what you'd find on a very durable hiking boot. It would also need to be low drop, and have a fairly minimal stack height. I hate shoes with a huge heel, and/or huge stack height because I think they make rolling your ankle on a root or a rock much more likely.

I'd kill for a chance to design a disc golf shoe, but after researching the process a bit, it looks like a big pain in the ass to design anything that doesn't use some generic foot shape that likely won't be very comfortable.

 

[Doofenshmirtz]

Do they care how many non-golfers aren't interested in golf cleats? A market is a market.

Except that one market is the United States and the other is Burundi, relatively speaking.

Why would anyone (other than a disc golf company) make a disc golf specific shoe when there are plenty of shoes out there already that accomplish the task for disc golfers? Most disc golfers couldn't even agree on what specific features such a shoe would have. Many are still saving their weed/vape-juice money and don't want to dip into that except for 1/6 of the gas money to get to a tournament.

I think what we are more likely to continue seeing, in the near term, is the occasional nod to disc golfers that a certain hiking shoe, made for outdoor activities generally, just happens to be suitable for disc golf.

When we get more money into the sport, those with the money can expect to be catered to.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Sometimes just a pair of sneakers as long as the grass is dry.

^this.

When road tripping, I'll typically wear my waterproof hikers to keep my feet dry for morning rounds, and change into trail runners or sneakers for dry rounds. As I get a bit older, I find changing shoes/sock between rounds can really make a difference.

More specifically, when I change between rounds, I hardly ever think to myself, "man, do my feet ache." But when I wear the same shoes/socks on subsequent rounds, it's not uncommon for that to creep into my head during the 2nd or 3rd round of the day... particularly on courses that are very hilly or particularly long.

Even if two different pairs of shoes fit well and are both quite comfortable, they can "feel" different on your feet, and keep you feeling fresher, longer... and don't underestimate how good changing socks between rounds can feel.

 

[ThrowBot]

For park-type courses in nice weather, I like wearing skate shoes. They have plenty of grip for that style of course. They are also typically built to deal with some abuse & abrasion, so I find that they last longer than running shoes. Also generally light weight and good support.

For more mountain-ish courses (which is a lot of them here in Montana) I always go mid-height hikers. Def need the ankle support when climbing around logs and boulders and that type of terrain.

It's been said in other threads, but to make a shoe really stand up to the game of disc golf would be a pretty expensive endeavor. (Specifically thinking of various peoples' toe drag over and over again on concrete tees. The disc specific shoes I've seen were expressly intended for turf tees that are more common in Europe.) A lot of disc golfers would be scared away by the cost of a truly disc golf specific shoe that was actually built well enough to survive a few thousand throws from concrete.

 

[trifocal]

^ I'm in this school. Over ten years of mostly city play, I've worn/worn out and enjoyed Vans. Currently rotating 2 pair of Simples' that have held up beyond belief. I've a pair of Merrill's for wet mornings and wooded/ ravine type courses. The Simples' are a bit thin on cushioning, so I load them with an inexpensive set of Walgreens foam insoles and change those 1-2 a season. Smartwool and Woolrich socks work great for me.