PutterZone – Best Putter Reviews
Can the right pair of golf shoes actually improve your putting game? Yes.
With ill-fitting or worn-out shoes, your posture will be inherently compromised—and as PutterZone.com has noted many times before, proper posture is essential to successful putting.
A more subtle component of posture, however, is long-term comfort, especially if you are walking the course. It doesn’t matter if your shoes feel great on the first hole if they’ve turned into a sweaty, painful mess by the 12th hole.
Enter the Powerband Sport golf shoe by Adidas ($119), which claims to revolutionize on-course comfort while offering rock-solid performance. Is it possible to have it both ways?
The Storyline
The Powerband Sport is the sporty, mesh-topped new sibling of the Powerband shoe, which Adidas introduced last year.
According to the company: “The Powerband chassis provides the stability necessary to allow players to build power from the ground up, and to swing fast and confidently while wearing a mesh shoe.”
The Powerband Sport features Adidas’s proprietary 50/50 Protect technology: “A laminated TPU membrane surrounds and protects the foot beneath the mid-line to keep the foot dry…The top half of the shoe utilizes lightweight and highly breathable air-mesh for improved temperature management, flexibility and comfort.”
Ultimately, Adidas believes that the Powerband Sport is at the forefront of a new era in golf shoe technology: “Much like the rescue club movement, the athletic performance footwear revolution is upon us.”
The View from PutterZone.com
At first glance, the Adidas Powerband Sport looks too good to be true. In fact, it looks suspiciously like a running shoe. How can it possibly take a 6,500-yard beating on the golf course?
My skepticism was eliminated, however, after one round. Call it a revolution or a revelation, but the Powerband Sport manages to offer remarkable breathability and lasting comfort without compromising the foundational structure required for a stable golf swing.
The Powerband Sport is thus the modern answer to a decidedly retro activity—walking the golf course. You need to hoof it to truly appreciate the performance.
After 18 holes wearing the Powerband Sport, from the cool early morning dew to the late morning heat, my feet are hardly worse for the wear, and surprisingly dry, too. Perhaps the running shoe comparison is apt after all.
There is no urge to rip these shoes off on the 14th hole and throw them into the nearest pond just to give my feet a breather. And with continued comfort comes continued focus, which ultimately translates to better shots, right down to the putting green.
The Bottom Line
The Adidas Powerband Sport is good for the heart and the soul as well as your feet, as it makes walking the course a joy rather than a pain. By combining superior comfort with serious playability, the Powerband Sport backs up its boasts and delivers on performance.
