Today's Highlights

• New kicks at the PGA Merchandise Show
• Tips for Easy Holiday Air Travel
• Travel Tips & Bits

NEWS

Glove It to debut '09 line at PGA Show

Glove It a manufacturer of women's fashion golf accessories, will debut its 2009 accessory collection at the 2009 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 29-31.

APPAREL

New kicks at the PGA Merchandise Show

By Janice Ferguson
GPA Writer

Toschi, a line of men's golf shoes by Michael Toschi International that will make its first appearance at the PGA Merchandise Show later month, is, for starters, not your daddy's golf shoes for obvious and not so obvious reasons.

The obvious? Take a quick look at the outsoles on the beautifully designed Italian calf, carbon fiber embossed leather GolfGX shoe - green, red, blue. Talk about eye catching.

The not so obvious is the very colorful and technical outsole tread called Contac, a trademark of Toschi, which provides a playability that rivals any outsole tread pattern in the golf industry, including spikes. Besides the ability of purely gripping the turf, Contac is designed with the consideration of how the sole needs to grip. The attributes of Contac come from three basic elements - lug design, placement and flexibility.

Each lug is specifically placed with directional duties - lateral or outside-placed lugs dig into the turf under the load applied to the lateral side of the shoe during swing. Medial or inside lugs are shaped to release and roll during the swing's follow through. This keeps the swing gate smooth and fluid, increasing feel for ball direction.

Both lateral and medial traction lugs are placed all the way to the edge of the sole. The total traction platform of Contac outsoles is almost 30 percent wider than soft spike-style shoes and traditional spikes, making it the most stable standing platform available in golf footwear. There are also a series of unidirectional lugs that favor rearward traction, and the heel area has bi-directional lugs for equal forward-aft traction.

Getting a tad technical? Then try this feature on for size - the Contac tread is self-cleaning and anti-clogging. The height and spacing of the lugs don't allow mud, grass or leaves to fix to the sole.

The flexibility attribute? Unlike soft spike-style soles, Contac is flexible enough to follow the dynamics of ground conditions. This allows for greater ground contact and terrain conformity than rigidity. Flexibility makes for better ground feel and provides more information to the golfer, improving balance and load sensations. Rigid or stiff soled golf shoes insulate ground sensation and lack this critical feedback.

In addition to Contac soles, Toschi has developed a formula named Actifit to create shoe shapes that fit snug and secure in the right areas without impinging the foot and its movement in other areas. The result is a shoe that has a comfort level that reduces foot fatigue, toe cramps and circulation problems.

Another feature of Toschi Golf shoes is the balanced platform concept - the standing platform is the plane that a foot stands on.

"More important than traction, comfort, style and protection from the elements, the standing platform is the most critical detail of a golf shoe," said Michael Toschi. "This detail is the relationship between the heel height, the foot ball placement and the toe spring of the shoe."

"Most golf shoes force the foot to stand on an inclined plane, or what essentially is a wedge. The shoe forces the foot to slide to the front of the shoe and puts the player off balance, falling forward. During a golf swing, the player has to compensate the club path arch to counteract the effect of an unbalanced standing platform. We specifically design our golf shoes to keep the player centered over his or her shoes, and balanced by shaping the standing platform with the correct heel height, ball placement and toe spring ratios."

Lastly, but not least, Toschi Golf shoes have CarbonLite Ionet Suspension (CIS), a sculpted carbon fiber footbed and another trademark of the brand. The carbon fiber is molded in a three-dimensional anatomical shape that cradles the heel and bridges the arch.

Ionet Suspension is the internal architecture of a Toschi sole where the geometry favors anatomy. Inside the soles of all Michael Toschi footwear is a molded group of response zones that individually react to the loads applied by the wearer, cushioning impact and twisting loads as they conform to the ground.

See, we told you these were not your daddy's golf shoes.

For styles, products and information, go to www.toschi.com.