Expert: Susie Minshew - 12/14/2009

Question
I bought a pair of Dexters SST1 S8 sole and h5 heel. I threw 2 balls and found the heel digging in stopping me early. I tried sanding them with steel wool. Is there something I can do to slide better? Or will these shoes just wear in normally? The problem is I have a wide foot and these shoes fit like a glove and are comfortable right out of the box. Besides that where I bought them said since I wore them i can't return them. My old pair is a pair of Linds which are about 25 yrs. old. Thanks

Answer
Robert,

Miss those Linds, huh? :) From a quality and lasting a long time standpoint, you can't beat Linds.

The heel of the non-sliding foot is your brake. It is supposed to stop you. If your Linds were 25 years old, I'm sure the heel was quite worn down and you likely used your body weight to brake. Now, with a fresh new heel, if you are back on your heels even slightly, you will feel like your stop was abrupt. Keep in mind that you cannot get around this by using any powder on the bottom of your shoe. That is illegal (Rule 12).

Actually, all shoes should behave the same. If you keep your feet under you, the brand doesn't matter so much. That doesn't feel true, does it?

Keep your head in front of your feet throughout the swing and delivery. That will help your timing, delivery power, and footwork. Your swing should be long and low (equals a long slide) so you can smoothly lay the ball down. Short of that you could buy and change to the least slide heel and try that. That's an easy way around the issue. Even if you do that, however, if the problem is caused by your weight distribution, you'll soon find that stopping you too early as well.

Merry Christmas!

Susie