SPORTS
insole PRO® designs orthoses for people who participate in a wide range of sports and recreational activites, including athletics, rugby, soccer, golf, tennis, hockey, skiing, mountaineering and sailing. We frequently work with physiotherapists, sports injury therapists, coaches and specialist footwear retailers to enable you to reach your potential and aid recovery from injury. A biomechanical assessment identifies any imbalances which impede efficiency and could lead to future injury.
* NEW: Custom Comfort Insoles & Prescription Orthoses BY POST! *
Proud sponsors of Madras College First XV rugby team, winners of the 2007 Bell Lawrie Scottish Plate.
insole PRO® is based in St Andrews in Scotland - "the home of golf”. Our team is experienced in the biomechanics of golf. Our principal podiatrist, Sara Boardman DPodM MChS, has over 20 years’ experience, and was the podiatrist to the 2005 British Open Golf Championship.
Biomechanics play a crucial part in developing the golf swing. Lateral motion and pivoting are intrinsic to the golf swing, and can be functionally impeded by certain foot-related conditions. Faulty biomechanics can inhibit proper foot function, and the player’s game will suffer. Good foot action is the mark of an accomplished golfer.
“All timing, distance and direction come out of the lower body with the feet leading the way,” says golf legend Jack Nicklaus.Research into the effect of correctly-aligned feet on the golfer’s game is being carried out by a number of institutions, including The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and several leading universities which specialise in biomechanics and engineering.
Orthotics can be used to improve general comfort by expert fitting of bespoke insoles into golf shoes. Where players have biomechanical imbalances, these can be mitigated by prescription insoles which realign the feet, and therefore correct the player’s posture. insole PRO® podiatrists are experienced in biomechanics, and are involved in ongoing product development of orthoses for use by golfers.
Many golfers are unaware of the impact that proper foot support in the form of good shoes and customised orthoses can have on their game. If the player’s feet are not aligned properly in the first place, it is extremely difficult to compensate for this in the swing. Golfers, even novice players, have reported adding distance and better accuracy of their shot with the help of prescription orthoses.
insole PRO® has an orthotics laboratory which has a state-of-the-art CAD/CAM prescription orthosis fabrication system, the first of its type in Scotland. The technology is utilised by the podiatry team to design and manufacture custom comfort insoles and prescription orthoses for sportspeople, podiatrists and other specialists throughout the UK. With this system, the feet are scanned on a digitiser which provides a 3-dimensional topographic scan of the sole of the feet. This scan is then sent to the milling machine which fabricates the insole.
If the podiatrist has undertaken a biomechanical assessment and gait analysis of the player, sophisticated software allows prescriptive adjustments to be made to the scan to counter any biomechanical imbalances, prior to milling. It is possible to perform a scan and produce the finished orthoses in only one hour.
Sara Boardman, explains “The mechanics of golf are very complex. A myriad of factors come into play, some of which the player has no control over, such as the weather! One factor which the player has control of is that of equipment selection. Huge amounts of money are spent in purchasing the latest in club and ball technology, but less attention is paid to selection of the most suitable footwear.
“The shoe must provide comfort, control and support whilst walking, standing and playing the shot. Modern golf shoes offer a comprehensive range of fit, style and support; careful selection can actually aid the game and increase enjoyment. Some manufacturers, such as FootJoy manufacture shoes with removable and interchangeable insoles to help achieve a proper fit. This type of shoe is ideal for those players with prescription orthoses or bespoke comfort insoles.” Find out what some of our hundreds of satisfied clients have to say about their orthoses.
