Why Would You Want A “Step-In” Golf Shoe?

As a proud Boomer, I have to admit that prior to last week, I had never heard of Kizik. Additionally, I had never heard of the concept of “step-in” shoes, either.

Aside from loafers, that is.

So, when assigned to write about the new Athens step-in golf shoe from Kizik, I had a lot of catching up to do. At my age, mental pliability is a good thing.

So let’s start this missive with a brief primer on Kizik and then we can dive into the company’s new Athens golf shoe.

Sound like a plan?

What is Kizik and why is “step-in” a thing?

Have you ever tried to force your foot into a sneaker that was already tied, probably because you kicked them off last night while watching BritBox (told you I was a Boomer)? If so, you know that at best it’s a 50-50 proposition. Can you get your foot all the way in without the back of the shoe folding under your heel?

As life challenges go, it’s not up there with food, shelter or personal fulfillment. Fortunately for humankind, wherever problems exist, inventive souls thirst for solutions.

Enter Kizik founder Mike Pratt.

“The idea kept me up at night. How do you make a shoe that can collapse and pop back up? One that stays on after you step in, is more comfortable and is so much more than a slip-on shoe?”

Pratt filed for his first hands-free shoe patent in 2009. Eight years later, in 2017, the Kizik brand made its debut. A year later, NIKE licensed Kizik technology, making “hands-free” quasi-mainstream.

The concept took a huge leap forward in 2021 when Kizik introduced the Cage®, a flexible support system on the heel that provided extra bounce to make the back of the shoe pop back into place. Today, Kizik offers running shoes, hiking shoes and casual footwear for men, women and children.

That, friends and neighbors, brings us to the subject at hand, the new Kizik Athens golf shoe.

About that…

The Athens is Kizik’s first golf shoe. The company says it’s a “natural extension of Kizik’s growing sport category.” Kizik adds that the new shoe features “course-ready traction” and “all-day comfort.”

That, friends, is right out of the lifestyle brand-turned spikeless golf shoe playbook.

The hands-free step-in experience is interesting. The Athens does have laces which we can only presume are there to tighten the shoes as needed. The whole point of the “step-in experience” is to free you of the day-to-day drudgery of tying and untying your shoes just to take them off and put them back on again.

I kid, I kid.

There are videos of the step-in process on Kizik’s website. Once you get past the “why would I want that?” part, the technology is pretty cool. The rear portion of the shoe compresses and pops back into place instantly. And not for nothing, the shoes look extremely comfortable.

One concern would be traction. We’ll know more once we get samples in but as with most lifestyle companies that venture into golf footwear, the sole does not seem overly aggressive. Kizik does call the outsole “high traction” with “multi-directional lugs for better grip.”

We’ll see.

The other concern, which again is common for lifestyle brands branching into golf footwear, is stability. Again, we’ll have to see about that.

Kizik Athens golf shoe price and availability

Kizik’s new Athens golf shoe is available in men’s and women’s models. The men’s version is available in two colorways. The first is what Kizik calls “White/Surf the Web.” The shoe itself is white while the Cage® portion wrapping the heel is blue. The other is “HarborMist/Shadow.” That would be a kind of gray with a black Cage®.

The women’s version is available in White/Surf the Web only.

The Athens golf shoe retails for $149.95. It’s available now on the Kizik website and at Kizik retail locations.