There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.
What We Tried
The Forme Pro Short, designed to correct and train your hip posture, reduce pain, and accelerate muscle recovery.
What is Forme?
Remember the Forme Therapeutic Shirt article that was published a few months ago? If not, you might want to read it to get the low down on what Forme is and how they can help you.
For a small back story, Forme is the brainchild of Dr. Stephen Liu, orthopedic surgeon and sympathetic son. When his mother was undergoing treatment for cancer, Dr. Liu often helped her breathe by pulling her shoulders back, thus opening up her lungs.
Eventually, Dr. Liu created a team of intellectuals, doctors, scientists and technology pioneers to employ the same strategy for others. With athletes in mind, Forme created the Ace tee and sports bra, a wearable therapeutic designed to correct and train alignment of the spine/neck/shoulder/hip and increase joint movement, reduce injuries, boost recovery and provide better breathing for higher oxygenation.
Why Are We Trying The Forme Pro Short?
There are no questions about it. We were impressed with the Forme Therapeutic Shirt. Forme has now come out with the Pro Short to help correct hip alignment, posture correction and reduce lower back and hip pain or so they claim.
Forme has many athletes, from many different sports, that are using their Pro Shorts to help with recovery and much more. A highlight performer is Harold Varner III that uses the Pro Short on a weekly basis. Another high caliber person in the sport world is Dr Gerhardt who is the Team Physician for the US Mens Soccer National team.
The praise is high and the claims are lofty, so we had to see if the Therapeutic Shirt was a one hit wonder or if the Pro short follows in the same footsteps as their shirt.
Can a pair of shorts really make that much of a difference?
Product Expert
Hi, I’m Harry and I am a professional golf product tester. (Yes, they exist.) I actually test a lot of things at MyGolfSpy and play professionally when I’m not checking and comparing specs on gloves, rangefinders, bags, ball retrievers, etc. You can call me the Director of Product Testing here at MGS. You can also just call me Harry. That’s fine, too.
Explaining The Forme Pro Short
The Forme Pro Short corrects bad hip alignment for everyday people but it can also increase hip rotation during the swing, according to Forme.
The short is a cross between a boxer brief and a compression short. However, the Forme Pro Short is constructed of three different materials strategically placed to ensure you’re in the right positions. When you put the Pro Shorts on, depending on how bad your hip posture is, your hips are pulled back to ensure your weight is distributed correctly throughout your body.
If you still find it difficult to visualize, Adam Beach, owner of MyGolfSpy, was a test subject on the Pro Short and put it best.
“Think about having two bands attached to either side of your hips. Now imagine someone pulling the bands from behind making your hips be pulled back. Thats the instant sensation I feel when putting these shorts on.”
What Dr. Liu has designed is a natural and sustainable solution for anyone with hip and lower back pain. The Forme Pro Short trains your muscles to always be in the correct position which helps prevent injury and relieves pain. Without doing a single thing!
Using The Forme Pro Short
We tested the Pro Short with two people. Your greatness (me) and Adam Beach, owner of MyGolfSpy.
A little background on Adam. He’s had 2 hip surgeries and 1 hip replacement to date. He’s had lower back pain and tight IT bands for a long time. Luckily I haven’t had any major injuries apart from a torn hip flexer back in my soccer days. Now, I just have bad posture.
My experiences with the Forme Pro Short.
Putting the shorts on felt tight like compression shorts straight out of the bat. But as I put them on and off, I found a slight change in my hip posture from an Anterior pelvic tilt (forward hip tilt) to them being pulled back. Not too much of a difference which isn’t a bad thing at all. Just because you don’t see much of a difference doesn’t mean it’s not working.
Adam on the other hand was shocked by the result from wearing them for a day. He has some serious forward hip tilt which puts pressure on his back and IT bands. His first impressions were “This is NUTS. My hips went from an Anterior pelvic tilt position to a more neutral intended position. My IT bands were less tight and I got more hip rotation wearing the shorts than without. I don’t know what to say apart from it does exactly what it say it says on the tin.”
Both Adam and I have been promised many claims but Forme actually DELIVERED…AGAIN!
Does It Work?
Forme does what it claims to do, at least in the preliminary testing.
The Pro Shorts certainly have a “oh s**t” moment when you put them on from the perspective of an individual who has hip problems. The material of the Pro Shorts does feel like ordinary compression shorts, but it’s what the Pro Shorts do that is the interesting part.
Adam said, “The Pro Shorts certainly pull my hips back and allow my posture to be better. I also have this sense of everything being balanced.” Adam also mentioned “When I rotate my hips like you would in a golf swing, I can feel my IT band pulling. When wearing the Pro Shorts, I don’t feel the IT band at all which allows me to rotate more.”
It’s hard to tell if the Forme Pro Short will fix all Adam’s hip problems for good because he’s only used the products for a couple of weeks. But like the shirt, I have no doubt that it will help him in the long run with hip alignment and to relieve years of built up pain.
Final Thoughts
After testing the Forme Pro Shorts, both me and Adam were impressed.
Personally, I didn’t feel a huge difference apart from the compression sensation. My hip alignment is normally good so I didn’t see too much of a difference. Having said that, we all know what age can do on the body so you can bet your house on me using the Pro Shorts at least 3 times a week to help me maintain my hip alignment and correct posture.
Adam on the other hand wears the product on his morning walks/runs every morning. He loves how it helps his hip and lower back pain. However, we both have one qualm. The compression short feeling definitely compresses your meat and two veg if you know what I mean. We both would buy seven of the Pro Shorts if they had a Joey pouch for comfort. One for everyday of the week. Hint! Hint!
Forme at this point has my full confidence in helping me maintain my posture and save me all the monies in the future.
The Forme Pro Short is available TODAY for you to improve you hip posture and relieve your pain.
j redhorse
2 years ago
I have been intrigued by these wunder-wear offerings and have studied them since the first MGS reviews, and finally pulled the trigger on that purchase. I hold out the hope that they will truly help with hip, lower, mid and upper back pain, as those are things I have to live with. Even with all the proper medication and other adjunct offerings, the fact is, I live with pain. But, it doesn’t stop me from playing multiple times a week, walking the course, or carrying my bag. I’m not complaining, it’s still worth it.
I want these things to help, I’ve bought many products that give the promise, but didn’t deliver on them — seems like golfers are especially susceptible — we are a desperate lot. I would be bummed if I dropped another few hundred (yes, Ace Tee, Core Tee and Pro Shorts — $415) thrown in that direction — only to end up in my box of “didn’t work” goods that will eventually be tossed — that storage box represents thousands of dollars of broken promises.
I use compression shorts, compression shirts and compression… um…just about anything compression to help this aging athlete’s body get through another round. I’m held together with Lycra, KT tape, Stamina Pro patches, pain meds, magical pain relief cream, and prayers — it’s my pre-golf ritual.
I get it, the “your mileage may vary” is in play with these things, just as clubs and balls, grips, shoes and shafts — those testimonies are always convincing, but how is it I am the guy that is always the anomaly, and I end up not being the one writing the miracle testimony? Pain makes for a desperate man, it has me doing things I never dreamed I’d do — so I will give it a go, paid the price, and pray these formes deliver. I just despise being a sucker consumer.
Note: Re: last comments in the article — agreed, who designs these compression shorts for men? Do they use action figures as their models (Ken doll, GI Joe), who do not have their man bits intact — the same people who design ski pants and cycling shorts? As my mother in law once said, “Like a cheap hotel, no ballroom” — she was alright, that one, she got it. The design, anatomical, medical, engineering, geniuses, that they are, missed a critical, anatomical fact about who’s wearing these shorts. It’s inhumane. Eliminate pain in one area and endure 4-5 hours of discomfort and distress in a most sensitive, cherished part of one’s maleness — please do something, I’ll pay, whatever…I’m dyin’ ova’ heah.