What The Heck Does Soccer’s Gareth Bale Know About Golf Shoes? A Lot! 

Hanging up his soccer spikes after a brilliant career on the pitch with Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, Los Angeles FC and the Welsh national team, the adidas global athlete has transitioned to golf having assumed an elevated role as a brand ambassador for adidas Golf footwear and apparel. His footwear of choice these days is adidas CodeChaos25. 

During the relaunch of Originals Golf at adidas World of Sport headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany, Gareth Bale did a walking one-on-one interview with MyGolfSpy contributor Rick Young about the striking similarities between his two sports footwear choices, why golfers should think of their golf shoes as equipment and why comfort is king.   

Q: How do adidas and adidas Golf fit in with the Gareth Bale brand? 

Bale:  I’ve been with them my whole career. I always wore adidas growing up. It was the boot that I loved, the brand that I loved, my dad loved it so, yeah, it’s been a bit of dream come true to work with them from the start and still be with them today. We had a great relationship throughout my football career and now with the golf and it’s been really fun to be part of. 

Q: Pretty rare for an athlete to represent a company like adidas in two completely different sports. 

Bale:  Yeah, it’s been pretty cool and I suppose a bit different when it comes to sports. Of course, I’ve come to love golf so much it’s been cool for me to learn things from the brand about how their tour pros look, how smart they dress, the choices in equipment they make. It’s nice to go out on the course looking and feeling like a pro even though I’m not and I know that. Still, it’s nice to look the part and feel good about how you look out there.  

Q: Specific to ground forces, are there some parallels you can draw between football cleats and golf shoes?  

Bale: Definitely. When I was playing football, the most important thing for me was the stability of my boot. So, when I was pushing right or left, I had to know my boot could withstand the amount of force that I was putting through it and I wasn’t unnecessarily losing any power. That’s why I had extra layers in my boots to make sure they were fitted. That made them more rigid. Well, it’s much the same now with golf shoes. If you’re on the tee with driver, you can’t be losing your foot inside the shoe and lose that bit of drive from the floor, you might say. You have to have that support in the foot to make sure you can go full-out at that drive or a shot you need to go after.  

Q: We also play golf on uneven ground with lots of changes in elevation. Bit different than on a pitch that’s pretty level, right? 

Bale: Exactly. Sometimes I think that’s where footwear gets overlooked. If you’re comfortable with it, you don’t have to worry too much about losing your grip or losing your power through the shoe so it’s important to get that right. If you’re on an upslope or a downslope thinking you might slip, that’s not a comfortable feeling. It’s important to have that out of your mind completely so you can get on with the shot.  

Q: Ninety-plus minutes on the pitch but golf is four-plus hours. How does comfort fit into the equation for you on the course?  

Bale: First off, there’s nothing worse than getting a blister during a round of golf and, yeah, that’s happened to me in the past from having a wrong size or whatever. Comfort for anyone who plays golf is massively important. You spend a long time in the shoe on the course whereas, during my football career, I wasn’t as concerned about comfort. I went with performance because your foot is moving a lot more, you’re stretching the boot quite a lot because, as we were saying, you’re putting a lot of force through the ground. Playing golf, though, you need to have both comfort and performance. In football, I would prioritize the performance, especially being able to take the boots off for 15 minutes at half-time, you give yourself a bit of breathing space. You don’t have that in golf.   

Q:  There’s also lateral support to consider for golf. Was that the same for football? 

Bale: That was every bit of support I needed. I was very much a power player in football and that force through the ground we talked about? If I was changing direction laterally, it was critical to have that stability and the confidence in the boot that it would hold itself. For golf, you need to have balance and mix it with power. With the lateral support, especially, you want to feel like your foot is locked in.  

Q: A number of people in the footwear category over the years have said one of the most common issues for golfers is buying the wrong sized golf shoes. What role does fit function play in golf shoes?  

Bale: When I played football, I always wore a boot that was a bit smaller because I liked them tight. I wanted the shoe to be molded to my foot so I could feel the ball on my foot. I hated having any space in my boot. At first, I transferred that over to golf which wasn’t the right thing because it was a bit uncomfortable. Now I actually wear a size up in my golf shoe which is probably the right size and the shoes fit way better. I’d put it this way: I no longer play golf with any discomfort from my shoes. I think you do need that wee bit of space for comfort but getting the correct fit is critical to how those shoes will perform for you. 

Q: If you could give recreational golfers one piece of advice about golf shoes, what would it be? I asked (LPGA Tour player) Linn Grant that same question and she said her advice to golfers would be to get a wet towel and clean their shoes once in a while.   

Bale: (laughing) That is true! Yeah, to be honest I would tell them to try and find the shoe that suits your game best. Shoes are equipment. You should treat them the same way you would if you were going to get fitted for clubs. Absolutely, you want them to look good and I get that, but you need to have shoes with the functional ability to suit your game. A person could have bad ankles so that individual might need something a bit more comfortable, a bit more forgiving. If you’re more of an elite player and swing faster you could need something that has that grip and support you need to go after a shot so, yeah, it depends on what you’re looking for and what your needs are. Some people just wear shoes for fashion. Like the adidas Sambas and Stan Smith golf shoes are more fashionable lifestyle shoes than something like CodeChaos or TOUR360 which are purely made for golf.  

Q: Now that you’ve taken on the role of a golf ambassador for adidas Golf, what are you hoping to achieve. How do you see it going forward?  

Bale: I haven’t thought too much about the future, to be honest. At the moment, I’m at the stage where I’m happy to represent them and do what I can. I’m loving improving and want as low a handicap as I can and part of that is playing in local club tournaments where you put a little pressure on yourself. It’s also been great to have adidas alongside at my club back in Wales. We play team golf and everyone is wearing adidas kits which is really nice. Being able to do things like that and seeing the whole team wearing adidas clothing and wearing the footwear is great. I’m also happy to give the guys feedback on the shoes and clothes. I think I can help with that.    

Q: If you had any advice about adidas Golf footwear you would pass along to someone that’s never tried the brand before, what would you tell them? 

Bale: I’ve really come to like adidas spikeless shoes. You’re walking in way more comfort but now the spikeless models give you just as much grip as the spikes. The new CodeChaos and adiZERO ZG have so much grip and yet they’re still really stable. They’re still reliable yet they have the look of a trainer so, yeah, that’s what I’d say.  Pretty impressive stuff.     

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