A new spiked shoe from TRUE Linkswear has been released, and I believe you’ll be impressed with the Elements Pro.

I’ve been, what most would call, a Fan Boy of TRUE Linkswear for a while now. It started a while ago when I reviewed the Proto from them over on Three Guys Golf. Since then I’ve owned and played in many a pair of their shoes. None, however, came in a spiked version. This post is a little backstory on my love affair with TRUE LInkswear along with a review of their new Elements Pro golf shoe.

My Golfing Life in TRUE’s

I’ve been a wearer, and supporter, of TRUE Linkswear shoes, going back to their Proto line. That name may not be familiar to a lot of you. If not, well here’s a flashback for you:

Where many of you had reservations about slipping those bad boys on and playing golf in them I, on the other hand, feel madly in love. It took all of about 5 seconds for me to feel the genuine meaning behind the shoe and that was the comfort. Up until that time, my golf shoe purchases were anything but smart. I had an old raggedy pair of Nikes that had the same comfort level as a walking barefoot on a rocky beach. So, for me, It was pure delight putting on the Protos for the first time. I can only explain it as a “high”, and I’m glad I had the experience. It set me in motion to play golf in their shoes for the next four years.

I had an old raggedy pair of Nikes that had the same comfort level as a walking barefoot on a rocky beach. Toss in another pair of old school FootJoys and I think some indoor soccer cleats (yeah, that was me back in the day) and you’ll easily understand why I fell in love with the TRUE’s. For me, It was pure delight putting on the Protos for the first time. I can only explain it as a “high” I’m glad I experienced. It set me in motion to play golf in their shoes for the next four years.

From the Proto’s I went to the Sensi’s, and my love affair continued. The Sensi has been, by far, my favorite shoe TRUE Linkswear has ever released. I still wear them to work occasionally, and a lot of time I’ll put them on just to walk around the house in comfort. I’ve even considered making them into slip-on’s, but I can’t bring myself to cut them up.

After the Sensi’s I bounced around from a couple of other variations. The Lyte Breathe was a great shoe for me, and again I still slip them on now and then. Throw in the Motion and the Element, and you can see I’m a certified nutcase when it comes to anything TRUE Linkswear puts out. I won’t bother to go into detail about my T-shirt and glove collection from TRUE.

Why I went away from TRUE Linkswear

I hate to admit it, but I lost a little faith in the brand. Some of the models they came out with in recent years didn’t hit home with me. It’s as if they had compromise comfort for a look. It was still a look that I enjoyed, but I felt the comfort of the shoe started to take a backseat. Again, this is all my opinion. But the straw that broke the camels back was the durability. TRUE has a reputation for breaking down quicker than your rack shoe you find in the department stores. This deterioration of the sole was evident in a pair of my motions. The tread wore down incredibly fast, and I’m not one who walks a lot of golf courses.

TRUE has a reputation for breaking down quicker than your rack shoe you find in the department stores. There has never been much to complain about with their products but I’d say, for the most part, anyone I’ve engaged with about the shoes has had concerns with their lifespan. A quick deterioration of the outsole was evident in a pair of my motions. The tread wore down incredibly fast, and I’m not one who walks a lot of golf courses.

That experience had me questioning my devotion and left me wondering if I was missing out on something different, or better. For the first time in a long time, I was in the market for a shoe that wasn’t from TRUE Linkswear, and I was lost.

Holy crap there is a lot of shoe brands out there!

Last year, before I headed to Cabot, I made the stupidest golf shoe purchase of my life.

When I played Bandon, a few years back, I was concerned about traction. Much like my concern as I was planning for Cabot. Coastal golf in a wet climate and I was going to be walking. That had me searching for a new shoe to take on the trip. Lightweight, flexible and above all, it had to be comfortable.

My erratic decision making led me to choose the Freestyle from FootJoy. Even worse I made the purchase without ever trying them on. A very poor mistake.

Where the shoes felt fine at first, they were the wrong choice, and after walking 36 holes in some crazy weather up in Canada, I found out the hard way. I contracted a viral foot infection because of a poorly located blister that never healed. While the blister was caused by the shoe, I can’t entirely blame FootJoy. It was mainly because I made a poor decision and went with a shoe, I should have never been wearing.

With that being said, my short career in a FootJoy shoe ended right after that trip.

I still had no idea where I was going to go next.

I was fortunate to review the Crusader shoe from G/Fore after that debilitating screw up by yours truly and let me tell you I love that shoe. Stylish, comfortable and a ton of traction, but it’s not a practical shoe. I’ll wear it in the winter time for sure, the weatherproofing is amazing, but for walking around in summer, here in Vegas, it’s just not going to happen.

I LOVED the stability and traction I was getting with the G/Fore shoe though. I just wanted it in a lighter shoe with a bit more flexibility. That stability I was finding in the spiked shoes I was wearing had me seeing some improvements to my game. Nothing crazy but it did feel like I was better situated to handle specific situations, where in the past I was leery about my footing.

The latest choice I made was to step up to a tour level shoe, and I came home with a pair of the Speith One from Under Armour. In that shoe, I found amazing stability, excellent comfort (wait for it) and a great look. They came with me to Torry back in April and was pleased with the outcome. I only walked the first 18 holes on day one, the North course kicked this out of shape 44-year-olds ass, but afterward, I was pretty happy with how the performed and how the felt.

Hello my old friend

It didn’t take long for my love affair with the Speith shoe to be tainted. Through no fault of their own, my desire to not wear them again for a while come completely by surprise when the new Elements Pro from TRUE Linkswear showed up for this review.

I had a great conversation with one of the Executives from TRUE a few days before the shoes showed up. We talked a lot about the past and how the shoes have metamorphosised over the past several years. During that conversation, I kept bringing up how unbelievably comfortable the Sensi’s were and how I wish they still had that version.

I don’t want to say too much, but TRUE is going through a process of getting back to their roots. Like I mentioned earlier, I feel TRUE kind of lost what they were all about. The golf industry is a brutal place, and if you don’t believe me, just ask anyone in it and they’ll tell you 100 times over to stay away. So I can understand trying to meet the demand of more consumers.

Hearing them tell me they’ve made some changes and are going to be releasing new products this summer that carries some of the ideology from the early years was exciting. I’ll have more to share about this in the future so stay tuned, of course, for that story.

OK, back to the new Elements Pro

I never bought the first Spiked shoe from TRUE Linkswear, the Game Changer Pro. It didn’t hit all the right nerves for me to pull the trigger on a pair. I was eager to see what they were like and to hear from other bloggers that reviewed them. At the time, I was in a good place with my shoes. The Motions and Elements were doing fine, and I wasn’t looking for anything new. Even though the Game Changer Pro I feel was a success for TRUE, I wasn’t about to step into spikes when I had been playing spikeless for so long.

However, with my new found joy in wearing spikes and see the positive results I was all aboard giving the new Elements Pro a try.

TRUE, from the beginning, has always been a zero drop shoe. Having room in the shoe for your little piggies to move around in. The theory is with more room to move your toes can have a gripping feeling on the ground, almost like they’re holding on even more than you think they are. The first time I swung a club in my Proto’s I could tell immediately what they were talking about. It was a game changer, at least for me. Working hard to improve my game back then feeling stability in my swing was alien. I had never felt it before. That’s one of the main reasons why I’ve turned into such a big fan.

In their recent models, the TRUE shoes still had the zero drop sole, but the comfort in the toe area had been compromised. Not completely by any means but I could clearly tell the difference from the Proto and Sensi to the Elements and Motion. I’m sure it’s difficult to create that same feeling of those zero drop shoes in a spiked version. I’ll give them credit though, the Element Pro is a very comfortable shoe.

My first outing with the Elements Pro

It didn’t take long for me to get the shoes out on the course. About two hours after they arrived I was out on the course teeing it up. I was so eager to get the shoes on my feet and out on the course, I broke the cardinal rule in product reviews; PICTURES FIRST, PLAY SECOND. Yeah, it wasn’t a wise decision by me that’s for sure. But, the good highly outweighs my wrong decision because the shoes were rockstars for my round that late afternoon.

Immediately, I could tell the traction with the spikes was far superior to any previous TRUE shoe I owned. The older versions are not void of traction, but this was super glue compared scotch tape.

As the round went on the shoes were breaking in more and more. When I finished, I could tell the Elements Pro’s were going to be a shoe I could play. Without any reservations. The comfort was there; the looks were there but, where the shoe stood out the most was the performance. The stability I saw in the Under Armour shoes was equally present. I didn’t find myself in too many sticky situations. But, of the several I did have I wasn’t worried about losing my footing.

Some information from the TRUE Linkswear Website

OVERCOME THE ELEMENTS – Play more golf. Every detail of the Elements Pro was engineered to keep you comfortable and at your peak performance in any conditions you find yourself in on the links. #InMyElements.

 

If you’re simply transitioning from the morning dew to the afternoon heat, or you’re the type of player that plays in every season in any weather – the breathable & waterproof Element Pro will ensure you enjoy the walk. With improved durability, these elements are ready for anything – bring it on mother nature.

 

Elements feature our new Breathable + Waterproof 360* booty construction on a double layered mesh upper. The sporty and casual upper is placed on top of our P-Motion™ midsole – providing the ultimate in shock absorption, energy transfer for more power during your swing, and long term comfort. For traction, each ultra-thin TPU outsole is re-infoced with seven of Softspikes® latest Pulsar cleats featuring the latest ‘Fast Twist® 3.0’ cleat receptacle for a thinner, more secure fit.

The elements, I’m talking weather here, are something I deal with but not on the level say someone on the coast does. I play mainly in the heat of summer and the chilly mornings in winter. For me, the breathable feature is a big plus. The hot weather can wreck havoc on your feet and wearing an ill-fitting shoe can compound the discomfort. Same goes for the cold temps. Getting your socks wet on 45°-50° days will have your feet hating you.

Taking a closer look at the new Elements Pro

If you’re familiar with the Element line that came out last year good. This version of the Elements is the same shoe with just a cleated sole. They kept all the same style of the original Elements, added the soft spikes feature along with a much more aggressive tread to the bottom. Mixed in a new vibrant Royal Blue color to go with Black/Silver and White/Silver versions and voila, the Elements Pro was born. I was pleased to see TRUE stayed with the “puffier” shoe laces. The thin laces from the Motions never sat well with me. There was a constant feeling that the laces were not tight. Not the case with the Element Pro. They have some of the best laces I’ve worn.

The tread, as I mentioned is quite aggressive, which I like. I found zero issues when it came to traction or stability. I was quite happy with this aspect. Comfort wise the fit is outstanding. The original Elements are a very comfortable shoe. The Elements Pro maintained that level even while adding spikes. You definitely know you’re wearing a spiked shoe, they can’t mask that fact. The comfort though, for me, is off the charts.

Congrats to TRUE for another great shoe.

What TRUE Linkswear has done by taking a very successful shoe with their spikeless Elements, enhanced it with the soft spike sole has opened up their gates to potentially new customers.

It’s a great idea, and I think it works. For me, the Elements Pro came out at the right time. I was longing for a spiked shoe to gain some stability and traction, and TRUE came through. Since the Elements Pro’s have arrived, I’ve yet to slip my Under Armour shoes back on. Although with the dead of summer quickly approaching the black shoes on my feet may need a break from the Vegas heat. That just means I might have to pick up another pair to mess around in for summer.

I wish had I been wearing the Elements Pro for my rounds at Torrey Pines. I can guarantee you I would have walked the second 18 holes. They’re that good!

You owe it to your feet to give TRUE Linkswear a look.

The TRUE Linkswear Elements Pro retail for $129. Well below the high-priced golf shoes you’ll find in the retail stores. It’s a quality shoe that just might change the way you look at your footwear.

Don’t just take my word for it though, head on over to the TRUE Linkswear website and have a look for yourself. Then give their social media accounts a follow and see what everyone else is saying about TRUE. You can find them here: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin.

I was glad to see TRUE come out with this shoe. I’m even happier to hear from them directly that new stuff is coming and soon! Be sure to stay up to date on their social media pages. I think all of you are going to like what they’re up to for this summer!