The adidas Barricade is back! Coming from a long history of being the most stable and durable shoe on the market, this is the 12th version (or 2021 edition) and is designed to carry on the legacy of the most successful adidas tennis franchise.

Over the last 2 weeks, we've been using the new Adidas Barricade Padel shoes, and our opinion has moved more than ever. As a huge fan of Adidas sportswear, I was really excited to see these be announced and I jumped on it straight away. 

"Show your colours. Worn by adidas athletes at the southern hemisphere's premier tournament, these tennis shoes are part of a vibrant collection highlighting the consequences of climate change"

First Impressions

To begin with, we were quite impressed with the lack of unnecessary plastic we found in the box. Adidas seem to be making a very conscious effort to lower the amount of single use plastic across all its products. 

Once your read some more info on the shoe, you get to see how Adidas has used recycled materials to make the shoe, mainly the upper features which have 50% recycled content, much like a lot of Instagram pages. 

Once you peel back the paper, you catch a glimpse of the neon orange and blue accent colours which look fantastic, and in some opinions are very loud shoes to wear. I’m sure there are some who don’t like the overall look of the shoe simply because it doesn’t fit their personal style, but at the same time, we feel padel is one of the few sports you can wear truly loud outfits and no one seems to bat an eye. 

As expected, the materials are top notch even if some might think using recycled materials is going to lower the overall quality. They feel very sturdy and very tough on the outside, enough to withstand sliding the feet around the court.

We instantly spotted a key feature carried on from previous Barricades, the Torsion System, which creates a very stable ride and will hold up to the most aggressive changes of direction.

The laces are an almost-hidden system, which is connected to a netting within the shoe. This netting tightens with the laces and provides a very secure lock for aggressive players. The laces are located on the medial side, to avoid any damage or waste away when you slide across the court going for a drop shot. 

Technology

These padel shoes have had a lot of through put into them by the R&D team over at Adidas. 

For starters, the cushioning is excellent. Adidas have used a lightweight Bounce system that allows of a sturdy, stable feel to the shoe 

The comfort has been enhanced with foam pods in the heel region for step-in comfort, as well as the Bounce 2.0 full midsole for those players putting in the long hours on court. This shoe features Primegreen, a series of high-performance recycled materials, where 50% of the upper material is recycled content.

An Adiwear outsole with a herringbone profile creates the perfect balance of traction and durability on hard court surfaces.

On The Court 

Once we took them out of their box and stopped admiring the design of the shoe, we put them on, laced them up and we were ready to hit the courts over the next few days. 

Now, our first impressions were good. We really enjoyed the feel of the shoe, it felt very rigid and stable. After 3-4 games, they started to loosen up more and we found the break-in period to be considerably lower than the older models. The grip was good, changing direction quickly felt good and sudden sprints weren't subject to surprise slipping cause by the human equivalent of a launch control. 

However, in the first 30 mins of wearing the shoe in the game I started to experience INTENSE rubbing from the heel section rubbing furiously against my Achilles. This wasn't your ordinary shoe rubbing, where you developed a small blister, but a bleeding wound appeared on the back on my foot, so much so staining the back of the heel section. 

After this fiasco, I went back home via the pharmacy and bought some Compeed blister plasters. Fast forward to my next game and the the cut was quite back, I Compeeded it up and proceeded to play but the pressure being exerted on the back of my foot was making me be very cautious about my movements, to the extent that I would let balls go because it would hurt to run. 

This was the main downside to these shoes, and after 5-6 games the heel started to loosen up and now hugs my heel rather than sandpaper it down. 

Summary

These are really good shoes for padel. They are stable, well designed and I truly think they will stand the test of time for the next few month, or hopefully year. 

The one concern is the ventilation, the front of the foot seems to not have any ventilation points to help the foot breathe and avoid toxic smelling shoes. However, if you stay on top of them and wash them occasionally, this can be easily avoided. 

The rear of the shoe, obliterated my achilles and it has taken some time to heal with plenty of plasters and long socks. 

If you buy these, PLEASE BE READY WITH BLISTER PLASTERS AND LONG SOCKS.

 Rating 0 to 5 

Overall - 4.08