The concept of searching for marginal gains in elite sport is nothing new.
Every professional sports club and athlete is continually seeking ways to enhance their performance and recovery.
Whether it is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland starting his day by consuming a coffee with unpasteurised milk and maple syrup, or elite marathon runners seeking out the latest technology to make them run faster.
It is now the turn of the men’s England national team to seek out a marginal gain of their own by wearing a pair of Nike shoes that the company claims have been designed with neuroscience in mind.
But what are they, how do they work and what could be the advantages?
What are they?
Dubbed the Mind 001 and Mind 002, Nike has spent more than 10 years developing two pairs of shoes that, it says, are backed by neuroscience.
Nike has attributed the development of the shoes — which are made out of foam and have 22 small nodes on each sole — to its Mind Science Department, which is tasked with “unlocking a completely new category of products and services to help athletes better prepare, train, compete and recover”.
What advantages do Nike say they offer?
When the U.S. company unveiled what they claimed was their “mind-altering” shoe in October, the press release said the Mind 001 and Mind 002 would “help athletes feel calm, focused and present” and that they have been launched “to help athletes lock in their mindset pre- and post-competition”.
Nike says the foam nodes “allows them to act as pistons and gimbals as athletes move” and increase the athlete’s sensory awareness of their feet on the ground, helping to “clear away distractions and enhance concentration.”
“Nike Mind is a new sensory-footwear concept that helps reawaken the foot, the body and the mind,” Eric Avar, a creative director at Nike, said in the release. “It represents a new paradigm of performance and how we can potentially make athletes better in the future.”
Haaland, a Nike athlete, is wearing the silhouette in the advertising campaign and referenced how “focus is everything in football”, with Nike also saying they are “scientifically shown to activate key sensory areas of the brain via underfoot stimulation”.
Erling Haaland wears the ‘neuro-science’ shoe (Nike)
Why are England wearing them?
Well, first and foremost, because Nike is their kit supplier.
But England manager Thomas Tuchel also has a track record of being prepared to countenance what some may view as unusual methods in a bid to gain a sporting advantage.
He is a big believer in positive thinking and turns to meditation when mentally preparing himself for a big match and, given England’s record of falling short in World Cups, it may be understandable that Tuchel is trying any means necessary to give his players an edge.
Marcus Rashford and Ezri Konsa were both seen wearing the shoes at the Tottenham Hotspur training ground on Wednesday, where they were preparing for tonight’s World Cup qualifier against Serbia, with Tuchel insisting they have been embraced by his squad.
“They told me they can focus better in meetings if they wear these shoes and I hope they believe it,” Tuchel said when asked for his opinion. “Maybe the most important thing is that they believe it.
Thomas Tuchel is keen to experiment with England (David Rogers/Getty Images)
“I don’t know the science behind it. They are desperate to tell me, but I haven’t found time get my head around it. But all the players are wearing them.
“Somebody told me about the shoes, then I saw everyone in the shoes — about the colour and about the shape and they said, ‘It’s important that you wear them for my meetings’.”
Asked if he will wear them, the former Chelsea manager joked he would do so “before press conferences”, adding that he is “always happy to try stuff”.
Are they only available for professional athletes?
No. If you fancy locking in your own mindset, you can buy them for yourself soon enough.
Nike says they will be released at select retail locations and available online from January 2026, with the slip-on Mind 001 priced at $95 (£79.99).