Scottie Scheffler's Secret Weapon? Nike Unveils New Shoe Co-Designed By The World's Best Golfer

Scottie Scheffler's shoes are finally here. The American world number one has been wearing the Victory Pro 4 golf shoes for a while now and I have been waiting impatiently for them to go on sale. Thankfully, during Masters week, they have!

You can purchase a pair with the link below but before that it is worth going into a bit of context on this shoe because it is fascinating. Scheffler himself, a man known for his unique footwork, helped give feedback throughout the 2-year design process and the result is a shoe built to help him perform.

Matt Plumb, Nike men’s sport and training footwear director, has worked with Scheffler for over a decade now and he actually went into the whole process in a piece with the PGA Tour, which the quotes below are from.

Nike Victory Pro 4 Shoes: $149.99 at Dick's Sporting Goods

As of right now the shoes are available at retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy. You can get them for $150 and come in a regular fit, or a wide fit. Color wise there are two options to choose from at the moment - the classic white/black, and then white/psychic blue pictured here. Although I do expect more colors to come soon and it seems Scheffler is wearing a special 'Pink Bloom' edition for The Masters.

“We approached Scottie and asked him if he would be interested in sharing his insights around how we can make better-performing footwear, and he jumped at the chance,” Plumb says. “And what’s cool is, when we do this with athletes, it’s an education process on both sides. We learn a ton from the athletes about how they view their footwear as a piece of equipment and also get to educate the athletes about how we make our footwear and how we can help make them better.”

“We know that lateral stability for golfers gives them the ability to create more speed and turn faster,” Plumb said. “What Scottie said after trying the Nike Victory 4 Pro is that he felt like the fly wing braced him, and gave him the confidence to turn faster.

“Scottie’s footwork is incredibility unique, but it’s also what makes him great,” Plumb added. “If you look at Scottie through the backswing he looks like any golfer we see on the PGA TOUR. But as he pushes off and creates that speed, that’s when his footwork gets a bit unique. So, for us it was about providing the right level of stability but also allowing a level of freedom for his right foot to move and kick into that move he does.”

The whole process may not have started that well though. After testing some prototypes in Texas, Scheffler wasn't enamored with the shoes, so Plumb and his team took some scissors to some of them, cutting away material.

“We were standing on the back end of the range, and we just started cutting away parts and pieces of the shoe,” Plumb says. “We got to a really clear point of view when Scottie said, ‘I need more support exactly here.'" The result is the fly wing on the side of the shoe which acts as a sort of wall to push off during the swing. You can see that wing on the image below.

Scheffler then helped from a traction and support angle, using force-plate data to find the best places to put spikes on the shoe. For those of you unaware, force plates measure the players weight, balance and interaction with the ground.

“One of the key insights Scottie gave us is he really wanted a spike right in the middle of the toes,” Plumb said. “And if you think about the ‘Scottie shuffle,’ that’s the spike he relies on as he moves through that transition.”

“And he said, ‘Can I have my golf shoe be as comfortable as my Nike Vapor 9 tennis shoe?’” Plumb said. “He went to his car, got his tennis shoes, we looked at them, we looked at those elements, and ... we actually took the internal construction from the tennis shoe and put it into the golf shoe. You’ve got this element of comfort, this element of stability, and obviously the traction element that’s specific to golf. And then it manifests itself into something that looks a little bit classic but also feels very athletic and very nice.”

All of this proves just how much input Nike athletes have in the design process. No doubt the Victory Pro 4 has been designed to help Scheffler perform and utilize one of his unique skills, which is a scary thought in Masters week, given he has already won two Green Jackets. Indeed he is also wearing what appears to be a special pink edition during Masters week as well, although it doesn't appear this is on sale yet.

Finally it is worth mentioning that the shoes are made from synthetic leather, are 100% waterproof, and come in at a slightly cheaper price point than Rory McIlroy's Victory Tour 4's. I recently tested those as well by the way and the five-star performance is worth the money, and we will look to test Scheffler's shoes very soon indeed to see how they compare with one another.