England hope brainwave-boosting shoes can power them to World Cup glory

Martin Macdonald

• 13 Nov 2025 07:01 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

When it comes to sport at an elite level, competitors will use any advantages they can to gain an edge over their opponent.

And, it seems England are hoping to claim a mental edge on their competition by wearing revolutionary new shoes that are said to alter brainwaves.

The Nike Mind 001 and Mind 002 trainers are currently being worn by the England national team squad at their training camp as they prepare for their final two World Cup Qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.

Nike claim it is the first “neuroscience-based footwear”.

They have marketed the shoe as "mind-altering". They feature 22 foam pads on the sole that act as pistons to allegedly send signals to the brain to increase concentration levels.

“They told me they can focus better in meetings if they wear these shoes and I hope they believe it,” England manager Thomas Tuchel said.

“Maybe the most important thing is that they believe it. I don’t know the science behind it. They are desperate to tell me but I haven’t found time to get my head around it. But all the players are wearing them.

“I saw everyone in the shoes – about the colour and about the shape and said ‘it’s important that you wear them for my meetings’.”

This is major! 👀🧠

Nike has officially announced the Nike Mind 001 and Mind 002 — the brand’s first-ever neuroscience-based footwear, built to help athletes feel calm, focused, and present 🧘 pic.twitter.com/zgGyK95eFm

— Nice Kicks (@nicekicks) October 23, 2025

The official Nike website says of the Nike Mind 001: "Other shoes block sensation. Nike Mind technology amplifies it. It works by engaging the sensory area of your brain via the thousands of mechanoreceptors underfoot. Its large outsole nodes push against your foot as you step, engaging sensory areas of the brain to help you stay present and connect with your surroundings. Because when it's anyone's game, winning is all in the mind."

Aston Villa's Ezri Konsa was the first player spotted sporting the new shoes. “Apparently these things do something to the brain,” the defender, who was wearing a ‘solar red’ pair, said. “That’s what they say.”

The science explained

"These are the first shoes designed from the brain down, not the ground up," Nike chief science officer Matthew Nurse told Dezeen.

"Every element – from the foam nodes to the flexible strobel – was engineered based on data from athlete brain and body imaging scans, showing how underfoot sensation affects focus, calm and presence.

"Each shoe has 22 independent foam nodes that move and compress underfoot, sending precise tactile feedback to thousands of sensory receptors in the feet.

"That input helps awaken the sensory-motor network in the brain, which can clear mental noise and sharpen attention.

"Using sensory science, we mapped where the feet are most sensitive – what's called the two-point discrimination threshold – and placed the nodes accordingly," he continued.

MIND OVER MATTER: In hand with all-new Nike Mind 001 🧠🧠 pic.twitter.com/BL2MkTGsan

— Sole Retriever (@SoleRetriever) October 25, 2025

"They're closer together in the forefoot, where the foot feels more detail, and farther apart in the heel.

"This is just the beginning. Once you understand how sensory feedback influences focus and recovery, that insight can shape everything – from training shoes that calm pre-competition nerves to recovery slides that help reset the mind after.

"We're at the starting line of an entirely new field."

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