Scottie Scheffler’s feet are often the focus when his swing is discussed. Such unique footwork puts unique demands on Scheffler’s footwear and requires innovation to create shoes perfectly suited for golf’s top player.

The team at Nike took Scheffler’s fancy footwork and used it as the north star for the creation of the new Nike Victory Pro 4 golf shoe. Scheffler’s feedback guided the design process, allowing Nike to create a shoe built to the exact specifications and needs of Scheffler. The result is the Nike Victory Pro 4, a shoe crafted with groundbreaking innovations focused on support, stability and comfort – all designed to help the best golfer in the world play his best.

Matt Plumb, Nike men’s sport and training footwear director, has spent most of his career working with Nike’s golf athletes and has worked with Scheffler for more than a decade. In initial conversations with Scheffler about Nike’s newest golf shoe, Plumb asked how Nike could craft a shoe that could support the famed “Scottie shuffle.” After a two-year process of innovation, conversation and testing, Plumb is positively pleased with the end result.

“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.”

With a smile, Plumb recalls one of the first times he and Scheffler began testing prototypes for the Nike Victory Pro 4 at Scheffler’s home club in Texas. The first reply to the first prototype was, very simply, “This isn’t it.” So Plumb and the team did the simplest of tasks – they busted out a pair of scissors. They cut out parts of the prototype where Scheffler felt there was excessive stability, and Scheffler pointed with his finger to the exact point on the shoe where he needed additional support.

“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 end result was the unique fly wing, which is placed near the base of the toes. To also help with traction and support, Nike used Scheffler’s force-plate data to see the precise locations where he needed the shoe’s spikes to be placed.

“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.”

But support isn’t the only thing players need from their shoes. Comfort is also necessary, considering players walk a marathon’s worth of miles each week on the PGA TOUR.

“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.”

It was another example of how Nike continues to use its athletes’ feedback to drive the innovation process. The end result is a shoe built specifically for the No. 1 player in the world and his unique needs.

So, these shoes? They were made for winning.