Better Shooting Through Superior Footwear

What kind of shooting are you doing? With what kind of guns? What kind of "wobble" are you talking about? Take the gun away - can you stand still?

Never thought about shoes and shooting. I've always just concentrated on my stance. I've always used the Weaver Stance. I'm headed to the range in a few min. I'll put on some different shoes and see how I do. Plus I'll ask around about how other people feel about shoe choice and shooting . Hopefully I won't get strange looks and people moving away from me.

"Stance" is about the most overrated thing in handgun shooting (at least in terms of service-caliber-type guns and perhaps excluding extremely high-precision contexts like competitive bullseye). Even the weaver-versus-iso' argument isn't really about foot placement - it's about arm position.

If you shoot USPSA, you'll get to see people make good shots, rapidly, under all kinds of strange contortions. Leaning, squeezed against a wall, squatting, crouching, even falling over (on purpose, like a football receiver dragging his toe to stay in-bounds). The feet just don't matter that much in terms of shooting.

Works for me. I've tried the isosceles stance can't hit a thing. Then again my wife stands in a backward Weaver Stance and holds her semi-auto with a cup & saucer grip and can outshoot almost anybody we know.

Jack, if you had difficulty with something other than Weaver, it wasn't because of your feet. It wasn't the "stance," as such. It was what you were doing (or not doing) with your arms and hands. I promise.

I disagree. Been shooting for 40+ years I'm comfortable with the Weaver Stance. I don't shoot in competitions.
https://www.policeone.com/police-pr...-3-shooting-stances-Which-ones-right-for-you/

There are a lot of places where I'll cut corners. But my feet are not one of them. I buy the good stuff and it makes a difference. I'll wear a $10 pair of jeans, but some of my socks are in the $15-$25 range and I don't own a pair of shoes that cost less than $100. Some of my hunting/hiking boots are closer to $300. Even then fit is important, not just price. I've tried some expensive shoes that just didn't fit my foot.

I'm often on my feet 12-16 hours a day and walking 20 miles in a day isn't uncommon. Plantar fasciitis is painful and takes weeks to recover from. It is a lot easier to prevent it than cure it.

stevehgraham said:

It all depends on what "good shooting" means to you. If shooting 20 rounds into 3" at 7 yards is good shooting, shoes don't matter. If you're looking for 1.5", it's another story.

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That sounds pretty manageable. I often begin static range sessions by sticking one of the small 1" stickers on a target backer and shoot until every bit of it is gone. Sometimes 7 yards, sometimes 10. Generally 2-handed, but not rested or 'podded.

I have done this wearing: leather soled dress shoes (of varying makes); Keen hiking/walking shoes; Teva sandals; various kinds of tennis/gym shoes; "boat" shoes (thin rubber soles, slip-ons); woven leather slips ons. I think that's about it. I've never noticed any difference in my static shooting.

Now, when I compete in USPSA matches, I have to choose footwear more carefully. Because I will be running. On gravel or grass or pavement or decking or whatever else the range presents.

But static shooting? I'm pretty sure I'd shoot the same barefoot.

If you're able to stand still without a gun in your hand, your shoes are giving you enough stability to shoot a service-caliber handgun. If you are "wobbling" when you are standing still, then, yes, you might benefit from a change in footwear... or, more likely, some medical/physical therapy advice around balance/stability.

I select my footwear more focus on staying on my feet than trying to effect my accuracy. As long as your shoes are comfortably I can't see them effect accuracy of most shooting. Shooting practical shooting matches I usually wear something with an aggressive tread. I wear baseball cleats when shooting USPSA matches, especially if the bays floors are grass. Wet grass is slippery when trying to stop fast. Falling with a loaded handgun is not my idea of fun.

The only exception I can think of is 3/4 position rifle shooting. Shoes can make a difference in that type of shooting and several of the sports have at least a few rules related to shoe construction.

Keen mt Vernon shoes. The best thing I’ve found. I wear the safety toe version because I’ve seen what eventually happens to working men who don’t.

Anything that makes you more comfortable will usually improve your experience.

stevehgraham said:

When you start adding layers of wool, neoprene, leather, rubber, and God knows what else, you put yourself in a position where you have a new joint between your foot and the insole, and you create the possibility that you will rock slightly.

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When is this rocking occurring? Again, take away the gun: are you oscillating just standing there? Or is this "rocking" occurring during recoil? I'm trying to understand what kind of instability you're positing.

jmr40

There are a lot of places where I'll cut corners. But my feet are not one of them. I buy the good stuff and it makes a difference. I'll wear a $10 pair of jeans, but some of my socks are in the $15-$25 range and I don't own a pair of shoes that cost less than $100. Some of my hunting/hiking boots are closer to $300. Even then fit is important, not just price. I've tried some expensive shoes that just didn't fit my foot. I'm often on my feet 12-16 hours a day and walking 20 miles in a day isn't uncommon. Plantar fasciitis is painful and takes weeks to recover from. It is a lot easier to prevent it than cure it.

Click to expand...

I hear ya' brother! I spend the better part of my day either walking or standing so I have to have the best footwear (including socks as well), that protect my feet from the outside and are comfortable and roomy enough on the inside. For the last 8 or 9 years I have been wearing Rocky boots, the widest pair I can find. I even keep a couple of the "retired" pairs of boots for when I'm working in the yard.

When I go shooting I much prefer something more along the lines of a walking shoe rather than the more athletic type of tennis shoe. The walking shoe gives me more support and solid footing while being light and agile enough to move around in them.

Tennis shoes tend to have a sort of flat footed feel to them. Not just a lack of arch support - the sole is flat front to back.

Just my theory, but I tend to feel more stable, even when not shooting, with just a little elevation to the heel.

This does not mean I can not shoot barefoot. I've been hunting, shooting for more than 45 years in all kinds of footwear. But I do notice I feel more stable - and agile - in well fitting boots or shoes with some heel elevation to them.

I'm old and my feet hurt----a lot. I'm very particular about buying comfortable shoes now. SAS and upper end Nikes with SAS insoles are mostly what I wear. When it comes to knock around boots I still wear what I always wore for the last 40 years of my working life, Red Wing slip on Irish Setter boots with the flat crepe soles. I've never noticed any rocking while standing wearing any of them.

I wear a variety of foot ware when I'm shooting. Trainer type shoes for down the range, very comfortable. Sometimes Meindl boots if its wet.
For hunting its Lundhags, a Swedish made hunting boot that is unlined but treated with their grease totally waterproof .
Welly boots for Pheasant hunting. The wellington boot is a very versatile bit of foot ware. Wear them up for the winter, rolled down for the summer and when they become worn, cut them down for flip flops.

In a discussion on a silhouette forum about the type of shoes to use when shooting, a number of shooters preferred a solid flat sole type shoe/boot. They claimed that rubbery tennis shoe soles weren't stable enough and allowed their stance to shift creating more wobble when shooting.

Since I shoot at home, I've shot in everything from bare feet to heavy winter boots. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is flip-flops, I once got a hot casing stuck between the the flip-flop and my toes and couldn't kick it loose, I had to dig it out with my fingers!

I've never really noticed a difference in shooting because of my footwear. But I also don't have a set of "range clothes", I just shoot in whatever I happen to be wearing for the day.

Shoes should not make a significant difference in shooting ability. I’ve shot in flip flops, running shoes, combat boots, dress shoes, winter boots, rain boots and it’s all the same to me.

You could cement your feet to the ground and it won’t do anything to overcome a poor grip and trigger press.

Do a test...wear some crappy shoes and shoot. Wear better shoes and shoot. Sit down in a chair and shoot - unrested. I bet it’s all about the same.