Shoes or No Shoes?

Your feet are the main contact with your environment, so the sensory information coming from your feet is critical to balancing well.  Barefoot standing enables you to maximize the feeling and sensation coming from your feet, and without shoes you can spread your toes better to create a bigger base of support.  If you score better without shoes, this might be why. 

However, barefoot might be painful for you and painful feet will cause problems to your balance.  If you score better with shoes on, you may need more support and cushion to use your feet better.

 Not all shoes are made equal, though. If your balance score is lower with your comfortable, squishy shoes they might be too squishy.  As you step, a squishy shoe compresses (giving you that walking on a cloud feeling), and your feet will not be stimulated as much so it will be harder for your body to know what is happening to your balance.

This is where the fun begins, test your shoes and learn which shoes you balance best in – or not.