A while back, I was practicing the piano a lot without shoes on and gradually developed a foot injury. It felt like the pedal was pressing up into my foot and over time that area started to hurt, especially around the ball of my foot. After this injury, I started thinking about what type of pedaling shoes would be best.
Many people recommend leather shoes with a stiff bottom for pedaling, so you can have some sensation of the pedal through the shoe while still protecting the foot from injury or nerve damage. Certainly having something to protect my foot from the round end of the pedal would have helped to prevent the pedal from deforming my bare foot. I like the idea of a leather sole on my foot for protection, but not too thick a sole as it is definitely helpful to be able to feel the pedal movement through your foot. However, I have now adjusted my thinking to want both a leather sole and some sort of solid heel while practicing with the pedal.
I have found that having my heel off the floor a bit feels better to me, but I’m not sure exactly why it this is true. I know that when I use the accelerator pedal in a car, it has a slanted foot board so that your foot is in a more relaxed position when resting, then the foot presses down from the rest position. So, I assume it is because I like having my foot in a better rest position from which I can exert downward force (plantar flexion). The mazda.com website used to have an article that explained the foot position on the slanted foot board this way:
“… the basic need to keep one’s heel on the floor in order to maintain leg position comfortably over a long period. In operating the accelerator, the ankle becomes a fulcrum around which the foot pivots downwards.”
In the wonderful book, “What Every Pianist Needs To Know About The Body” by Thomas Mark, he explains that the ankle moves a lot like a “lopsided upside down letter T” because the movement of the foot does not occur at the back of the heel, but at the ankle joint which is in front of the heel bone. So, I guess I like having my foot at less of an upward angle when at rest on the pedal because pianists keep their heels on the floor for balance. With a bit of a heel, my foot is more parallel to the floor and it feels better to me.
I have also chosen a rather solid heel for my pedaling shoes. I don’t want to have too narrow a heel where I am wobbling on the heel and lack good balance. I have read on the pianoworld forum that some people recommend a book or block under the heel, but it seems to me that finding the right shoe is a better long-term solution to this problem.
Piano Lessons for Adults 