What did you prefer for indoor p.e? Bare feet or pumps / sneakers?

@GkB01 what a great answer!

@Adec757 It's just what I think, I suppose. For me as I've often thought, once I discovered PE in bare feet, if my body was getting exercise, why shouldn't my feet and toes as well!! I only just spotted your poll. For me the 30% not in favour of bare feet, don't know what they're missing.

@GkB01 I think stateside bare foot was very uncommon....

@Adec757 Yes, some have said that on here that in the UK barefoot PE is very popular and encouraged. That was certainly my experience doing PE in the 1970's and 1980's. I've heard that some teachers teach in bare feet too (the ultimate encouragement) though mine didn't. I would like to think it's always been popular, though I suppose this may have waned at times.

@GkB01 now very common in primary.

@GkB01 I never saw a teacher take their shoes off. We had who was obsessed by shoes on his new gym floor. However he never went barefoot. We didn't have a choice throughout our school days

@mazza62 From what you say was it always footwear or always bare feet?

barefoot

@mazza62 was that primary all the way through the to senior?

all the way through school

@mazza62 we had to wear those horrid black plimsoles in primary...

yes i remember those. We werent allowed to wear outdoors shoes in primary and middle school. We had to change into plimsolls in the cloakroom

@mazza62 guess that was just plimsoles outdoors then?

good question. we rarely did pe outdoors if at all. i cant really remember

@mazza62 after primary we could chose for indoor p.e. and I opted for bare feet

right. no we never had a choice

@GkB01 agreed, no gym shoe can match the dexterity of bare feet!

@Adec757 I agree with you, although I probably wasn't thinking of it like that at the time!

@GkB01 exactly, black plimsoles were horrid, bare felt better and no extra shoes to carry!

@Adec757 Again my thoughts exactly, though mine were white lace up ones that we were additionally meant to keep white. Choosing not to wear them felt better (bare feet just did) was less to carry, and I didn't need to remember to have to keep them whitened!

@GkB01 they were so hot on your feet too! Lace ups marginally better!

@Adec757 I'm guessing that what you're describing you wore was what I'd have called pumps. I must admit I didn't have the 'pleasure', lace up white plimsoles and socks being our schools preference at least. I think lace ups were possibly more airy. I can only imagine how restrictive and uncomfortable those black pumps would have been. Much better and more pleasant to just do without them altogether!

@GkB01 yes exactly, a freer feeling with nothing on your feet and I was already at the gymnastics club.

@Adec757 You'd have already been used then to operating with bare feet then. I wasn't at the start, it didn't take a lot of adjusting to though!!

@GkB01 yes black pumps gone by first year of Middle, so aged 9 then bare all the way through.