Your Foot Is a Tripod. Why Shoe Fit Matters.
Your Foot Is a Tripod. Why Shoe Fit Matters.

Your Foot Is a Tripod. Why Shoe Fit Matters.

If you've shopped for KEEN shoes, or your kid wears KEEN shoes (or you've just heard about KEEN from an enthusiastic friend), you probably know we're a teeny, tiny bit obsessed — not just with hiking boots and water shoes, but with the feet that go inside them.

We’re not foot doctors, we’re just big fans of letting feet be themselves. And we’ve learned a thing or two about how they do it.

Most humans have two feet. But there’s something you might not know about standing on two feet. Yoga instructors, weightlifters, and physical therapists all understand one crucial thing about the art of standing up: Each foot is actually a tripod that supports your weight through three anchoring points.

Your feet find balance and stability through three distinct spots.

Yep, just like a bar stool (or one of those mortar and pestle things you use to make guacamole), your feet find balance and stability through three distinct spots. In medical terms (warning: gibberish ahead), your “foot tripod” is formed by the center of the calcaneus, the head of the first metatarsal and the head of the fifth metatarsal. In plain English, these are your heel, the base of your big toe, and the base of your pinky toe.

This triangle, along with the arch in your midfoot, is what distributes pressure evenly, helping you with well-aligned posture, the flexibility of your joints, and the strength of your leg muscles. Have you ever struggled to avoid slouching as you walk, or lost your balance during Mountain Pose in yoga class? That may be a sign that your foot tripod could use a little attention. Even with both feet on the ground, you’re not really making a solid connection to the earth unless you are engaging all three contact points on each foot.

How's Your Foot Tripod?

No clue what we’re talking about? Get a sense of your own foot tripod with this little experiment:

1. Take your shoes off and stand barefoot or in socks on a hard surface (like a wood or linoleum floor).

2. Stand up straight with your feet on the ground about hip-width apart.

3. Lift all of your toes up off the floor, but keep the rest of your foot on the ground. Feel the three points on each foot (heel, ball of foot near big toe, ball of foot near pinky toe)?

4. Now let your toes lower back down to the floor. Try to keep your weight equally divided between all six points.

Feet Love the KEEN Fit

The importance of the foot tripod is just one reason why KEEN makes all kinds of footwear (from water sandals and hiking boots to everyday sneakers) with arch support and a roomy, toe-wiggling fit. Giving your foot enough space to spread out means all your tripod points can be level, anchoring your leg to the insole (and, by extension, to the ground). When feet are cramped or tilted in their shoes, your tripod doesn’t get to do its tripod-y thing.


So stand tall on your own two feet (and their six little mini-feet) in shoes that give them the space they deserve. Both of our fits – Original and Contoured – give toes plenty of room to naturally splay, but our signature “Original Fit” has a little extra forefoot space if you need a wider toe box. You'll find it in these styles:

Newport Sandals
Part hiking shoe, part water sandal, Newport is the original adventure sandal.

Targhee Boots
We call it the out-of-the-box hiker because it's comfortable right out of the box. Our bestselling hiking boot for 20 years. 

KS86 Sneakers
These city-trail "runners" have the aggressive tread of a trail runner and the all-day comfort of a sneaker.