When it comes to what footwear you should be taking to paintball there a few factors to consider. But before we consider those lets figure out what you shouldn’t wear. Any open toed, or sandal-like shoes are a big no! Not only are they impossible to run around in, they give little grip and ankle support and also, would be extremely painful in you were to be hit there.
There is a certain element of being sensible for the beginner.
We’d recommend some sort of boot, cleat or trainer that is specific for doing outdoor activity, particularly that with ankle support. Hiking boots would be the perfect example, but if you don’t have any of them any sort of shoe with good grip and ankle support should suffice; running shoe would be fine.
Rubber-spiked shoes are good for speedball which tends to be played on flatter grass with inflatable obstacles. They’ll certainly gives some extra grip but would not fair well in the woods with too many different terrains like concrete, tree stumps etc.
Avoid metallic spiked shoes as not only are they dangerous for other players, you could pop an inflatable obstacle in speedball. This is especially for those elite level players!
We have reviewed the best cleats for paintball in a separate post.