A long time back they did some experiments on a kid maybe in India, can't remember. Anyway, the theory was the kid needed to be insulated to get a good reading, so they had some platform supported by glass bottles or something. Anyway they pulled a sneaky one and hooked up a grounding wire to the platform when the kid wasn't looking. I don't recall the exact outcome, but the theory was proven wrong. I know one mfr who says to ground the L-rods before use every pass. I know people say wear natural clothing, the synthetics cause static. Others say to wear the static producing materials. But most say to avoid it. I've tired grounding wires on my shoes, but couldn't notice much difference. Even seen one outfit that provides a grounding rod with their L-rod, sort of like a walking stick. I've heard people say to wear leather soled shoes as this conducts some.