I think it largely depends on the type of work being done. Dirt work is the most demanding, because you need to make many different adjustments and do it smoothly at the same time. There's also a big difference between moving a pile of dirt and doing grade work.
I've operated many types of skids over the years, but mostly Bobcat 7763 (hand controls), T300 (Hand/Foot), and T870 (Hand/foot). My experience is having the foot controls makes for smoother, more agile control of the bucket/driving combination. When I have to apply force forward/back to move while leaning the stick left/right, I cannot get the precision. Keep in mind while you're trying to feather the controls the skid is tilting up/down and side to side.
It's not that I can't run it with hand controls only, but if I want to be fast and smooth at the same time, it's an easy decision.