Introduction to the Foot and Ankle

Baseway Education is fundamental level coaching for movement and sports performance, with a focus at the foot and ankle.  Movement starts with the hips, but the foot is important for a few key reasons.  First, as the contact point with the ground, if the foot does not have good movement and stability, it will translate back up to the hips and body as a whole.  Second, the current information for the foot and ankle is very inconsistent, and there is a lot of misinformation out there that can affect athletes and coaches.

One of the sayings out there is that over pronation leads to flat feet and injury.  While there are certainly cases where this is true, we have to consider foot appearance, foot function, and movement as three separate elements.  For example, there are many low arch athletes who have great movement and function of their foot, ankle, and body as a whole.  As assessment of arch height alone is incomplete; in fact, according to the clinicians I spoke with, there are many other more important factors to assess: injury history, performance goals, overall body movement, single leg movement, standing posture of the foot from a rear view, function during a calf raise, function during walking and running, mobility of the first toe, stability, and balance.

In the previous article, I wrote that I had a lightbulb moment when walking barefoot after my knee scope: the way my foot was contacting the ground was affecting how my knee felt.  I also realized that the type of footwear I was wearing (or not wearing) affected the movement quality and pain level as well.  I went on a journey as an athlete and a coach to find the best performance plan for the foot and ankle.  On this journey, I created some original concepts and tried a fair number of exercises from other coaches and clinicians. 

After two years of research, I met with a physical therapist and shared some of my early research, coaching experience, and philosophies.  He was impressed and told me that I had great knowledge and understanding of the foot.  However, I kept having moments where I would learn something new that would change my perspective; I continually had the feeling that there was still significantly more to learn.  It was not until ten years of research, testing, and coaching that I felt confident enough in my model of foot and ankle movement to share broadly online.  I am sure there is still more to learn, but I believe the current model is a good starting point for athletes and coaches to learn the fundamentals of movement with a foot and ankle focus.

My goal is to share this journey as an athlete and coach so that you can learn the fundamentals more efficiently, and also provide references if you want a deeper level of understanding.  Here are the key takeaways from what I have learned:

1.      It starts with the hips: if you do not have good overall movement, improvements at the foot alone will have a limited impact.

2.      Over relying on the foot alone can have short term results in a controlled setting, but is not ideal in the long term or in a competitive setting.

3.      Better positions and function at the foot requires improved ankle movement: mobility and stability.

4.      The foot sets so the body as a whole can propel.

5.      The function and movement of your foot and ankle are more important than the appearance of your foot: foot appearance, foot function, and movement are separate elements that at times have correlations, but feet are not always what they seem to be at first glance.

Thanks for reading!

Coach Brooks