pointe shoe sliding off foot

[Guest Cojack]

I recently began working en pointe, and am still very much in the beginning stages of this technique. A few weeks ago an instructor noticed that the shank on my left shoe slides off toward the left side of my heel. She suggested this might be confusing my sense of balance.

 

As a possible solution, she suggested a different ribbon/elastic arrangement from my current one (elastic around my ankle, ribbons under my foot). She suggested sewing a loop of elastic at the heel of my shoe and tying the ribbon with it running through this loop.

 

I'm curious whether anyone here can clarify whether the shank slipping problem is a shoe-fit issue or more to do with something I am doing with my body? Also, might the new ribbon/elastic arrangement help? I guess I am skeptical, but I am certainly no expert. Any thought would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Mel Johnson]

GAAAA Don't do that!!! Please!

 

The loop on the heel is a near-sure path to tendonitis of the Achilles, and you DON'T want that, believe me!

 

I'm a little puzzled by the "ribbons under the foot". Do you mean that you run the ribbons under the sole of your foot or your shoe? Don't do that either! I don't think anybody's been doing that since before La Sylphide and we can't be sure they were doing that then! If you're putting them under your arch inside the shoe, then they're working to pop you out of the shoe. The elastic around the ankle is the best idea by far.

 

Is the shank of your shoe slipping or is it the midsole to which the shank is supposed to be attached, and what sort of pointe shoes are we talking about here? Capezio, Sansha, Gamba, other?

[Claude_Catastrophique]

I had a similar problem when I got harder shoes. Before I broke in them, they were pretty much "slipping" away. I have an elastic around my ankle and another one over my arche (like the one attached on balletslippers.) I have no problem anymore and since my shoes are broken in, the second elastic isn't needed anymore.

[Guest Cojack]

To answer Mel's questions:

 

I have the ribbon running under the sole of my foot in one long piece. It is sewn to the canvas of my shoes at the sides. This technique was recommended to me as a means to ensure no ribbon accidents (if it came unsewn, etc). Is this really a bad way to fasten them to the shoe?

 

I currently wear a Capezio Plie II pointe shoe.

 

I'm not sure how to determine whether the actual shank is slipping or the midsole. All I can offer is that looking at my shoe when I am up en pointe, the leathery sole does not align vertical with my foot as it does on my right shoe. It slants off toward the left, as if it is slipping away from my heel.

 

I hope this helps clarify. Thanks for the feedback so far!

[Mel Johnson]

AHA! The thick plottens!

 

Yes, running the ribbon under the sole of the foot will make things more difficult, even if it's sewn at the sides. It may even be aggravating or even causing the shifting of the "guts" of the shoe, which is usually a matter of the shoe being the wrong width.

[Cabriole]

As a possible solution, she suggested a different ribbon/elastic arrangement from my current one (elastic around my ankle, ribbons under my foot). She suggested sewing a loop of elastic at the heel of my shoe and tying the ribbon with it running through this loop.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

This 'solution' can cause 'contact tendionitis' (inflammantion of the Achilles tendon caused by the abrasion of the ribbons when you move from plie to releve). Not knowing where you have been fitted for your shoes, there some very knowledgeable fitters at Motion Unlimited in downtown Chicago.

[kellyisthebestintheworld]

I do the loop of elastic around my ankle too insead of a criss cross because my teacher told me. Can you explain a little more why this will cause Achilles tendionitis.

[Mel Johnson]

Elastic around the ankle won't hurt anything, Kelly. It's the right way to do things. However a LITTLE loop at the heel through which the ribbons run will cause friction in that area and bring on contact tendonitis.

[kellyisthebestintheworld]

oh ok. My teacher does her shoes like that and she's had achilles tendonitis (sp) for years and I thought that's why. So it's not her elastics that did it?

 

*not an adult*

[shulie]

No not the elastics. Kelly, not the regular way of sewing a large loop of elastic in your shoe running over your foot and back to the heel of your shoes plus having the satin ribbons tied the regular way does cause tendinitis- it is the weird technique some people use when they sew on a tiny loop of elastic to the heel and then let their satin ribbons run through it. Because there is constant friction around the heel area (cause that ribbon-tiny elastic loop combo is very tight pressing against your heel) the achilles tendon gets permanent irritation and inflammation (tendinitis) is very likely to happen.

 

If the latter is what your teacher does then it is very possible she got her chronic tendinitis from that weird way of tying the ribbons.

 

Hope that helps

[Mel Johnson]

And of course there are OTHER ways of getting tendonitis, too. Like not putting your heels down when you land from jumps, and all those other things we hate.

[Skittl1321]

Does anyone have a link to a picture of the incorrect technique. I am having a very hard time picturing it, or figuring out why anyone would run their ribbons that way.

[shulie]

Oh yes. Does anybody have a picture of that?

[Guest epatrick]

Oh yes. Does anybody have a picture of that?

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There was a picture of it on the pointe shoe board. Here's a link to what it shows:

 

http://www.the-perfect-pointe.com/FootDiag...planations.html

 

It's at the bottom of the page.

 

Hope this helps :-)