How to correct pronating feet

[Niphredil]

My feet pronate, somewhat naturally I think, and when I'm in turned out positions they have a tendency to roll. I've been trying to correct that, but the thing that happens then is that my weight isn't correctly distributed on the foot. I know that the weight should be equally distributed between the heel, the big toe joint and the little toe joint, but when trying not to roll I find that my weight is mostly on the heel and the little toe joint, and when trying to put weight on the big toe joint I start to roll again. Quite annoying How should I correct this? I'll ask my teachers and also perhaps my Pilates instructor as soon as I can, but I was hoping that you could give me some advice as well

[Victoria Leigh]

Niphredil, it is really more than just weight distribution that is involved with correcting rolling. Also, we need to know if the pronation is caused from flat feet, or from over rotating the feet. Usually it is caused by turning out the feet too far, which means that you do not have enough rotation from the hips to turn out the feet that far. Are your knees tracking over the center toes when you demi plié? Have you tried keeping the weight more in the metatarsals and less in the heel? There are different schools of thought on weight distribution, with some believing it should be equal from the heel to the toes, and others believing that more of the weight should be in the front part of the foot and less in the heel. Also, try practicing barefoot, so that you can watch your toes and see exactly what you are doing and why. Determining why is the first step to correcting it.

[Niphredil]

Thanks for your quick reply! I must admit, I didn't consider at all that it might be because of my flat feet, but that probably has something to do with it. I overrotate the feet sometimes, but I've corrected that since earlier almost completely, it's mostly when I land from jumps or in a very fast combination that I sometimes accidentally do it. Still working on that Keeping the weight a bit more forward on the metatarsals seems to help, I tend to sit back in my heels sometimes so that's something that I need to work on in general as well.

 

I've been extra conscious about this in class today, and I think I'm starting to get how it should be. However, as my feet are flat och pronate naturally, I was wondering if there was anything I could do outside of class, in terms of exercises to help strenghten the arch and keep it from collapsing. I have my Thera-Band and use it for pointing and flexing my feet, but maybe there are more specific exercises?

 

Thanks a bunch

[Victoria Leigh]

Niphredil, there are some exercises for flat feet, like picking up marbles or pencils with your toes. There are probably others, but, aside from the work you are already doing with the Theraband, I'm not sure what they are. Mr. Johnson, do you have any other suggestions here?

[Niphredil]

I asked my teacher in Dance Health and Kinesiology (who is an ex-Balanchine dancer), and she too gave me the advice of picking up stuff with my toes, along with strengthening for the muscle at the front of the shin (tibialis anterior, is that the name?) which, because of its attachment, would help prevent rolling and sinking arches. So hopefully I can fix that problem now. Thank you very much for your help!