flat foot

Rash · Post by **Rash** » 04 Jun 2007 09:00

hi, i`m Cesar from mexico and i have flat foot, and it that prevent me to play good footbag, and that make hurt in my kniss, so want some recomendations, a doctor tell me to leave the sport, because its hard for my legs.

En espaÃ±ol: soy Cesar de mexico, y pues tnego pie plano, y eso hace que no pueda jugar bien, y ademas hace que me duelan las rodillas, y pues queria perdirles algunas recomendaciones, el doctor me dijo que seria bueno que dejara de practicar este deporte, pero la verdad no quiero.

Si alguien puede hacer la traduccion bien al ingles se lo agradecere

Cesar

a y ya estoy usando unas plantillas y pues me ayudan pero no lo suficiente

Dat · Post by **Dat** » 04 Jun 2007 20:12

Flat-footedness is really due to bad posture, which means not using all of your muscles properly to balance your body so it is straight during sitting, walking and standing. Orthotics only help you cope with the problem, rather than fixing it. The only real way to help improve flat feet is to improve your posture in how you sit, stand, and walk.

You probably lean too far forward, arching forward, giving more work for your back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves to do. You must learn to extend your skeleton straight up more and learn to use your quads, groin, abs, and arms, to help keep your weight balanced and loosely riding on top of your knees, hips and spine, rather than having your skeleton and muscles hanging forward and rigid. You don't need to keep your body rigid to stay up straight to keep from falling over. Learn to use balance instead to stay up.

Try standing with your pelvis forward and tilting your upper body backward, so you're arching backward, to help feel your front muscles supporting your weight. Proper posture is between this stance and hunching forward. Learn to move away from the extremes of leaning too far forward and too far backward to come back to the middle, where proper posture is. Learn to relax and loosen your knees, hips and other joints so they can move more freely for balancing. Also work on your side to side balance, as that untwists your body, helping you to stand up straighter. Lift your ribcage so it is better supported by your spine, and isn't pressing down on your abdomen and restricting your breathing. Swing your arms more as you walk. Also try imagining yourself pivoting forward on stilts, rather than pulling your feet against ground to move forward.

If learning to become aware of your skeleton, muscles and joints and controlling them sounds too crazy, try activities that focus on balance, like bicycling, slackline, or just walking on balance beams or something that works as a balance beam.

I know it sounds hard to relearn to stand and walk, but if you work at it, it will get easier over time to stand efficiently straight and balanced. It's like any other skill you develop. You will probably notice the muscles you've been neglecting tiring out quickly, but this is normal since they weren't being worked before. They will develop and get stronger naturally the more you use them, and it will be easier to balance, especially after you learn to relax your overused and overdeveloped muscles. It will take less concentration over time too, as your brain becomes more efficient at controlling balance on its own.

I would like to give more detail, but I don't know how to explain everything I know properly and easily over the internet yet, and I don't want to spend too much time on this. I hope what I've said helps though. Good luck.

Rash · Post by **Rash** » 08 Jun 2007 19:34

Thanks for your help, and what do you think about leave of footbag?? well to me

Cesar

Dat · Post by **Dat** » 09 Jun 2007 01:12

Well I would take a break and do some cycling and other sports to rehabilitate your legs, before going back to footbag. It might be good to quit long enough to forget everything you've learned, to help start over and learn gentler technique.

Rash · Post by **Rash** » 11 Jun 2007 13:44

mm you think, i can return to play footbag in meybe 1 year, whit some exercices??, do you think that, well, my float foot i more complicated, the bone below my kniss, have a curve outwards, and when i paly i supousse my kniss falls a little and so it is that affects my kniss,... so you think??

Dat · Post by **Dat** » 11 Jun 2007 16:24

Yeah that is quite bad. I'm guessing the muscles on the inside of your legs aren't doing enough work to keep your legs straight, and that puts uneven stress on your knee joints and causes you pain. I would definitely stay away for that long if you can. I'm guessing you're young, and you still have plenty of years left to play footbag. It'll be worth it though, cause your quality of life will be much better than if you didn't try to fix anything.

Another activity you could use to rework your body is swimming.

Dat · Post by **Dat** » 11 Jun 2007 16:25

hah i did it again.

Rash · Post by **Rash** » 12 Jun 2007 12:09

ahh, you`re right but, the worlds are becoming and i want to participate on them, also i`ve a presentation in 6 july, what do you think about??, and the friday i go to a specialist, so, which kind of sports can i do??

AND WHAT DO YOU DO aGIAN???

Dat · Post by **Dat** » 12 Jun 2007 16:39

Part of being an adult is learning to be patient and to not force things, so you achieve your goals when you're supposed to, rather than making things worse and prolonging or ruining goals. I would not try to rush your recovery. Time goes by a lot faster than you think it will anyway. You can still have fun at worlds and not play.

Well it's good you're going to a specialist. Hopefully they'll help fix your posture problems with therapy or some other methods. If I were you I'd do swimming, bicycling, slackline, basically activities that are low activity and require balance. Also, when you do activities, also practice sweeping your eyes left and right, as that will help a lot with your balance.

I accidentally posted twice. Nothing important.

Rash · Post by **Rash** » 13 Jun 2007 09:07

Thanks for the advice i`m thankfull with you, i will excpect, i will be fine, and the only thing what i can tell you is, practic a lot cuz if i return to footbag i will become the world champion at least one time.

thanks

Cesar

BrianP · Post by **BrianP** » 29 Aug 2007 16:04

Just so you know, flat feet are absolutely not something you "get" from anything; posture, walking style or anything else. They are 100% genetic and you cannot get rid of them. I was in super high end athletic shoe sales for a long time and interacted on an hourly basis with all multitudes of foot problems, many of which were related to flat feet. I have spend countless hours in training on feet and speaking with podiatrists and am certain of this fact. Also, having flat feet is not in and of itself a bad thing, the problem occurs when you begin leaning toward the inside (under-pronation) or outside (over-pronation or supination) of your feet. Both of these result in moderate to intense foot pain via the plantar-facia tendon in the middle of your foot, which is can stretch to the point of tearing from crooked foot pressure. They can also lead to severe back and knee pain as well as shin splints. Getting good orthopedic insoles can markedly improve the painful conditions resulting from under or over-pronation; if this does not help enough there are many resources you can find find to stretch your problem areas, stabilize foot pressure, and reduce back and knee pain on the web. Hope this helps!

Dat · Post by **Dat** » 03 Sep 2007 13:59

Just so you know, flat feet are absolutely not something you "get" from anything; posture, walking style or anything else.

Also, having flat feet is not in and of itself a bad thing, the problem occurs when you begin leaning toward the inside (under-pronation) or outside (over-pronation or supination) of your feet.

These statements are contradictory. The way you lean on the sides of your feet is easily classifiable as walking style. And the way you lean on your feet is dictated by your general balance, and the balance between the muscles on your neck, core and each of your limbs. I still stand by my statement that flatfootedness is a symptom of inefficient balance.

sandycollie · Post by **sandycollie** » 07 Jun 2009 23:38

Hi,

I just thought that thread and i really need these advice. thanks

Tsiangkun · Post by **Tsiangkun** » 09 Jun 2009 12:58

You can build up the muscles that help support your feet's arches, ankles, etc.

Support in shoes is a replacement for muscles.

If you are always in supportive shoes, your feet are not using their muscles, and you will not get stronger feet, just an addiction to supportive shoes.

keko · Post by **keko** » 13 Jun 2009 17:50

I think that if you get some special insoles made by a flatfoot-speciallyst (i don't know the name in English lol), you can play without problems.

I have flatfoot too, and I play footbag with special insoles that correct the defects of feet. And before 1 year and 5 months playing footbag, I have my feet much better than before. I think it's caused because when you play footbag with special insoles you train all muscles on your feet, and these muscles correct your bones.

So, I think you should go on playing footbag. And if you knees or your ankles hurt, stop playing and when you don't feel pain play again. Anyways, don't force anything, it could be bad.

To conclude, just say that I'm only a footbag player, I mean, I'm not a doctor and I can't tell it to you 100% sure. I mean, in my case footbag help me with it, I hope it help to you too

Tsiangkun · Post by **Tsiangkun** » 16 Jun 2009 14:16

I'd suggest two things to improve your muscles :

1) Stand on one foot, paying attention to your support leg. Do not let the knee bow inward. If you can not stand on one leg without your knee buckling, you will be stressing your knees on each footbag trick you do.

You need the muscles to support your body on one leg to play footbag.

2) To build the muscles of your arch, curl your foot into a fist, hold for five second, release. Repeat that 50 times, walking off the cramps as needed.

crazylegs32 · Post by **crazylegs32** » 30 Jun 2009 22:01

I think people are using flatfooted/plantar faccitis interchangably. Pf/heel spur is an injury and usually doesnt heal. Youre best "managing" the pain with proper stretching , insoles, and moderate exercise. You are not going to "fix" a pf injury with posture or building up the muscles but both will help. I wouldnt recommend surgery either.

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