londonrockinrollers

I'm looking for any pearls of wisdom on dealign with a problem I'm having with my feet- wasn't sure if anyone else suffered from it?

I've suffered for years with flat feet and overpronation which makes me knock-kneed and means my balance can be off when I stand on one foot.

It does seem to be getting better with skating and making sure I tie the tops of my boots tight (but a lot looser near my toes) and basically trying to exercise and get an arch in there- but- when I start skating I get terrible cramps on the bottom of my feet for up to an hour.

I do seem able to work through them but am looking for any advice on the cramps and for skating with flat feet- I wanna go faster with less pain!

Jeannie

Hi Jeannie

Welcome! Good to have you with us!

I too have flat feet, in fact maybe the flattest feet known to man or beast. I used to get dreadful cramps all the time in my feet, but it got better the more I skated. Nowadays I only get cramps for the first ten minutes or so, and when we skate backwards. You might want to try insoles, I'm looking to get some gel cushiony type ones and maybe some arch supports.

As for the balance thing, Robscene and I have invented the "Eastenders Challenge", which involves watching the nations favourite soap whilst standing on one leg. You can switch legs when one gets tired. I've found standing on one leg for a period of time helps with balance and stability.

Some links with exercises for flat feet.;

http://hubpages.com/hub/Foot-Gymnastics ... -Flat-Feet

http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Flat-Feet,-s ... allen-arch

http://www.ehow.com/video_4970972_feet- ... rches.html


Your doctor might be able to give you some hints as well, I went to mine after my previously twister ankle continued to bother me and he wrote down some exercises to target exactly those muscles which I'd use to compensate for the loss of mobility in my ankle. After doing them for three/four months my ankle problem has pretty much gone.

Cramp and Eastenders?!? I'm looking to make my life better- not worse
Seriously thanks Jan & Cake for all the advice- it's good to know that good skaters can have flat feet too- gives me hope.
I'm off to the osteopath tomorow who's helping me with an old arm injury so I'll ask her about it as she'd also a trained physio- with that, practice and my new "CSI challenge" I'll be better in no time

hey, everybody gets cramps in their feet when they first start skating, i was getting it on sunday afternoon, it may subside with time a bit once you build up strength and get used to not feeling the bottom of your feet. i found that thin insoles helped me breaking into skating as the soles of the skates are very unforgiving.

as for the balance, the standing on one foot thing is great, but have a chat with Gnarly Brown/Lara as she is like crazy good with training exercises and can give you a ton of suggestions as well as how to make the standing on one foot harder once you think you have perfected it...x

eating potassium rich food such as bananas help with cramp also.
Jx

I still get terrible pain in the balls of my feet when trying to skate backwards. Don't think I have flat feet though...
Am I doing it wrong or is it something that will ease with time?

i ache when we skate backwards too. i think its coz we dont do it as much, so using diff muscles than we used to??

Also, you're probably leaning forward more when skating backwards to keep your balance. As you practice backwards more often, you'll find yourself putting a little bit less weight over your toes and the balls of your feet. FOr me, it was all about getting to a stage where I could keep my weight on my inside leg and using my outside leg as a propellor with no real weight on that leg.

Also, you're probably leaning forward more when skating backwards to keep your balance. As you practice backwards more often, you'll find yourself putting a little bit less weight over your toes and the balls of your feet. FOr me, it was all about getting to a stage where I could keep my weight on my inside leg and using my outside leg as a propellor with no real weight on that leg.