 FYI,
Superfeet now do custom footbeds - look a bit like their green things, but personalized by heating them up and moulding to your feet by the vacuum bag process.
Cotswold Outdoor in South Cerney have just had the machine installed. Not sure on the cost, as I got mine cheap whilst the staff were being trained (very thorough training too).
However, they seem to do the trick for me (over-pronation), so will make me more efficient in me new alphas. May also help with my sore knees.
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 Not sure about this one.
'Neutral gait is very rare'? B*ll*cks! I have neutral gait, my housemate has neutral gate, his girlfriend has neutral gait... c.50% of the population have neutral gait. Pronation is fundemental to the function of the foot. It's how the ankle rocks outward slighty every step (and nowt to do with foot-flattening).
Heel rolling is natural and should be maintained at all costs. Basically, we spent two million years running around barefoot and a lot of the world's population still does. Foot wear only hinders our naturally efficient gait (check out African distance runners), though of course the protection from rocks, thorns, water, dog poo, strange looks etc. is more than worth it.
The 'flattening' of the foot is a superb piece of evolutionary design. As the foot strikes some energy is stored in the 'plantar fascia' running along the sole of the foot drawing it flat and taught. A fascia is like a large tendon and it acts like a big rubber band. When you toe off the stored energy is re-released 'pushing' you fowards. Nice.
The plantar fascia can hurt - plantar fascitis - when strained by over use, typically because it's just been subjected to loadings way out side what it's used to, eg. mountain walking after a months' break. It's quite common and with rest and ibuprofen will rapidly subside. If it doesn't a physio can strap up your sole so the plantar fascia is kept slack with the strapping taking the load until your foot heals.
One quarterish of the population do indeed 'over-pronate'. It can sometimes cause pains from strains in the ankle and knee as it inhibits the correct action of the tibia and fibia and the knee joint, but such pain is rare. But the usual source of pain is indeed from excessive foot flattening - straining the plantar fascia beyond its 'design' limits. See your local friendly podiatrist. You can find them in the Yellow Pages. 'Motion Control' trainers made by the likes of Asics and New Balance are also a good idea if you're a runner.
Under pronantion occurs to about 20% of the population (100-80 (from the article) =20). It's not a problem and usually occurs to light people who put so little force through their feet it has no effect. These people (if they ever even discover that they under-pronate) should just wear normal shoes and forget about it.
How do you know what kind of pronation you have? Easy. Wet your feet and then stand on a piece of paper and look at you foot prints. If most of your soles touch the ground you over pronante. If your foot prints narrow to about half the overall width of your foot at the middle you are normal. If your foot barely (or not at all) touchs the ground between ball and heel you under pronate.
If you have weak ankles don't try using stiff high boots to protect them. Strengthen them. Do single leg knee bends. Stand vertically bare foot on one leg, face forward and sink and then rise by bending your knee. You'll notice that your knee and ankle wobble like anything. Your muscles - and the part of the brain controlling them - will become more trained in supporting and stabilising your joints. Repeat until fatigued and do every other day. (This exactly the same as using 'free' weights as opposed to fixed machines down t'gym - you can't shift as much iron but it's better for your joints.)
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Insoles? Forget them all, especially 'Superfeet' types. I mean for God's sake our feet have evolved to walk on flat surfaces, so why in hell's name would you want to stick these things in there and mess up two million years worth of adaption? At £30 a shot Superfeet are just out to take your money. All their sales guff - and all their staff 'training' - is make believe.
Another point is that forces involved in walking just aren't high enough to cause serious joint/soft tissue damage, unless you're overweight or carrying heavy loads. Only when running - which triples the forces - will such problems usually become apparent.
You may have noticed but this winds me up. So does fleecing poor consumers in general. No wonder I was sacked!
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Christ that's longer than the article!
If you're wondering how I know all this it's cos my knees are seriously messed up and I set out to find out all I could about how the body should function.
If you're wondering where I got this all from I can fully reference it but can't be arsed right now. It's nearly time for 24 and the only other thing on telly is Titanic so it's not surprising I'm sitting here typing to myself!
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 All I know is that before I used Superfeet Green, I got a pain in the ball of my foot going forward along the foot into the arch.
Saw my doctor...she diagnosed over pronation, and advised sorbothane (spelling???) insoles, or to try the Superfeet.
They work for me. If I'd have tried last week out on the hill without them I'd have been in pain, as it was 4 days of quite long distance walking taken (if you'll excuse the pun) in my stride.
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 i used to use sorbathain after my knee went all dodgy to reduce the shock. my knee used to ache like hell after a walk, s did the shin and heel. this went after a bit, not my legs/knee are stronger , i no longer use any extra inersoles and have no problems.
BTW. reebok dmx are gread for running. the inersole doesn't encorage flat footedness and has cushioning from heel to toe
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Everyone should do as Alex did, and make their doc their first port of call.
I bet not one person reads all that I've written. In fact I'd be surprised if they do! Got it all off my chest though!
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LOL Dan, I thought you'd "gone off on one" there!
Top stuff about the ankle exercises. I am constantly 'going over' on my ankles.
Last week I wore Scarpa Manta M4's which were stiff as hell, but felt good with my insoles in, much better than my own Karrimors, which are a bit soft. Maybe it was a combination of insoles and stiff soled boots which worked and prevented any pain?
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 Can't say I read it all Dan, but I've bookmarked it for future reference (just in case)!
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whats the ankle support like in the manta's alex. they always look a bit low cut compaired to silmalar boots like the meindal mountain cracks etc
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They were quite wide at the top mate. But plenty of support just where I need them.
Lets put it this way, I normally turn my ankle at least once a day when I'm out, but when I did so wearing the Manta's I felt safe that I wasn't going to need to hobble home.
I have to say that they are now at the top of my list of "boots to possibly buy" at the end of the summer (when my KSB's are buggered!)
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 If you have 'weak ankles', buy a wobble board from a physio supply company and use it. If you twist them repeatedly it's usually not a strength problem, but a proprioceptor problem where your brain effectively has no idea of where your foot is sitting in relation to leg - if it turns you don't register it till it's too late. Wobble boards strengthen the ankle but more importantly, rebuild the propioceptor sensation. You can also strap your ankle in such a way that the pull of the tape on the skin compensates.
If you do single knee bends, don't, whatever you do, go beyond a 90-degree bend fo the knee, you can damage the joint.
Back to the insoles - Superfeet are basically very simple orthotics and will help some people. If you have persistent lower leg problems see a sports podiatrist. Gait analysis with a treadmill and a video is the only effective way of checking biomechanical traits. The wet feet test is only a very rough guide.
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 Some time back, I started to get quite sharp pain just behind the ball of my foot (both feet) after I went climbing.
Went to the quacks and he sent me off to guys hosp. After some time (and a bone scan) they gave me some lightly padded insoles and told me to quit climbing or risk damaging my feet even more. So I did!
After a while the pain became apparent after a long days walk. This prompted me to go and see a local podiatrist who immediatly told me what was wrong and proceeded to describe and pinpoint the pain without any further prompting from me.
I now use orthotics most of the time, and this has greatly reduced the pain.
If you suffer from any problems with your feet, or indeed anything from the knee down, then get yourself to a podiatrist double quick.
If Superfeet type insoles seem to help, just think what an expert could do. It may be that with treatment the problem could be completely eliminated with no further need to use orthotics.
Ramble over.
Si
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 Trips to the podiatrist thirded (or fourthed). My insoles only cost me £12.50 a pair, though they're pretty unsophisticated, with a fairly basic looking footbed and a cant underneath. Despite not having the sophistication or custom fit (I actually have to wear them in!), they do the intended job of realigning my lower legs back to where they should be, hence no more achilles problems. Oh, I also do lots of stretching nowadays.
That reminds me, I must go and get some new ones.
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Jon you mentioned the two points I was going to.
Wobble boards are also a good laught at parties, though watch for them making a dent in the floor
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Them being wobble boards, the long word beginning with 'p' I can't spell and not letting you bum go below the level of your knees.
The wet foot test is surprisingly accurate, though examing the wear pattern on your shoes is better, but I can't describe it over the 'net.
Video anaylsis is nice but pricey to get. There's a clinic in Reading set up to do it but I can't afford it. Hell, a physio is £25 an hour!
Ooo and 'under-pronating' is actually called 'supination', and what I should have said is that people with that should wear 'cushionong' type trainers as the lack the shock absorbing capacity of pronators.
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i seem to remeber(hope) that is best to have your sole wearing on the outside of ure sole rather than the inside.
p.s, skateboards and flat pedels wreck your soles
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Wobble boards, dents? Tooooo late, way too late.
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 You guys seem to know a lot about feet so I'll ask about my foot problem. When I'm walking after a couple of hours the soles of my feet burn. It's nothing to do with musles or tendons or anything like that, it's the skin on the underside that gets red, hot to the touch and then there's the painful, burning sensation. It's gotten to the point where it stops me from walking. Any ideas? No amount of insoles or supersoft socks have made any difference so far.
--Mjausson Tenderfoot
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sounds like a rash of some type to me. i get a simalar thing on my heels sometimes. all i can say is that coolmax socks and the application of canistan cream sometypes helps
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