When I run (or even just stand or walk) my right foot points out to the side when I land. If straight ahead is 12 on a clock my toes point to around 1 or 2. My left foot lands pretty much straight forward. Is this something I can fix and if so, how? I’ve had some issues with my right hip for a few months and I don’t know if this could be a contributor. I went to a PT and he noticed it when watching me run and told me I should consciously try to land with it straight ahead when I run. Easier said than done.
Anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just say screw it and not worry about it?
I’d first look into why you are doing this. There is likely a structural reason for it. Were you previously compensating for an injury? Hip alignment issues, hip injury?
If only 1 foot is doing it, there’s some imbalance occurring, and until you correct that, changing you gait, could cause other issues.
Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is maybe do plyometrics focusing on keeping you foot in proper alignment. Jumping rope doing the same. Then do some uphill strides and again, focus for that short duration, on keeping that foot aligned.
It never hurts to work on relaxing and trying to increase increasing your cadence. I heard once reference that said if you cadence is below 160, you’re no longer running, your doing some sort of plyometric hop.
Are you having any other injury/pains when you run?
Everyone has their own gate. When people try to screw with it they usually end up getting injured. If this is not causing you an issue, it may not be worth it to try and “fix” it and could actually be more damaging.
With that being said, I would suppose that having you land like that could put a potential higher risk to joint issues as you seem to be not supporting your impact weight in an aligned fashion.
Did you ever break your leg or ankle or have any sort of structural damage when you were younger? If so, it may not be something that is correctable.
The only suggestion I would have to correct would be do drills as your warm up putting specific emphasis on your landing and then as the PT said, do some slower shorter runs where you are specifically targeting landing foot forward. It may take a long time to “fix” if it is only in muscle memory. And maybe not at all if it is a structural issue.
I’d first look into why you are doing this. There is likely a structural reason for it. Were you previously compensating for an injury? Hip alignment issues, hip injury?
If only 1 foot is doing it, there’s some imbalance occurring, and until you correct that, changing you gait, could cause other issues.
This. Very sound advice. Likely structural. Figure out the ‘why’ first.
When I run (or even just stand or walk) my right foot points out to the side when I land. If straight ahead is 12 on a clock my toes point to around 1 or 2. My left foot lands pretty much straight forward. Is this something I can fix and if so, how? I’ve had some issues with my right hip for a few months and I don’t know if this could be a contributor. I went to a PT and he noticed it when watching me run and told me I should consciously try to land with it straight ahead when I run. Easier said than done.
Anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just say screw it and not worry about it?
It could be a compensation for something. In the case of one foot pointing out I have found several things:
That leg is longer then the other (fix with heel lift in other shoe)
Ankle flexibility in that leg is poor (stretch)
Poor hip stability on that side (strength work)
Really weak calf/gastroc on that side (strength work)
In some cases I have not been able to identify the issue. If it is not causing any problems, and is not severe, we leave it alone.
I do the same thing but my right foot only points to around 12:30
When I worked at skating rinks I noticed a lot of people that did this to varying degrees. Some were recreational skaters some were world class speedskaters and Artistic skaters. I noticed this because I mounted a lot of plates/blades for skates costing upwards of $2K, and that was back in 1990.
None of them were runners as far as I know but the percentage of people that had feet pointing in a direction other than 12 o’clock was about 80%. So to me it was common to see that.
After all that worthless info I just said, I would look at how the issue affects the way that you toe off during your run. Are you twisting your ankle or rolling your foot? When I run my feet are pretty straight, when I set up my cleats on my bike shoes I match the right and left to each other so that they are straight while on the pedals and then ride a bit to make the small final adjustments to what feels right for me. Maybe your hip problems are coming from your bike shoes?
So, look into it if you are having problems and it you are not, then screw it and not worry about it.
I have this problem to a lesser degree. Turns out what was causing it is a collapsed arch in my right foot. When I plant my right foot, my arch flattens out and splays my foot outwards a bit. It’s slight, and my foot maybe turns from 12 o’clock to 12:30-1. This even happens when I’m just standing at rest.
I only found this out as that constant flattening and turning led to some pretty serious medial shin splints that ruined my season last summer and was still hampering me this winter. Two physiotherapists didn’t spot it, it was a sports medicine doctor who finally did. Right now I’m trying a firm arch supporting insole (superfeet) to try to alleviate the problem, and if that doesn’t work we are going to look at orthotics. So far it’s been better, but I feel like I really wont know until my long runs get into the 20-32k range.
Basically, it could be anything, and it may or may not be a problem. I would get a few different opinions on what could be causing your issue. That physio suggesting you “just try to land with your foot forward” seems like a lame suggestion. I would be curious as to what’s causing it, especially if you have hip pain.
I have this problem. I have it bad. I’ve had a plethora of people tell me it’s an “easy fix.” It isn’t. I was told it was muscle imbalance between abduction and adduction. I’ve come to the conclusion it’s structural, like other’s have said here. You can correct some of it with a lot of hard work strengthening and stretching over time and foam rolling, but you’ll never “fix it.” It’s always going to be there. We are all built just a little bit differently and this is one of those things that I’ve learned to accept about myself. Coaches and other athletes will tell you to spend a lot of time working on it. I think you’re better off running, biking, and swimming more rather than do all that stuff they will want you to do. Just my opinion.
When I run (or even just stand or walk) my right foot points out to the side when I land. If straight ahead is 12 on a clock my toes point to around 1 or 2. My left foot lands pretty much straight forward. Is this something I can fix and if so, how? I’ve had some issues with my right hip for a few months and I don’t know if this could be a contributor. I went to a PT and he noticed it when watching me run and told me I should consciously try to land with it straight ahead when I run. Easier said than done.
Anyone have any suggestions? Or should I just say screw it and not worry about it?
This stuff never bothered me when I was younger or ran short distances. Now when I try to do longer distance events, it eventually creeps up during training and sidelines me (I aged as well). My advice is to find a better PT. Both my PT and my Chiro say to never mess with the way you run while running. We work on things through specific exercises to strengthen the muscles that will lead to a more balanced gait. Takes time, but to me is well worth it. Fewer injuries now and less time sitting around doing nothing.
Could be structural or functional. Whats your flexibility like? Tight hip rotators could lead to that external rotation. Weak hip flexors/quads could lead to external rotation to overuse the groin/adductors. There are a number of possibilities. If its not an issue right now then don’t sweat it, but get a full assessment if you want to be proactive. I’ve seen a lot of patients with “abnormal” gait patterns but many of whom are not symptomatic and they’ve been running for years without issue. So if it aint broke then I don’t need to fix it. Symptomatic issues are a different story.
Don’t let it bug you mentally but if you do want to know more about it then find someone well-versed in running mechanics and a full functional assessment.
I do (or did…) the exact same thing. Many searches for “duck feet” and running will return similar results
I discovered I did this because i kept getting ITBS issues in my right leg, and my right foot flared outwards.
Its fixed now
Pretty common routine to fix:
stretch (glutes/hips)
strengthen (glutes/hips – side leg raises with foot turned straight is a big one)
focus on gait - i had to focus on forcing my foot to land straight ahead, as if my right ankle was turned outwards on purpose. it was awkward at first, but it became more natural as time went on. Also focused on a quick cadence (90) with a garmin foot pod which was more difficult to do than the foot angle.
The cadence factor was the biggest of all, it made everything easier and less stress on my joints.
I’ve been noticeably duck footed my whole life. I have wacky form too but I’m pretty sure that’s just how I’m built and I do notice others who do the same thing. I can easily rotate my feet outwards until they make a much greater than 180 degree angle but when I attempt to rotate them inwards I can barely break the plane that is represented by looking straight forward. (If that makes sense) I have tried this experiment on other people and they cannot rotate nearly as far outwards but can rotate much further inwards. Also my left foot does this a bit more than my right. Since I was born this way I have not made a huge attempt to correct it. I have had issues with peronal tendonitis in this past which I speculate is due to the extra stress this places on the outside of the ankle. (I slightly suppinate) Long story short if you have always been this way good luck trying to change it, I would just play they hand you were dealt.
I agree with the cautions about messing with long-established form. I’ve also always had 1 foot that everts, and made the mistake of trying to fix it. I concentrated on keeping the toes pointed straight ahead, like the other foot. I became faster immediately. After a couple of days, my hip was sore on the side I was trying to fix. It got worse. I kept going. After a week, I went to bed sore and could barely walk the next morning. I had done serious damage to the piriformis muscle. It irritated the sciatic nerve, causing weakness and sensory deficits. My leg felt like it was on fire. Those problems eventually resolved, but I couldn’t run for 3 months. Now, I just say screw it and I leave it alone.
it could be a chicken and egg scenario since feet turn out when a hip is sore and hips get sore when your foot turns out
as long as your physio tested why it was happening before saying “just don’t do that”
with a sore hip you can clench your Glute medius - bam ! - external rotation of your foot (in other words perfectly normal)
the question is why your hip is sore - is it psoas muscle , pelvic rotation, sacro iliac , or ITB related? maybe cartilige but that is much less common in my experience
or else why is your foot turning out ? compensastion for sacroiliac dysfunction? pelvic rotation ? tight ITB?, Glute medius tightness?, youre not used to flexing your knee in line with your first first and second toe? tibial torsion? mid foot stiffness? flat foot? arch weakness? longer leg ? shoe has too much support or not enough cushioning ?
basically you need a physio thats good enough to answer all this and also teach you about it - the cause , treatment (physion but also homebased), prevention, and rehabilitation strategies
theres plenty of treatments and hopefully your physio got it right that its just a matter of retraining the gait pattern - but even then you should have some strengthening drills and stretches to take home (at the very least !) - I would imagine practising knee bends while keeping your knee aligned so that the center of your knee cap stays between your first and second toe (for example)
a rotated foot isnt necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps you need a second opinion if your hip stays sore ?
Turn and lie on the tight side, then put the ball into the outside of your glute and roll it around. Does it hurt like hell? If yes, then odds are your hip is tight and release will help it.
Keep the ball on that muscle till you feel it release. Do this every day. Both sides.
It could be any number of things, but releasing those muscles will help your hips align in any event. So many bad things can happen if those muscles are tight. (Ask me how I know).
I have the same thing (maybe not quite as far) and it’s mostly asymptomatic BUT I notice it’s worse when I neglect the foam roller on my IT bands and glutes, and a few years of doing one-legged mini-squats as well as core work has helped a lot to keep the hip/glute/hamstring tightness at bay.
I pay attention to the way people run and I see lots of people do what we do - the amount that some folks waggle their feet is horrendous, but for most it’s evidently not a problem. Your objective is not necessarily to learn to run with your feet both pointed the same way - it’s to fix your hip issue through stretching and strengthening the core muscles and ligaments. You may find, in doing so, that your leg straightens itself out.
Turn and lie on the tight side, then put the ball into the outside of your glute and roll it around. Does it hurt like hell? If yes, then odds are your hip is tight and release will help it.
Keep the ball on that muscle till you feel it release. Do this every day. Both sides.
It could be any number of things, but releasing those muscles will help your hips align in any event. So many bad things can happen if those muscles are tight. (Ask me how I know).
I have/had the same issue. For me, it’s based mostly on tight hips. I roll on it with a ball quite a bit and it has gotten much better.
What happens when you ride? Do you knock your knee on the top tube or does your knee angle inward on the front of the pedal stroke? Do you find yourself riding with the outside of your foot rather than the whole sole? The reason I ask is that I have pretty flat feet (one foot moreso than the other) and it caused problems when I rode, too. I got custom orthotics for running and eSoles for my cycling shoes and it’s made a world of difference. The orthotics don’t just support the arch–they also angle my heels so I’m not overpronating. Having said that, I only wear the orthotics in running shoes or combat boots. My other shoes are usually either flip flops or have a minimal sole, so I do focus on my form when there’s lower impact.
I’ve also been getting ART done for the hip. Most of the focus has been on my psoas and loosening that up. It’s certainly been feeling better since I started the ART. I don’t think it’s affected my foot turning out. It’s definitely a rotation starting from the hip. I also got a massage last week and she said there are tons of knots in my hip.