Cause number 2 – Poor Foot Stability
Photo: author’s archive
It is all too often that athletes who complain of knee pain also have a history of pains in their arch on the same foot. The link between to two is a dysfunctional foot. If an athlete has flat feet that turn out in abduction (duck stance) then this indicative of an athlete that is having difficulty in transferring weight from one leg to the other during activities such as walking and running.
What we need to understand is that it is the job of the arch to roll across the surface of the ground and transfer the forces of impact upwards to the rest of the body. A foot that is flat is kind of like a car that has bad brakes and can’t slow down effectively as it rolls inward. This collapsing foot is connected to the ankle which is a union of the bones which form to make our lower leg (tibia and fibula). The lower leg is divided from the upper leg by the knee. If the foot rolls in too much (overpronation), it pulls the knee along with it. This creates a major stress on the ligaments that hold the knee together. Thus, a myriad of symptoms follow such as anterior-medial knee pain, chondromalacia, and unfortunately ACL tears.
“You don’t lift with your legs, you lift with your butt.”
