Ankle Flexibility is Key to Performance

Research shows that all athletes need at least 20 degrees of dorsiflexion in their ankles to maximize speed and prevent injuries.  Most of the time when I tell this to coaches or patients, I get a blank stare back and they ask what in the world “dorsiflexion” is.  Simply put, dorsiflexion of the ankle is the motion where you pull your foot back towards your body — the opposite of pointing your toes.  This motion is vital for running, cutting, jumping and even proper throwing/pitching mechanics.

Most Americans have very limited dorsiflexion in their ankles, regardless of their age or activity levels.  We see just as many tight ankles in our youth athletes (even grade school age!) as we do in sedentary adults.  The reason we all tend to have tight ankles is because most people tend to overuse our gastrocnemius (posterior calf) muscles and underuse our glute max muscles as we walk, run and jump.

For a while, we’re able to fool ourselves and maintain performance without using our glute max for power.  We just use more calf power.  But after a period of time, the gastrocnemius muscle starts to fatigue, develops scar tissue and loses it’s strength because it starts to tighten, reducing our ankle flexibility.  Sometimes you’ll notice tenderness or a decrease in speed.  At other times, you simply won’t continue to improve your performance –  you will plateau or become sloppy and have no idea why. 

For prevention, I always encourage all athletes to make sure they regularly stretch their posterior calf muscles by using a stretching strap, runner’s stretch or using the Pro-Stretch device.  In addition, using “The Stick” or the foam roller on the area can also help keep the muscles lose and flexible by working out knots.  But don’t stop at stretching…make sure you are actively working on strengthening your glute max muscles through squats, lunges or kick-back exercises.  The stronger your glute max, the less you will overuse your gastrocnemius muscles and the looser your ankles will be.

If you try these stretches and exercises and don’t see improvements within a few weeks, it’s very possible that you have been tight so long that you need professional help to get your flexibility back.  In our practice, we see good results using Graston Technique, Kinesiotaping and even manipulation of the ankle combined with glute strengthening.  Often the patient is able to return to 100% or even reach new levels of performance once they acheive proper flexibility.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 2nd, 2011 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Baseball/Softball, May 2011, Sports Medicine, Track/Cross Country. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.