Overpronation is Causing Shin and Ankle Painpronation" is more of a household word than house or even hold, along comes a note from a reader making it clear that it’s not that clear.
The correspondent emailed us from the far side of the planet, where he discovered our fine publication on the World Wide Web. He’s the kind of guy who gets right to the point: "My problem is an accurate definition of ‘pronation.’"
Just when you think the word ".
Despite several descriptions I still don’t feel confident about this term.
Well, you came to the right place. Clear descriptions of tricky terms is what we do.
Your website [defines pronation as] ‘motion that occurs while the runner’s foot is on the ground.’
The website to which you refer is, of course, the very excellent www.runningtimes.com, which is loaded with great stuff for runners on an array of topics including, of course, my personal favorite, shoes.
Your site doesn’t really describe what type of motion.
Okay, we’ll stay on task. Forgive the shameless plug for runningtimes-dot-com, but as you’ve already discovered, it’s worth the click.
Mention is made of ‘rolling’ but this doesn’t describe whether the roll is horizontal (the tendency of some people’s toes to point inward or outward when hitting the ground), or vertical (tendency to hit the foot on the outside or inside of the heel).
Should New Runners Focus on Pronation When Buying Shoes.
Dictionaries define pronation as (for example) ‘making a palm face down’ but this doesn’t help much.
I’ll say. Hands have palms, and it’s feet that we’re dealing with here. Maybe hands can pronate, and if they do, no doubt there’s a Glove Guy who writes for another magazine.
CA Notice at Collection. . . .
You must have already written to GloveGuy.
I still can’t understand its precise meaning for feet. Your site gives me this additional clue: ‘If you tend to wear out your shoes first on the outside, you probably tend to under-pronate; if you wear out your shoes first significantly more to the inside, look for a shoe for over-pronators.’
Sounds simple enough, but you’re right, it’s a bit vague, especially when pulled out of context. Otherwise, thanks for quoting us accurately.
Can I therefore say that an under-pronator is someone who hits the ground on the outside of the heel whereas an over-pronator is someone who hits it with the inside? Or is it more complicated?
It is indeed more complicated than that, which underscores the problem with analyzing biomechanical needs on a website. Sometimes what the writer writes is not what the reader reads, which means that, uh, the writer needs to do a better job.
First, don’t try to land on the inside of your heel as an experiment in pronation. It’s hard to do, as evidenced by the fact that near zero, if not zero, percent of the population strikes the ground there first when running. It’s natural to strike the ground first on the outside, or lateral side, of the bottom of the foot.
Most of us land on the lateral heel, but some land mid- to forefoot on the lateral side. That’s why the shoe builders, in a rare example of consistency, always slap a big, hard, thick chunk of very tough rubber on the bottom of the shoe in the lateral heel area. Initial contact with the ground is loaded with impact and friction, and it can be brutal, whether you’re talking about running shoes, airplane tires, or bungee jumpers who are lousy at knots.
Pronation is what happens next. The rest of the bottom of the foot flattens onto the ground until most or all of it is finally on the ground. If you’re looking down on your foot during all this, it appears that the top of your foot is rolling inward toward your body’s midline, which is why pronation is commonly defined as "rolling in."
If the foot pronates as it should, it transforms into a rigid structure ready to push off into the next step. We call that neutral pronation.
If the foot doesn’t flatten out enough before pushing off, we call that "under-pronation." It’s rare, afflicting maybe one of every 15 or so runners. Some describe it as "supination," which is actually the opposite of pronation. But it’s hard to roll toward the lateral side when you land on the lateral side. We call that "falling down."
If the foot flattens out too much, or over-pronates, it pushes off before it’s ready, and all kinds of stresses on assorted parts of the lower half of the body happen. About half of all runners over-pronate enough to increase the risk of injury, and that’s why so many running shoes are built to reduce pronation.
So our definition of pronation as "motion that occurs while the runner’s foot is on the ground" still stands. A better description of that motion in the shoe department at www.runningtimes.com, however, appears to be in order, and thanks to you, we’ll get right on it.
Many thanks, and my compliments for your excellent and very informative publication.
You’re quite welcome. Always proud to clear up the unclear. Give my best to GloveGuy.
