Feet Squared

As Quentin Tarantino likes to say, let’s focus on the feet.

As a conduit to the ground, your feet are an essential part of any kind of athletic movement. It’s well worth it to invest in the skills that help you to stabilize, mobilize, and otherwise not leak energy when you step, jump, or land. Here are a few things that you can play around with at home, on the subway, or anytime your feet are on the ground.

4 Point Foot Drill

We’ll begin with a standing drill. This is best performed without shoes. Here, you’ll focus on distributing your weight equally between four points on each foot. The base of the big toe, the base of the pinky toe, the outside of your heel and the inside of your heel. Stand approximately hip-width for starters.

Lateral/medial shift

Shift or lean your weight to one side. Notice how the pressure shifts from side to side in each foot. Now reset your four points and ask the question of how far you can move with zero perceptible change in weight distribution. Forget about total range of motion; instead, make perfect weight distribution the priority. Shift side to side as you test this out.

Forward/backward shift

Similar to the previous exercise, you’ll establish your four points of contact, but instead, tilt forward  as if  you’re a ski jumper. You’ll press the front of your feet down as you load them. Here, you will ask how far you can go without unloading the rear two points.

Here, you may find yourself challenging ankle mobility or, more likely, your ability to stabilize your bodyweight through the mid-foot.

Squares and Circles

Now combine the last two drills to form a square. Forward, left, back, right, etc. Still using even weight distribution as the key indicator. You can begin to smooth the edges out to create  more circular movements. Or even trace out a figure-8 for bonus credit.

These skills lead to strength and body awareness, helping you fine-tune movements and channel your strength and balance more efficiently.