Pronation is the normal shock absorbing motion of your foot.

The easiest way to see this is lowering of the arch as your heel hits the ground and your weight transfers to that foot. Normal pronation occurs from the point where the heel hits the ground until you have the front of your foot on the floor. At this point the foot should remain stable and begin the opposite motion, known as supination, in preparation to move forward as the heel comes off the ground and your weight shifts toward the toes in order to push off.

Over-pronation means that when the whole foot is on the ground you are beyond the point of stable and can’t get back in order to push off. This takes years of study in biomechanics to understand so don’t worry if you don’t quite get it. That’s my job.

There are different ways the foot can be seen as over-pronating: 1. the arch lowers and the heel turns out, or 2. the arch lowers, the heel stays still, and the front of the foot moves away from the center of the body. When looking from behind you can easily see the arch lower and heel turn out. It’s a little harder to appreciate the arch lowering and the front of the foot moving toward the outside of the body while the heel stays still. Look along the outside of the foot and you will notice that you can see 2-3, maybe even 4 toes. In a normal foot you should barely be able to see the little toe along the outside of the foot when looking straight from behind the heel. This is called, “too many toes sign”.

The problem with the over-pronated foot is that there is no stability. The foot is like a loose bag of bones and many deformities and syndromes can develop from this foot type. Shoes that help an over-pronator are motion control or stability shoes.

The opposite of pronation is supination. When a foot functions in a supinated position the heel strikes and as the weight is transferred to that foot the arch does not lower. In fact, the heel usually remains turned in and the arch remains high. That is exaggerated, but remember this stuff takes years to learn. This is a very stable position to be in and is advantageous for sprinters, baseball shortstops, basketball or volleyball players or anyone else that needs to be able to jump into action in a fraction of a second. So what’s wrong with this? Well these people are lacking the shock absorbing motion of the foot. This leads to excessive pressure on the foot and often times traveling up the leg, even to the back in some people. The supinated foot needs a shoe that cushions so the materials can absorb the shock.

If you’re not a pronator or supinator then your foot is stable, otherwise known as a neutral foot. You are the lucky one that can wear whatever shoe you like.