Base of support and chronic ankle sprains

We spoke at length about “base of support” and how if you have a narrow base of support, you have a small comfort zone of balance in single leg tasking (walking, running, sports etc). If you have a narrow base of support, you will wish and attempt to put the center of your body mass over the foot at all times…….hence the cross over gait often times. Increasing balance ability will help to increase base of support and hence help with reducing cross over gait (narrow step width gait and running) tendencies.
* This study here showed that a SINGLE episode of single 30-minute training session involving kicking a ball while standing on 1 foot promoted changes in postural-control strategies in individuals with chronic ankle instabilty(CAI).
Does this translate to the assumption that “CAI clients will have a narrow step width, narrow base of support, and a cross over gait”? No, but if you are thinking that way, we want you on our team.

Changes in Postural Control After a Ball-Kicking Balance Exercise in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability. Marcio Jose dos Santos PhD, Josilene Conceição PT, MSc, Felipe Gustavo Schaefer de Araújo, Gilmar Moraes SantosPhD, John Keighley PhD