Has any adult-onset swimmer succeeded in increasing ankle flexibility?
Former Member
My ankle inflexibility seems to be a huge drag to my freestyle and backstroke. In my attempts to increase ankle flexibility, I have employed a couple of methods suggested elsewhere in this forum - (1) assuming the "child's tv-watching" position, with my lower legs folded beneath my buttocks and (2) using fins.
However, after three months, I don't seem to have gained any more flexibility in the ankle joints. Have other adult-onset swimmers been able to gain ankle flexibility through these methods or otherwise?
I've known how to swim since I was 4, but never swam competitively, and just began masters in 1998. After years of pain, I was finally referred to a podiatrist for my heel spurs (or as some like to call it plantar fasciatiis). She told me that the root of my problem lies in my ankles AND leg muscles not being flexible and putting added stress on my feet. I've never been able to touch my toes from a standing position. So they gave me a brace that I wear a few hours a day, and they gave me instructions for stretching. They also recommend yoga (I found a, "Gentle Yoga," class offered by a local community college that I need to register for). I go back in 2 weeks (ever 6 weeks), so we'll see if anything has helped so far.
I've known how to swim since I was 4, but never swam competitively, and just began masters in 1998. After years of pain, I was finally referred to a podiatrist for my heel spurs (or as some like to call it plantar fasciatiis). She told me that the root of my problem lies in my ankles AND leg muscles not being flexible and putting added stress on my feet. I've never been able to touch my toes from a standing position. So they gave me a brace that I wear a few hours a day, and they gave me instructions for stretching. They also recommend yoga (I found a, "Gentle Yoga," class offered by a local community college that I need to register for). I go back in 2 weeks (ever 6 weeks), so we'll see if anything has helped so far.
