Performance Benefits: The Ankle

Benefits

1. Allows for clean technique (timing/check/body position)    
   
2.  Fewer energy leaks (more efficient)
   
3. Symmetrical drive (straighter line)
4. Elastic Potential (free energy)
5. Better leverage (bigger send)
   

Adequate Ankle ROM= high quality, efficient stroke

There is a slight heel lift as part of the recovery, the drive only begins after the heels touch down and the blade locks onto the water. Energy is efficiently applied to boat speed, and a straight course. Elastic energy can be used as we begin to apply force to the footplate. The bigger, stronger muscles (glutes and hamstrings) are able to engage early on in the drive.

Elastic Potential

Imagine stretching a rubber band back so it’s taut. Now launch 🚀 that rubber band across the room. That’s the elastic potential. Take that same rubber band and try to launch it across the room without stretching it, that’s closer to what you get with too much flexibility/improper rigging. 

Excessive Ankle ROM = over-compression, lack of elastic potential, late drive
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Clean ankles allow for a smooth catch without checking the boat. We don’t want to jump off the front end of our stroke. We want that transition from heels up to heels down. If heels never rise it’s harder to feel this transition and we may not benefit from the elastic potential of a fully stretched/compressed lower body.

​Note: that a better example here would include shins past parallel as well as heels down flat.

Limited Ankle ROM = lack of compression, lack of leverage, early drive
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All the technical compensations listed in our earlier post here will cause energy leaks. This is energy lost to inefficiency that we could be using to send the boat. Instead we’re losing it as the energy is dispersed across the compensating area (feet, knees, hips, spine). If the heels rise excessively we’re unable to effectively drive off the front end. Instead, the heels rise high, and we check the boat as we often press before the blade enters the water. We spend too much time pressing through our toes which forces us to use weaker muscles on the drive sequence. 


Could your ankles be affecting your performance?