How do you correct years of riding in this position? My ankles feel like they are going to fall off when I try to correct them.
Foot position comes from hip and upper leg position. Try working on opening up your hips with some pilates or yoga exercises or swimming.
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Yes, it’s the hip. Your knee and foot should point in the same direction.
That said, some people can never do it. Get everything else correct, work on your own strength and balance, and you will develop as much as you are intrinsically able.
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For myself, a pelvic reset from a physical therapist and follow up exercises were very helpful.
Watch yourself walk. Do your toes point straight forward when you walk or do you toe out some? I toe out in compensation for SI issues. The PT was super helpful in and out of the saddle, but the SI injections were a game changer.
YMMV
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As everyone said, it’s hip/pelvis related. Pilates is great for this, but make sure you don’t just focus on loosening and stretching. Strengthening your hip flexors and other connected muscles will help SO much! Once you can isolate and USE those muscles, you can keep everything in line and let you leg drape.
Still, individual conformation is a thing, so a lot of us can never achieve that perfectly forward leg look.
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Which way your foot point depends on your hip rotation, not your ankle.
For jumping, your foot SHOULD point out at about a 45 degree angle
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Completely agree with everyone else. Toes out is not a problem with your ankles, it has to do with your hips. Strengthening/loosening the hips will help a lot.
Have you ever skiied before? One visual that really helps me is the one that ski instructors use to teach people to stop (at least I think that’s what it is, it’s been many years since I skiied!). Imagine making a pizza slice with your “skis” aka feet. Think of doing it from your hips instead of your ankles. You should not feel like you’re rolling your ankles to make your feet point forward.
Something else worth mentioning is that the twist of the saddle can greatly impact your toe position. I used to struggle so much with only using the back part of my calf. My toes would stick out like crazy. When I got a saddle with a narrower twist, the problem as much as disappeared overnight. I still have a tendency to put my toes out but it’s not nearly as bad as before.
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I came here to say just this!
I’ve said it 10000 times on saddle threads. While physical & in the saddle exercise will help some, if your saddle is wrong, it will never fix it until you find the right saddle for your body shape. This definitely sounds like a twist issue.
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