Simple Ball Exercise for Stronger, Healthier Feet

Written by: Matti Melanen, Licensed Physiotherapist.

This time we will be working with a ball.

The ball can be hard or soft, and it should fit in your palm. So, we are not talking about using a soccer ball, but rather something like a tennis ball, a hard massage ball, or even a golf ball.

The foot needs good mobility and should naturally be flexible to adapt to the surface as effectively as possible. One of the most important functions of the foot when walking during the support phase of the step is to adapt to the surface.

This adaptation allows for more effective shock absorption and load distribution not only in the foot area but also elsewhere in the body during walking and running. This reduces the overload of individual parts of the foot and the resulting pain and symptoms.

Simple is beautiful

Foot mobilization with a ball is, at its simplest, placing the ball on the floor, putting your foot on the ball, and transferring weight onto the foot appropriately. This way, the ball sinks into the sole of your foot and pushes the bones of the foot into different positions and angles relative to each other. At the same time, it stretches the soft tissues between the bones.

After pressing the ball in one spot for a while, you can lift your foot and move the ball about a centimeter to the side, forward, or backward, and then transfer the weight back onto your foot.

You can systematically work through the foot in this way from both sides as well as from the front and back. Very simple and easy.

Rolling Exercises

Rolling not only influences the bony structures of the foot’s architecture but also the functionality of the soft tissues, especially the fascia.

Roll through the foot

• Place the ball at the base of the toes on the inner edge of the foot. Apply appropriate pressure; if you need to hold your breath or grit your teeth, there is too much pressure.
• Roll the ball with steady pressure from the base of the toes towards the base of the heel.
• Repeat a total of three times.

• Move the ball to the base of the toes in the center of the foot. Apply appropriate pressure.
• Roll three times in total, maintaining steady pressure.

• Move the ball to the base of the toes on the outer edge of the foot. Apply appropriate pressure.
• Roll three times in total, maintaining steady pressure.

Roll the Ball Across the Foot

Once you have rolled through the foot lengthwise, you can still work on it crosswise.

• Place the ball at the base of the toes on the outer edge of the foot. Apply appropriate pressure.
• Roll the ball with steady pressure across the toes from the outer edge to the inner edge. Try to bring out the "knuckles" of the foot.
• Repeat a total of three times.

Shake your foot and then do the same treatment on the other foot. Once you have rolled both feet, walk barefoot and notice how your feet feel while walking.

Summary

The foot should naturally be very mobile and flexible, a structural feature the body needs when walking. However, most walking is done in traditional shoes that do not allow the foot to utilize its mobility and flexibility. Over time, the structures of the foot become stiff, tight, and weakened, and they do not function as they naturally should.

This is unfortunately a very common starting point when considering the use of barefoot shoes. If one starts using barefoot shoes carelessly and without understanding that dysfunctional feet will experience a significant increase in load due to the change in footwear, problems can follow.
But this is not the fault of barefoot shoes.

Starting to use barefoot shoes should be approached not as an event (changing shoes) but as a process (learning to use new shoes). Fortunately, this process can be accelerated by doing exercises, of which mobilizing with a ball is one.

Best regards,
Matti