POINTE QUESTION?!?! im in advanced classes but scared of alot lately.?

Question:i usually have no fear on my toe shoes but lately after my 4th year on pointe (i am 14) i have been terrified. my ankles feel pretty weak lately and idk y and i am scared of sickling over my little toe.
what can i do to have more confidence in my strength or probably the best answer would b how to gain strength. please remember i am not a beginner.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: i usually have no fear on my toe shoes but lately after my 4th year on pointe (i am 14) i have been terrified. my ankles feel pretty weak lately and idk y and i am scared of sickling over my little toe.
what can i do to have more confidence in my strength or probably the best answer would b how to gain strength. please remember i am not a beginner.

yes! people that know what i'm talking about, thank god -- now I get to say stuff and not write a novel trying to explain it.?

Did you take a break from pointe, or has this fear suddenly developed? It may be because you are just not used to being up and are afraid that, even after a month or a couple of weeks, you just need to gain comfort. If this isn't the case, try these tips:

- remember as you dance en pointe: your big toe is your friend, so stay SAFELY on the tip of your box on the big toe side.
- you might want to start to break in your shoe russian style. This is relatively easy to do (and i'm trusting you to be safe and strong while you do this because you're a ballerina -- the strongest kind of dancer -- and you're not a begginner). Just stand on a hard floor, not a carpet, in your shoes. Go up and balance on the inside corner of your box. Just stay there and pulse your ankles inward. You will feel weird but it helps to train your arch and break in your shoe properly.
- killers, killers, killers! some people have different names -- calf burns, flamers, turfs... in the end they're all basically releves. naturally, the slower the better. hopefully you have a cd. these will help with your ankles
- never, never, NEVER break in your shoes with a door if you don't know how to do it. even if you're comfortable doing this in this situation, please try russian style instead.

In the end, there's really no substitute for good break-in techniques and killers. Your russian break-in methods should handle that nasty sickle. You'll feel comfortable in no time.

Good luck,
Hope I helped,
Elaina

(PS. you might not want to change your shoes if you're faithful to one brand right now -- if you're not, don't get blochs!! american brands are the worst! get russians or english brands)

Even though you are advanced you still need to develop your muscles so they will help your ankles be strong. The reason why they feel weak is because you haven't used them as much and you probably haven't practiced using the proper muscles to keep those muscles strong. I'm in advanced too and my ankles feel weak too, my instructor told me it's because I haven't stretched and fully developed those muscles too.

Hope that helped,
Traci

did you have an injury? ever since i had an injury (ankle sprain from rolling it as well as my discovery of having acute tendonitis) i have been terrified of doing anything that could make me re-injur the area. if i was you, i would just do a lot of ankle exercises to make you feel like your ankles are so strong that there would be no chance of sickling over. because my ankle is weak, i wear a brace... and it helps me with my confidence, but if you dont have an injury you dont need to do that. also, just do a bunch of releve's at home (the burners) and hopefully you can make your ankles feel stronger.... good luck and BE SAFE!