I'm clumsy and get spranged ankles all the time!?

Question:Okay so I'm a dancer (ballet tap jazz & sometimes modern). I love 2 dance & I'm pretty good at it, but sometimes I get clumsy or get tired and don't pick up my feet. Does anyone have any tips for picking up my feet or spranged ankles.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Okay so I'm a dancer (ballet tap jazz & sometimes modern). I love 2 dance & I'm pretty good at it, but sometimes I get clumsy or get tired and don't pick up my feet. Does anyone have any tips for picking up my feet or spranged ankles.

Some people's ankles are more prone to sprains than others. I know, I'm one of them. :( That may be part of your problem, and something you'll have to work harder on. If you have really archy feet or bony ankles, you're naturally going to have this problem. My sister and I both have feet like that, and we both have a ton of ankle problems.

Things that work for me: first, strengthen your ankles. Releves are good for this, if you concentrate on using your ankles. Also, theraband exercises, hopping from one foot to another while you're on demi-pointe, and laying on your back (knees bent, balls of the feet on the floor) and lifting your butt so that your weight is mainly on your shoulders and the balls of your feet.

Another thing to strengthen is your feet. If you strengthen your arches and your toes, you'll have an easier time picking them up, and also controlling your whole lower body (really, it works). Aside from theraband stretches, the easiest foot strengthening exercise I know is this: sit on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you. Point one foot as hard as you can, concentrating on stretching your toes out. Try to touch your big toe (or the ball of your foot) to the ground (note: this takes a lot of practice). Hold it for thirty seconds, then do the other foot.

For stamina, do some form of conditioning for your muscles. The best one is dancing more, but jump rope, walking, running, etc can all work.

If you're just off an injury, don't dance full out. In fact, make sure your ankle is fully healed before you start dancing again. Wear a brace if your ankle feels at all weak.

Final thing: don't dance when you're tired or lazy. If you're being lazy, just don't dance. Either get un-lazy, or go do something else. If you're tired, stop, because if you're not controlling your body, you're obviously more likely to hurt yourself. This is kinda hard to do in class, especially if your teacher is yelling at you to keep going, but if you're so tired that your legs are flopping around wildly, you're not actually doing work that will help you later.

Hope all this helps.

If you're so tired that you're injuring yourself, get more sleep! If you think you're too tired to go to class, don't go. If it's your muscles that get tired, do more exercises to strengthen them and work on your endurance. Repeatedly spraining your ankles could result in permanent injury and ruin dance for you forever.