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 Finally,
a Solution to Heel Pain?
Throughout the world there are young soccer players ages 8 – 14
dealing with heel pain every time they take to the field. After
many years of dealing with this problem and conducting research
I have finally found a “cure”. Now, while CURE is probably the
wrong word to use, if you fix a problem, I would call that close
enough to a cure even though it is a “fix”.
Your child is not a freak…
Remember, the heel pain referred to as
Severs Disease is from a normal growth process. The only
real “cure” is time and finishing or at least getting through
the growth stage. All the physicians and specialists will tell
you the same thing, “All you can do is help them get through it,
avoid the activity, stretch and ice.” It is very common and one
of those frustrating “growth issues”.
When it’s your child…
In a way this whole process has several
funny twists to it. I work with soccer players at all levels of
the game from young 9 year olds to professional players. While
developing the
www.SoccerU.com series I dealt with a large number of
players in the 10 – 14 year old age group. Several had this
problem. However, nothing touches home like having your own son
having horrible pain that is so unbearable he has to pull out of
games. This started my journey of research, trials and
experiments. I can tell you now that changing cleats,
stretching, icing and all the recommend treatments might help a
little, but they DO NOT stop the pain. I have a closet full of
“fixes” that will soon be thrown away.
A flash back in time finds a cure…
Many, many years ago (before cell phones
but after dinosaurs) I was getting ready to move and took a
temporary job at a small new company. This company had figured
out that a special type of foam material was better at deadening
impact than others on the market. Its structural make up, an
open cell vs. a closed cell membrane, allowed for amazing
results.
At that time it was a whole in the wall
with around 7 employees. When the salesmen, all 2 of them,
traveled to trade shows they would take a self made contraption
that looked like a long tube. An insole would be placed at the
bottom and from 6 feet up and egg would be dropped down the
tube. The insole would absorb the impact and the egg didn’t
break.
After having this “flash back” I did some
searching and found the company was still around and was now
quite large and successful. (I’m sure greatly due to my six
months of work.) I found a pair of their insoles and took them
to my “evil laboratory” (garage) to begin my work.
Customizing was the key…
The first problem I had to overcome was the
width.
Soccer cleat insoles are very narrow. My
son was wearing a men’s size 8 at the time but a men’s insole
would not even come close. So I bought a women’s size and it was
much closer. I removed the soccer cleat insole, traced it, and
put the new insole in the cleat.
All seemed great until he tried them on.
When he put them on he immediately commented that his “toe area”
felt too tight. After comparing the replacement with the normal
insert I realized that the “height” of the toe and ball of the
foot area was too thick compared to the insole that came with
the cleat.
Now, if I had a belt sander it would have
been much easier. (My wife prefers that I don’t handle sharp
objects or power tools.) Instead I sat in my driveway slowly
rubbing the front area of the insole back and forth on the
cement. This “sanded” or removed some of the material. I kept
working it for quite some time until I removed about half of all
the front end foam. Problem solved. While this method seems
tedious, it does allow for great control over the removal
process.
The results…
After nearly 2 seasons with my own son
using this method and many others that have tried it, it has
proven to be the only effective method for “curing” 90% of the
pain. These are the first known results that have effectively
proven to eliminate the pain almost immediately and long term.
Make sure you buy cleats that have a PULL
OUT insert and not one that is glued in. The Nike Tiempo is a
good example of a shoe I recommend.
Resources:
For more soccer training tips, advice and
technical training go to
www.SoccerU.com
You can order
a set of these inserts by clicking the picture below.
I suggest you order the women's size 8-11 for most youth boy's
cleats.
You can always trace and trim.
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