Plantar fasciitis is not unique to long-distance runners. In 2009, American soccer star quarterback Eli Manning suffered from plantar fasciitis, not because he ran too much, but because he used his feet too much in passing the ball, causing inflammation of the soft tissues underneath his feet. Basically, fasciitis is the same as Tendonitis, in that too much pressure falls on a specific area of soft tissue, causing inflammation over time. The cause of a plantar fasciitis attack is simple: “the wrong way to move”. They compensate to produce movement, and eventually the soft tissues on the bottom of the foot are overloaded with too much pressure and become angry. Too much Pronation (ankle tilting inward) or too much Supination (ankle tilting outward) in the foot for a long time can cause soft tissue inflammation. You can buy a pair of shoes for the foot problem or put extra insoles to make the problem go away, but in fact this is treating the symptom but not the cause. Excessive Pronation and Supination are signs of “ankle and hip instability”. In short, plantar fasciitis is an alarm that “something in the movement is dysfunctional” and if you just turn it off, it may only get worse. The disorder may be caused by tight hip flexors due to sedentary lifestyle or tight calf muscles due to wearing high heels. The steps to deal with plantar fasciitis are “soft tissue relaxation”, “mobility development” and “stability training”. One of the best ways to relax the soft tissues is to use a golf ball to massage the sole of the foot back and forth and side to side. After soft tissue relaxation, the next step is to restore proper mobility and stability of the ankle and hip. First, you can do a test to see if you have Dorsiflexion of the Ankle, which ideally bends backwards at an angle of 30 degrees. If basic stretching is not available, here are a few exercises to develop ankle mobility. Stability exercises are then used to develop ankle and hip stability, which helps maintain proper alignment when standing, walking or running. Here are a few stability tests: ◎ SingleLegHeelLift (page 311) If you have difficulty performing this movement, do it every day until you master it. If you don’t lose your balance when you lift your heel, it means you have a good level of stability for this movement.FootandAnkleActivation◎Single-LegRotation (page 312) This movement tests the stability of the ankle and hip joints when you rotate (there is an element of rotation in the running movement). If you stand on one foot and rotate your upper body from side to side, and your body does not lose balance when your arms rotate at an angle of 45 degrees or more, you have a good level of stability for this movement. The ability to stabilize your whole body (including the hip and ankle) when you move your hip.