After several foot injuries in Rafa’s early career a Specialist in Madrid finally identified that Rafa suffered from a Congenital rare disease of the Tarsal Scaphoid – which turned out to be his own unique version of the Achilles’ heel. As a professional tennis player, repetitive stress on this part of the foot causes the bone to splinter. This had first happened to Rafa when he was only 19 years old and the advice from the specialist is that he ‘might’ have to retire from professional tennis.
Naturally this devastated Rafa but his Dad stepped in and decided to do some research so that this problem would not stand in the way of Rafa’s career.
With instructions/directions from the specialist in Madrid, Nike then designed a tennis shoe especially for Rafa with a much thicker sole, more elevated, particularly in the area which now acted as a custion for the scaphoid bone.
As all orthotics or adjustments to shoes alter the region of the foot where weight naturally falls and, as the specialist had predicted, when Rafa first began wearing these altered shoes he started suffering muscle strains where he’d never had problems before, in the back, knees and thighs.
As Rafa continued wearing his new shoes new problems kept cropping up, obliging new but critical changes to be made to the soles. Years later they still make these adjustments!
As with Customised Arch Supports, it can be necessary to make adjustments as the gait settles down to new pressures points. At Foot Solutions we are very happy to work closely with our customers, making necessary adjustments, to ensure that our customers continue to benefit from the Customised Arch Supports we make for them.
Unlike, Rafa, most of us are not playing upwards of 60 Professional Tennis matches a year! But as we are all living longer and longer these days it is very important, not only for our Feet, but also for our Knees, Hips and Lower back that we remain pain free as long as possible. Afterall staying healthy and having a pain free lifestyle includes daily exercise – so as long as we remain fit we can continue to enjoy life to the full.
Our aim, at Foot Solutions, is to help you to keep up this healthy lifestyle by wearing comfortable, supportive footwear. Call in anytime and enjoy our unique Customer Service which includes a FREE foot assessment!
Unlucky at the Australian Open yesterday Nadal – obviously more adjustments needed!
