There may not be one. The article below reviews a large scale study performed with military training to evaluate the effectiveness of pairing people in running shoes that are proper for their foot type. Interestingly enough, it notes higher rates of injury in those with shoes properly paired (ex. Motion control shoes for those who over-pronate). This is counterintuitive and goes against much of what the athletic world believes at this point. However, I feel it illustrates a greater truth that goes unnoticed by many health care providers.

Pronation or any aberrant motion at the foot is at times an issue strictly of the foot. However, more often times it represents an issue further up in the body. Ankle issues, knee problems, and most often hip stability issues often appear with problems further down the kinetic chain and often times at the lowest end of the chain, in the feet.

There are studies that clearly show ‘motion control’ shoes reduce pronation when used on a treadmill. The American Journal of Sports Medicine study noted below shows that fitting people for supportive footwear based on identifying faulty foot motions increased the rate of injury. How is this possible? Pronation or any faulty foot motion allows energy (force) to leak from the body. This can be a compensation mechanism for improper mechanics elsewhere in the body. What I believe we’re seeing, is that when we remove this compensatory mechanism with ‘motion control’ shoes, we are preventing energy leakage and forcing the body to compensate in a new and different manner. This results in increased stress and a change in movements. This leads to overuse type injuries and the lost days of training seen in this study.

So what do we do about it? First, find pair of shoes that is comfortable (and don’t be afraid of ‘neutral’ running shoes). Second, find a health care professional who is skilled and competent in evaluating functional movement patterns. This will help identify where your issue may be arising from, rather than just addressing the end-result.