Gait Analysis

Right, so let's talk about Peter Sheard and Observational Gait Analysis

I feel sorry for you 2nd years - this was literally the worst module you could ever imagine. It was bad enough that Pete was only there for about half the semester. and weeks he was in he was pissing around with the lab schedule so we missed out on that part of it. The worst though was that what we got taught was just plain wrong. 

I found the biomechanics message board, called Biomch-L. I remembered that Paul F. would  forward info from there to all of us, so I put a message up there that was this:

We had been taught that the toes pointing toward each other was supination, and pointing away from each other was pronation. We were also taught that this excessive pronation was the result of a tight piriformis, as this muscle controls external rotation of the leg. I have not been able to find support for this anywhere. Can anybody offer some info on this please?

In relation to sports performance: The same lecturer had also taught that supinated athletes will sprint faster than pronated athletes, which is why a pigeon would win a race with a duck.

OK so here are the responses I got, some were pretty harsh:

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Dear Dan,

I guess that's what you get for going to a British so-called 'university'...
Did your lecturer have a PhD? From where?
You've been had.

Jim

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Dan,

Perhaps you inability to resolve the issues you raise may be because they are inaccurate.

A quick and simplistic response to your request ....

Pronation and supination typically refers to a movement that occurs about a derived (resultant) horizontal axis of rotation located in the foot and orientated antero-posteriorly. An elevated arch is the result of supination and a "flat" foot results from the action of pronation. A flat foot is a pronated foot.

Attempting to explain the action of the piriformis muscle on the foot is more difficult. The piriformis is primarily an abductor of the femur (thigh) at the hip joint ( and of course, the lateral deviation - or abduction of the pelvis at the hip joint). Pronation and supination are primarily accomplished / produced by altering the location of the weight of the super-incumbent body on the foot typically by the movement of the leg. Apparently supination and pronation are not produced by direct activity of the muscles of the leg on the arch of the foot.

IF - the action of a "tight" piriformis on the femur / thigh in any manner, affects the distribution of body weight on the foot - then it may be considered to produce "excessive" pronation. ( I am uncertain what "excessive pronation is, flat is flat. )

I have never heard of " ... that the toes pointing toward each other was supination,> and pointing away from each other was pronation " until now.
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You have a very interesting question... However, I have never heard that the result of a tight piriformis cause an excessive pronation.
How an external rotation of the leg can cause pronation? Could you clarify this issue for me?

Andrea.
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Incorrect again. ( could have said 'load of bollocks' but that would be rude)

I can't believe someone taught you this and must assume some misunderstanding here.

There is no correlation between foot placement angle and sub talar joint position.

If the piriformis is tight then there would be excessive suipnation by your paradigm.

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Hi Dan,

It seems as if there have been some miss-concepts.
Foot tips pointing towards each other (meaning internal rotation of the foot with regard to the tibia) is Foot-Adduction, whereas pointing outwards (meaning external rotation of the foot with regard to the tibia) is Foot-Abduction. This is a motion in the horizontal plane.

Pronation: Dorsiflexion, abduction and EVERSION
Supination: Plantarflexion, adduction and INVERSION

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Watch slo mo's of athletes running you will see that many very excessively pronate. It is reputed that Carl Lewis had very flat feet and some research has shown that people with flate feet perform as well or better than 'normal' feet.

cheers,
Dave
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Dan,

Sounds like you have been badly taught. None of those things claimed are true, let alone there being any evidence for them.

Craig

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OK, so right now I am somewhere between shocked and really really angry. II can't believe that they let him lecture when he is just way off base. when what we get taught is just factually incorrect. why does this uni let people teach who don't have the knowledge base? who have never worked in this field, who don't have any degrees relative to it?

 It's bad enough that the lecturers only come from Lu-beds, and are all Tim's mates. It seems that Pete doesn't know anything about gait, and even his anatomy is off. Our lecturer for this module should have some knowledge of biomechanics and such. Pete doesn't have this. Ok, so he was a cross country ski coach and then a scuba diver ... its absolutely BOLLOCKS that he can now be a lecturer in gait analysis, or even rehab. Where are his credentials? 

Oh yeah, I forgot, the only credentials you need to teach at this uni are being Tim's mate.  Being clueless seems to help!!!

I don't even want to go into the assigned seating we had this year. Way to go! we really need to be treated like children!!

Comments are welcome

Just want to say that I welcome any comments to the blog, hit the comments link below the post. I'd like to hear what more people have to say about the tuition at Lu-beds. 

Taz - whoever you are - hilarious comment :-) LMAO

Lecturers

I had always thought that the lecturers were supposed to be there to teach and support us. This really did not see to be the case at Luton/Bedfordshire (Lu-Beds?).  It seemed like they would run in and then run out of lecture and that as all we saw. Nobody returns emails or phone calls, and when they are in the office they just don't answer the door. Maybe if the lectures had been more clear or more accurate, we would not have had so many questions. 

I am not sure who the worst offender was. Mark Cousins was pretty much clueless. He knew a little about massage, but as for injuries, treatment, or rehab he knew nothing. Even the anatomy he taught was very poor, I am not sure he even had expertise on the subject. The cadaver anatomy day confirmed that. How are we supposed to compete for jobs after this level of instruction? 

The sports injuries module in 2nd year was horrible. Where did they find JJ? I know he is Tim's buddy, but why do we have to put up with somebody who does not work in sports medicine, does not deal with acute injuries and does not even know techniques for assessing injuries. Say what you want about Paul ( he was way too intense, especially for Luton .... and where did he buy his ties?) but he really knew his assessment techniques, in fact he knew injuries and rehab better than any of them. I don't think JJ had any idea about just how useless this module was. I learned so much more when I worked with a sports physio than I did the whole 2nd year.. I had to UN-learn a lot of that module.

So let's vote - who is the worst lecturer? I say Pete, even when he was there he was miserable. I have not had an assigned seat in school since I was 10 years old, but sure enough, Pete gave us assigned seats for lecture. Like I said in the first post, retaliation when you upset the TPM clique is a a given.  But at least we did not put up with this BS for long. I think we only had 8 lectures in gait analysis, not much more than that from him in rehab, but I think I'll leave that for a whole new post.

sharing opinions

I am just finishing the course at University of Bedfordshire, and I really want to let the world know what a mess it is. I hope some of the 1st years will se this in time to get out. There is no WAY I am going to use my real name before graduation, I know they would find a way to retaliate, Pete and Tim and Mark are like that.

The place is just so screwed up -Pete disappears for months on end, and I have heard that he uses it to extend his vacation, and fakes his illnesses. It seems that every spring he gets sick for an extended period. Hey, that doesn't even get into how screwed his lectures are, and how we get just info that is wrong, that contradicts everything I have read. I wish we still had a lecturer  who has worked in sports therapy, none of those LOSERS ever had a job in any kind of sports medicine.

As for Mark, I found out that the shirts we are required to have - he gets them printed and makes a profit on each one!!!!!!!!! And Tim is the one selling us the massage oil and cologne. They are all making money off us!!!! And what do we get? we can't even get an email answered!!!