Foot/ankle support when kneeling

[Alan Gage]

I'm a 99% sitter. I went for a paddle this weekend and kneeled for a bit. As usual I find the most uncomfortable part of kneeling to be my ankle joints. When I kneel my toes are pointed toward the stern with the top of my foot in contact with the hull and after a while this stretched position begins to bother me.

I don't think I've ever tried kneeling with my feet vertical (toes touching the bottom of the hull) but that doesn't seem like it would be very comfortable either.

So what foot position do you kneelers use and how comfortable is it? Does anyone use foam supports under the ankle to remove some strain and relax that joint?

Alan

 

[Steve in Idaho]

When I first started kneeling, I put a section of pool noodle under my ankles for support. Eventually, tendons got stretched out enough I didn't need that. In winter when I can't paddle much I keep things loose by kneeling for a bit as part of my regular exercise.

My whitewater solo has foot pegs behind the saddle, so I kneel with my feet on the pegs and toes pointed down. That's pretty comfortable, so I think if one had toe blocks in the appropriate location behind the seat that also might be a comfortable option without the need for conditioning.

 

[ABT]

I have mentioned in some other threads how kneeling is difficult for me so I mainly do it only in my dedicated whitewater boat, although I do try to practice in my Polaris when I solo it. Both the ankles and knees are painful for me and about 20-30 minutes is all I can stand in the Polaris with just a neoprene kneeling pad. In the whitewater boat I have thicker foam knee pads from Northstar and I use mini cell foam ankle blocks I made. They look similar to the attached photo but are cheaper to make yourself. The ankle blocks make a world of difference to me. I keep meaning to try the pool noodle trick in the Polaris and just haven’t gotten around to it.

 

[Alan Gage]

I use mini cell foam ankle blocks I made. They look similar to the attached photo but are cheaper to make yourself. The ankle blocks make a world of difference to me.

I assume they're attached to the floor to keep them from moving around when getting into/out of position?

Alan

 

[ABT]

I assume they're attached to the floor to keep them from moving around when getting into/out of position?

Alan

Yep. A lot of guys use weldwood contact cement for them, and that’s what I used for my knee pads. I wasn’t 100% decided on how I wanted my boat trimmed though, so I used an adjustable northwater saddle, long knee pads, and I made the ankle blocks adjustable with strips of 3M dual lock (basically like industrial, reusable Velcro) so I can shift the whole setup forward or backward. It’s rated for outdoor use and has held up good so far but only time will tell. I figure by the time it fails I’ll be certain where I want to glue them down permanently. It may also be a good option for you as you can heat it up with a hair dryer and remove it completely if you don’t like it with much less effort than removing contact cement.

 

[Erica]

With the Colden Dragonfly I am kneeling all the time and at first I thought this would be difficult. Au contraire, I can kneel for hours paddling that canoe. For some reason it "fits" me.

I wear socks or neoprene booties and my feet are extended flat out toward the stern. This is not uncomfortable for me and I think my feet naturally have a tendency to "flop" that way. Recently I've been thinking that maybe a noodle under my ankles for variety, to loosen things up, but I haven't tried it yet.

When I was paddling tandem, I was sitting unless in whitewater, in which case I was kneeling. Then I wore actual shoes or boots that kept my ankles and feet at right angles to each other. When I am sitting to paddle, I have to change position every few minutes to stay comfortable.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

I've seen a dry bag blown up empty and set between the legs as a way to keep pressure off the ankles. I tend to kneel for both control and tradition (though it is getting harder and harder as the years go), and have resorted to just setting my butt on a thwart to keep the pressure off.
Yoga's 'hero pose' is good practice, as are various lunges and bends to help keep the knees and ankles in good shape. The best I've done for my canoeing is to try to keep my body limber out of the canoe.

 

[Gamma1214]

I kneel in rapids or sketchy open water crossings (it facilitates prayer) but I don't (and can't) put the top of my foot flat against the hull. I'm kneeling with toes down & bent slightly. In that position, I do not need to sit back against anything other than my lower legs so ejection should be pretty straightforward.

 

[gumpus]

Just a couple more comments in case any help...

Like Erica I never wear shoes in a canoe. That helps more than you'd expect. You can also gain a little comfort by using a kneeling pad that does not go under the seat so your ankles don't have to bend quite as much. I also recommend trying seat pads with a wide range of thickness; in my experience when you tune in the seat height there will be very little weight on your knees and I think that could reduce the pressure on your ankles too. Even if you adjust seat height to reduce pressure on knees and ankles it's still easy and natural to scooch forward on the seat an inch or just shift more weight to your knees when you want maximum control.

 

[stevet]

Best advice I can give is to arrange your seat so that about 60% of your weight is on your butt and only 40 on your knees. That way it’s much easier to move your ankles and feet around periodically to give yourself some relief.

 

[Art D]

Let me advise that it simply takes time in the boat to stretch out your ankles. It took me a year and half before I could comfortably paddle an hour and a half while kneeling. Now, two years later, I’m paddling two hours and 45 minutes four times a week while kneeling and find it comfortable. I think it just takes time and a willingness to endure the discomfort for a while.

 

[PaddlingPika]

Just a couple more comments in case any help...

. . . . . . . . .. You can also gain a little comfort by using a kneeling pad that does not go under the seat so your ankles don't have to bend quite as much. . . . . .

This makes sense, but in experimenting with different combinations of padding for knees I found that having a section of yoga mat (less than 1/4" thick) that extends under the seat for my feet to rest on helps a little with foot comfort when kneeling.

I've always been pigeon-toed and my feet tend to rotate inward when kneeling so that the toes on each foot point towards the other foot with outside edges more than the tops of each foot resting on the floor. I used to be able to kneel comfortably for extended periods this way without thinking much about it but now with less flexibility in general and a torn meniscus in one knee I'm starting to experience the foot discomfort associated with kneeling that others talk about.

 

[ppine]

I have used a rolled up wool blanket and small pillows. They all help. But now at 75 I don't kneel for long.