# Why do many people walk with their feet splayed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121 "2015-10-10T04:35:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/21 "2015-10-11T00:41:01Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > It’s just how my legs are. The resting position of my feet is about 80 degrees. > > I can’t ski because forcing my feet to be parallel is uncomfortable. Same here. In my case I think it’s a thing with my knee joints. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/22 "2015-10-11T01:10:53Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > It’s my opinion that people who walk with their feet splayed are in a psychologically different state of mind to those who walk with a natural gait. Nah… they’re just Mansplaying !!! ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/23 "2015-10-11T01:26:45Z")
I’ve always walked this way. My dad does it too. I don’t know why. I can walk with my feet pointed straight ahead if I concentrate on it, and it doesn’t hurt or anything, but if I stop making the effort, my toes return to the splayed position. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/24 "2015-10-11T05:27:45Z")
I know a woman who walks with her feet turned out because of the years and years of ballet training she had in her youth. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/25 "2015-10-11T07:51:23Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > It’s my opinion that people who walk with their feet splayed are in a psychologically different state of mind to those who walk with a natural gait. I would like you to explain these supposed differences please. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/26 "2015-10-11T11:58:37Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > I’ve just noticed that this same question was discussed here back in 2006 > [Where do your feet point when you walk, and why? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=360193) And they’ve pretty much given the answer we’d give you today. It’s just pop psychology mumbo-jumbo. They assign the “good” qualities to the one that is more “correct” and the “bad” qualities to the other. It’s not unlike saying left handed people are sinister. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/27 "2015-10-12T04:08:57Z")
> [@SeniorCitizen007](#): > > It’s my opinion that people who walk with their feet splayed are in **a psychologically different state of mind** … You keep not explaining what you mean by this. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/28 "2015-10-12T12:52:24Z")
OP hasn’t been back since his late edit (post #3) to his OP. And he probably won’t be. ---
**Author:** ![SeniorCitizen007](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@SeniorCitizen007](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeniorCitizen007)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/29 "2015-10-12T15:47:20Z")
This is interesting: > **[Pronation of the foot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronation_of_the_foot)** > > Pronation is a natural movement of the foot that occurs during foot landing while running or walking. Composed of three cardinal plane components: subtalar eversion, ankle dorsiflexion, and forefoot abduction, these three distinct motions of the foot occur simultaneously during the pronation phase. Pronation is a normal, desirable, and necessary component of the gait cycle. Pronation is the first half of the stance phase, whereas supination starts the propulsive phase as the heel begi The normal ... As to whether my opinion that the majority of people who walk with their feet splayed are in some kind of psychological state caused by the way they walk has any validity … just spend some time observing the way people walk. A lot of people walk with their left foot straight but their right foot splayed … my conclusion is that this is caused by their frequent use of mobile phones. They stand with their right foot at an angle as they hold the phone to their ear with their right hand, tilting their head to the right. When the call finishes their mind is preoccupied with the conversation they’ve just had and they walk off with their right foot splayed and their head slightly tilted to the right. An increasing number of people are doing this. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/30 "2015-10-12T17:53:43Z")
I have a number of relatives, mostly male, who’ve walked this way their entire lives. They call it being ding-toed. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/31 "2015-10-12T18:04:05Z")
There is no reason not to believe that an emotional state could affect a persons gate. It has a strong effect on how we hold our shoulders and arms when we walk. I have observed folks who walk with arms not swinging much and have a short stepped choppy fast pace to their walk will usually fit a fairly consistent personality type. An easy experiment you can do that might give you some feedback would be to simply go for a walk. While you are walking take on various mind sets if you are capable of doing this. I just now did this for fun on a short walk. ``` I used a co-dependent victim mindset, a fuck you world mind set, a busy busy mindset, ect. Each mindset I took on required that I change my walk or it just did not feel natural. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/32 "2015-10-13T03:02:59Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > I know a woman who walks with her feet turned out because of the years and years of ballet training she had in her youth. I naturally walked with toes turned out when I was a child (as well as walking on the balls of my feet). Trained myself out of it as an adolescent when I realized that it was considered “not quite right.” Had training in Latin dancing a bit later and it’s all about toes-out and stepping on the balls of your feet. Later still, get massive plantar fasciitis problems due to an ill-timed hike right after childbirth, so now every step feels like I’m the little mermaid unless I take serious drugs. I wear clogs now and clump around with little attention to detail. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/33 "2015-10-13T17:14:15Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > ``` > I used a co-dependent victim mindset, a fuck you world mind set, a busy busy mindset, ect. Each mindset I took on required that I change my walk or it just did not feel natural. > > ``` I’m not convinced that method-acting is a valid psychological research technique. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121/34 "2015-10-13T17:57:46Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > I know a woman who walks with her feet turned out because of the years and years of ballet training she had in her youth. ballet, gymnastics, and high arches… also walking duck foot feels more stable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-many-people-walk-with-their-feet-splayed/734121.md?page=1)