I'm on a jazz/kick dance team. Whenever we do kicks (we do lots of them) I turn my foot in. How can I make this stop? it doesn't seem as easy as just turning it out when I kick, i almost cant. It's hard to explain. My leg itself seems to be pretty turned out, but not my foot! It makes my kicks very gross looking. Also how can I improve kick height? I have both my splits. Thank you so much!

Do you take any ballet? Consider throwing a class into your week. Ballet battements (kicks), focus on a turned out leg and foot, and a quick UP, slow DOWN motion, which helps your kicks be more controlled, and higher too, because the slow down motion trains those muscles to hold the leg.

Have you tried winging your foot when you kick? A fully turned out leg turns out from the hip, but the ankle position really completes the line. So for example, sit down and extend your right leg in front of you. Point your toes. Now move your ankle so that your pinkie toe is pointing AWAY from your leg. Pointing OUT instead of in. If you were to move your foot to the left, your big toe would be pointing in towards your other leg. that's not what you want.

Now turn out your leg from the hip. That's the position you want. I know a FULLY turned out leg isn't as important in jazz as it is in. But if you're having issues with your foot turning in, it's better to make sure you have the fully turned out foot position fixed in your mind.

I know a FULLY turned out leg isn't as important in jazz

This is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE. Any good jazz dancer should be able to kick while turned out AND in parallel. Turnout is no less important in jazz than in ballet.

Anyway, I doubt the OP is talking about turnout. More likely, she's talking about sickling (the opposite of winging) - which has to do with lateral placement, not rotation. I had that same problem when I started dancing. The easiest way to fix the problem is to point through your big toe instead of through the middle of your foot.

Thank you for the responses!! I do take a ballet class. I think the problem may be turning my foot in. So if Imagine pointing with my big toe it will help? Thank you so much.

It's hard to tell without seeing, but it sounds like part of the problem is that when you're performing a kick, while you think of actively turning out your leg, your ankle curls leaving your foot sickled.

If this is the case, the first thing I'd suggest is some new imagery. If you're thinking of getting your FOOT high (which is how many people think of kicks) then you're making it easy for your body to try and "cheat" by sickling...it also makes me think that you stop thinking about your dance movement at your foot. Instead, when you perform a kick, try to imagine a ribbon of bright energy, that goes from your core, shoots down your leg, and passes through the foot, and goes beyond it by at least a foot or two. The idea is that you think of movement BEYOND the borders of your body, which will help your body lengthen at all of it's joints, including the ankle.

Also, start slow, low, and controlled: before you practice kicks or do a dance with kicks in them, do at least 8 kicks starting just-off-the-ground and getting a few inches higher each time. Use this time to concentrate on keeping your ankle straight and trying the imagery above...that way you have a recent muscle memory to work with when attempting them.

awesome! thank you so so much. I will work on it and let you know!!