After establishing, two weeks ago, that the Asics Nimbus 13 I bought in April are not the right shoes for me, that I actually over-pronate rather clearly, and that my foot needs rest until I have no symptoms at all before starting test exercises, I paid my second visit to physiotherapist Jussi-Pekka Peitola yesterday.

First we bonded by mourning the demise of Dutch football together. Turns out he’s been an Oranje fan ever since Holland played the Word Cup finals against Germany in 1974 (and lost). His analysis: the Dutch team has been the prisoner of its own system for a long, long time and players like Van Persie and Huntelaar cannot excel within that system.

If I’m without pain this week, I could start walking and next week even jogging carefully. He gave me a sheet with exercises in stages. Starting with the first stage, I can only move to the next one as long as I stay without any symptoms, i.e. not even the slightest hint of pain. (Well, that means I cannot start just yet.)

Then he showed me how to apply tape to my foot as support against over-pronation and the strain it poses. He asked me to record it with my camera phone, so here goes:

I’ve now had this tape the rest of the day and I’m quite impressed with how well it works. From the moment I stood up on my feet, I haven’t felt the irritation under my arch and inside ankle which has been there all the time for the past few months.

“It’s no magic, just mechanics,” Jussi-Pekka said.