The easy answer is – It is a width issue. However it is way more complicated than that.
The shank of your pointe shoe can twist away from the back of the foot for many reasons. It is up to the fitter or your dance teacher to determine the cause of this and the course of action to help fix or minimise it.
Width/Shape – One of the most common reasons for a shank twist is the pointe shoe being too narrow or too tapered (or less commonly – too wide) Wearing a shoe too narrow or the wrong shape for your toe configuration will prevent your feet from sitting squarely in the shoe which when en pointe makes the shank twist.
Sickling – If you are prone to sickling or pronating on flat then you are more likely to take that en pointe. The term Sickling is used to describe the foot in an incorrectly pointed position when the toes curve inwards and the heel drops outwards.
Padding – If you are over padding your shoes your feet will not be able to fully reach the end of the shoe. Much like wearing a shoe too narrow, excessive and bulky padding can also make the shoe sit incorrectly.
Mobility – Dancers with hypermobility, very flexible feet or extremely high arches are prone to twisting in brand new shoes because the gap between the arch and the shank is causing suction. This can usually be corrected with criss crossed elastics and a correctly broken in shank.
Big Toe – Certain foot types experience restrictions in the MTPJ (big toe joint) If the big toe has less than 90 degrees of movement the student will tend to place more weight over the 4th and 5th toes to compensate. Exercises to help stretch the big toe, and concentrating on centering the weight over the 2nd metatarsals are an excellent way to help towards achieving a lateral shank position.
C Shaped Heel – This regularly goes hand in hand with Mobility and the Big Toe but unfortunately our anatomy sometimes doesn’t work in our favour. A C shaped heel will cause the shank to swivel in almost every scenario. To check for a C shaped heel, rise on to demi pointe in parallel and check the position of the heel. If the heel (and only the heel) turns inwards this is a C shaped heel. If you were to trace a line from the little toe joint round to the heel you will see it forms a C shape. In this case a softer shank is more likely to mould to the shape of the foot and you may need to sacrifice shoe longevity for safety and comfort.
Example of a mild C shape heel
You can also see in the above image that more weight is being distributed over the 4th and 5th metatarsal.
Whilst having the shank correctly aligned is incredibly important, no two feet are exactly the same and what works for one may not work for others and in some cases no matter what you try, the “perfect fit” eludes you.