At work the other day I noticed that our on-site gym was advertising that a company was coming in to perform gait analysis and would give a 10% discount on any custom orthotics. This got me thinking.

The method they use to analyse the gait and thus the "need" for orthotics is by using the pressure plate system like the GaitScan system. For those not familiar with this method of analysis; essentially they put a rather advanced pressure mat onto the floor and then have you run over it, barefoot, aiming to land your foot squarely on the mat. You then turn around and come back again and land on the mat with the other foot. You may be asked to perform this a couple of times. Once done, a fancy colourful series of images is then presented onto the computer screen from which the agent can then analyse your gait. If you've never seen or experienced this system in action, pop down to your local Sweatshop, they'll be more than pleased to put it into action (and then sell you a pair of shoes ).

Now, I've been thinking about this method of gait "analysis" and I can't help but feel it's flawed in several significant ways which are never mentioned:

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