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| DW Sports refused my daughter a gait analysis |
We managed to find a shop assistant in the huge DW Sports store and asked if we could buy a pair of running shoes by having the benefit of a gait analysis. Upon sight of the assistant sporting a hideously pierced eyebrow, we could tell instantly by his grossly over weight build that he was not a runner.
"Sure, what kind of shoes do you need?"
"From memory I think she's fairly neutral but we need to check"
"Oh for your daughter, how old is she?"
"She's 13"
"Thirteen, sorry we can't do a gait analysis for health and safety reasons"
"Why not?"
"Health and safety, cos if we sell her one kind and then her feet grow, she might be different and then be in the wrong shoes"
"That's a shame, are you sure? The last running shoes we bought were comfortable and she had a gait analysis"
The over weight shop assistant said he'd check and wondered off. It seemed ages before somebody else appeared and said the same thing but were perfectly happy to sell her some shoes and asked what size she was.
Becky replied "six and a half" and the shop assistant then informed us they only stock shoes in full sizes, not half sizes. "Flippin' useless" I thought as we left empty handed. We were really disappointed but it does serve as a reminder of why those little specialist running shops are so valuable.
I used to work at DW Sports and regularly did the gate analysis on kids. In the training for using the gait analysis I never saw or was told anything state that you shouldn't do it on kids a certain age.
ReplyDeleteI got told that it was up to yourselves if you wanted it doing at the same time informing that their gate may change being so young.
However I do remember at one point where it was pointless to do it as we didn't have shoes to for over-pronators in kids sizes. Again that would change for a girl as women's shoes lap in some sizes to the kids.
Shoes size wise there are womens shoes that do come in half sizes but are generally the more expensive ones. Shoes also fit differently from brand to brand even if the box and shoe say they are the same. If they didn't have a half size they should of recommended that you try the next size up with a innersole.