Foot position on pedal

What’s the correct position to put your foot onto the pedal? Do you use your heel for riding or more the middle or front part of your foot? Sometimes it seems to me like it’s easier if I use the middle part of my foot (especially when riding backwards) but I’m not quite sure. What’s your preferred position?

Usually, I put the ball of my foot just just in front of the middle of the pedal.
This allows me to absorb shock, feather, and stay on the pedals better.
The caveat is that if I am not paying attention, I can hurt my right ankle.

It SEEMS like I can pedal faster with the arch at the center.

this thread
was about the same topic.

I have to confess I can’t use the ball and I must put the arch
of my foot over the pedal.
Reason: too bad for my tendons (but probably due to bad overstretching …) I even have to pedal by pointing always my foot downwards as much as I can
:angry:

but expert advices seem to differ … I have seen lately another post on under-the-arch advocacy…

Re: Foot position on pedal

“michael7” <michael7@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> writes:

> What’s the correct position to put your foot onto the pedal?

Experiment and find a position you like.

In general, I feel better in control with my foot back (i.e. ball of
the foot close to the pedal), but safer doing drops with the foot way
forward (heel near pedal). I need to step up on my toes (actuall ball
of the foot) to transition to seat out on my freestyle unicycle. For
the most part, I ride with my foot slightly further back than I would
on a bicycle.

Ken

I like to ride with the arch right over the center. It absorbs the shock better. But the pedals I have are kind of concave, and designed for the balls of the feet over the center.
OH well.