Partner Standing Observation
Partner up with another trainee or teacher. Each will take a turn in the role of the “looker”’and “lookee.”
With looker squatting behind the lookee:
- Feet: are the feet straight? 1 foot out, 1 foot in? Flat-footed or high arched?
- Achilles: do they align straight, veer toward the midline or the lateral?
- Calves: Look and feel. Is there more tension in one calf than the other? Is there more tension on the outside of the calf, the inside of the calf?
- Knees: Is the back of the knee hard or soft, flexed, extended, or hyperextended?
- Hips: Place the palms flat on the hips facing downward with the thumb straight across the sacrum or the hips level?
- Arms: do they hang evenly at the side, or is one hand more in front of the other? Where are the palms facing? Is there a carry angle at the elbow?
- Shoulders: are they even or a level? Does one shoulder ride higher than the other?
- Head: is it centered between the shoulders? Does the head tilt rotate to the side?
Now the looker stands to the side of the lookee.
- Does the ear hole lineup over the shoulder?-
- Does the head move forward or behind the shoulder?
- Are the shoulders either slumping forward or pulled back?
- Does the shoulder line up over the hip? Is the upper back hunched, kyphosis.
- Is the chest collapsed?
- Does the hip line up over the knee?
- Is the pelvis pitched either forward or back?
- Does the knee lineup over the ankle? Is it hyperextended?
- Does the ear hole lineup over the ankle?
Now the looker stands in front of their partner and observes the following:
- What do you notice about that person’s feet? Are they noticeably different from this view?
- Do the kneecaps point forward? Do the knees collapse to the midline, are they straight, or do they bow to the side?
- Do the hips show rotation? How about the torso – any rotation there?
- Is one or more anterior than the other? Where do the hands fall by the side?
- Are the shoulders still at the same level?
- How about the person's head? What do you notice from this position?
Now take about five minutes to share the findings with the lookee without judgment then switch roles.
