Decreased ankle mobility is a movement issue, not a mobility problem. And a movement issue cannot be solved by doing mobility exercises alone – nor can it be solved by foam rolling either.
So, have you ever wondered why your (ankle) mobility is limited and how did it happen in the first place? I’m arguing it wasn’t really because you did too little of mobility work (that is in fashion and everyone is praising), and it also didn’t happen over one night. Severe ankle injuries and some other conditions may be exceptions, but in other cases the process is usually longer and more complex. Still we are many times rushing, pushing and expecting quick changes by pumping with all of those mobility drills.
What I’m saying is that the decreasing of the mobility is really a movement issue, not a mobility issue per se. You might get some benefits and restore some mobility by doing those mobility exercises, but the question remains: What are you going to do afterwards? Something in how you are using your body, something in your movement patterns, customs and habits is feeding the issue. Often these are the real culprits behind the issue, which restoring the mobility is not fixing. But if you do your research on what is the real issue here, maybe you can also leave the mobility drills aside.
Fixing a movement issue with mobility drills is like telling a depressed person to cheer up: It does not really help even though your intentions are probably good. Use more time on figuring out what is the real problem and work on that, not just on quick fixing the end result of the problem.
