Valgus knee

In many Foundations and other courses elements the correct form is to keep the legs together so that the feet are touching. I have slightly valgus knees, so my knee touch before my feet do. I can still keep legs closed so that feet are touching but it feels slightly unnatural.

So the question is: in elements where it is asked to keep feet together, wouldn't it be better if I close my legs up to the point where knees are touching instead? That leaves a 5-6cm spacing between my feet.

My unofficial opinion is no, if the feet are supposed to be together, get them together.  

There are lots of positions in F1 that aren't necessarily "natural" feeling for a lot of people when they first start out. One of the huge benefits of the program is restoring and building strength in 3 dimensions of ROM. 

That said, I am not a physio nor GB official, so I would defer to those on this forum who are should they disagree.

I don't think it matters much in most excercises really. For example, in pushups feet are suppossed to be together, but it doesn't matter much if they're 5cm apart; in any case, if you try to bring them together despite your valgus knee, you're probably introducing some hip internal rotation to do so, which I think is worse for the excercise.

As for elements where you give some load to your quads (ie SLS elements), I'd be a bit careful as a valgus knee can be a bit hard on the connective tissue. I think that if you do your knee iMs you should be fine. I'd wait for some of the experts to reply though.

Thanks for the answers!

I know that while some positions feel unnatural at first but that is not a reason to shy away from them - however valgus knee is a bit of an anatomical difference of the body, so it may be that some positions call for a modification.

Hopefully a coach will clarify.

Maybe @Cole Dano or @Mark Collins can advise?

Just off the cuff without actually seeing you in person. I'd say it somewhat depends on the element, so for say a push up, yes, I'd get the knees together and feet are where they are. 

But now say it's a dip, pullup, or headstand, feet apart are going to very likely create a loss of tension. in that case, what people will often do is rotate the thigh and ankle so it's possible to get the toes touching and 'complete the circuit'.

Thanks Cole, I'll keep that in mind and will ask more specifically if I find an element difficult.