Hello there... is it a diagnosed case of chondromalacia patella.....do you get pain on the anterior aspect of the knee?? Or do you get pain when your quadriceps muscle is contracted and the front of your knee pains when pressure is put on it. if that is the case then chondromalacia patella can be a possibility,the good thing about this is it can be completely cured by proper exercise regime as it is just the fault in the tracking of patella.Always remember whenever there is a problem with the knee joint 3 muscle groups need to be strengthened they are quadriceps, hamstrings and Calf muscles so yes your query is correct and you need to strengthen your calf muscles.... now I assume that you are already doing your static knee exercises what you need to add to your exercise Regime is closed chain kinematics exercises like cross trainer ,static bicycle which will put minimal stress on the knee joint as compared to walking or jogging on treadmill or on a flat ground surface.......You can do Toe standing, heel standing, ankle Toe movements .....stretching of the calf muscle free kicking of the leg and doing ankle toe movement in aquatic pool will be of great benefit.... also remember concentrate on the muscle group which you are isometrically (staticaly) contracting. For the time being do wear a 'patella knee cap' whenever you are going for a journey or going to sit for long periods of time or doing some sport activity. take care and Resort back to me if you have any queries further

If you are correctly diagnosed with chondromalacia patella (runner's knee), then it is important for you to stretch your quadriceps and hamstrings along with static contractions of the same at initial stage of the condition. Non weight bearing exercises will help you in better way compared to weight bearing ones. Well, stretching or strengthening calf group of muscles is not directly going to help you with your cause, but at the same time they wont harm or worsen your injury. Still if in doubt, then visit a physio. Thank you.