knock-kneed

A snowHead

I've been told by two different instructors that I am knock-kneed and that I should have my boots adjusted if I want to improve my position further.
Presumably I have been like this all my life, so would altering my boots/footbeds put a detrimental strain on my knees - or not ?

A snowHead

erica2004, I would presume being knock kneed that you naturally angle the skis onto their inside edges. By having your boots adjusted it may well help the ski sit flatter on the snow when in your natural relaxed position. This would even help the knees and make skiing easier and safer.

brian

erica2004, it should be the opposite. If you get it done properly you should be able to get the ski in the right place without straining your knees.

http://www.howtoski.net/sub_boots4.htm

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I have the same problem - it's casue by pronation of the feet, i.e. the arches collapsing. It led to ma having other problems, notably with my achilles tendon - in fact it was these problems that led to my pronation being recognised. I had custom footbeds made to support my arches which I wear all the time, and whe nI used them while skiing last week I found that for the first time ever I could stand up and have skis flat on the floor rather than each ski being on the inside edge. it made a noticeable difference to my skiing, bot from a personal point of view and also forothers - my wife commented how much better I was looking this trip

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I know someone who is bow-legged and she hasnt made as much progress as I would have expected. I suspect it is because she cant get the edges properly engaged. Unfortunately she cant seem to see this as a problem Confused

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Thanks - I'll attempt to get this done. I didn't realise that shims could be put under the binding. My boots are extremely comfortable - Strolz (two-pack mixture thingy) with very narrow cuffs ( a lifetime of horse-riding has given me skinny calfs). I have got footbeds in them but perhaps I should have these checked as well.
Sometimes I do catch my inside ski edge on the snow and I do find it more difficult to carve one way than the other.
Cheers Very Happy

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erica2004 - as you're in the right(ish) part of the country, you might want to check out www.mccannix.com who is based in Weston-Supermare.

After all it is free

PhillipStanton, That sounds great - have you been there?

erica2004, I recently found that I have a similar problem and spent an afternoon with CEM at Solutions4feet who worked on adjusting the cuff angle on my two pairs of boots. One pair had some, but insufficient, adjustment but some creative sculpture around the outside of the cuffs means that these boots are now pretty much perfectly aligned. The other pair have no adjustment but the liners now have additional foam padding and the boots are much better. I now need to try everything out on snow to see what the practical effects are.

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erica2004, IMO you'd have to be very bad to be worth putting shims under your boots, too much correction will obviously cause more problems that it solves. OTOH a really good bootfitter should be able to make footbeds that keep you "neutral and balanced" in the boot, and may be able to do small other adjustments too. If all else fails go to see comform'able near Grenoble. they did the trick for Little Tiger after she's spent loads on all sorts of other solutions, (she has very odd feet) Shock

Pity I knew Andi McCann way back when - I have a problem taking him seriously!! Shocked

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erica2004 - I've not been, but know people who have and they all believe that it helped them. I'm seriously considering going myself - but please excuse me for not wanting to be drawn into discussion on why, as the whole area is rather contentious - and I'm somewhat of a skeptic myself.

I wholeheartedly agree with easiski that a good bootfitter is the first port of call. Needless to say that I've done that and would encourage you to do so if you haven't already.

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easiski, PhillipStanton, Will do - thanks Smile

Maybe consider taking up snowboarding.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

erica2004, if you go to a decent ski boot fitter, they will plane the soles of your ski boots to the right angle.

I have the same problem. I started by going to someone who wanted to put shims under my ski bindings but then you can only ski on one pair of skis. Get the boots done and you're sorted for the life of your boots!

Don't let anyone put shims directly on top of your bindings as it may interfere with boot-binding release when/if you tumble.

It made such a difference to my skiing. Now I can ski with my feet shoulder-width apart, rather than wider which was blocking my ability to ski powder and moguls well. Now I'm sorted, it's all down to practice instead of trying to ski the impossible. snowHead

PS People without alignment issues believe it's all twaddle but just ignore them - it does work!

A snowHead

Snowy, it would be interesting to put non-believers on skis with a shim on. I would be interested in trying this sometime just for the experience!

A snowHead

There are multiple steps to being properly balanced in the boots, and they have different purposes. The footbed is primarily to get your feet into a neutral and aligned stance when standing in neutral, with your bones properly aligned. Changing the cuff angle of the boots gets the boots aligned with your legs when your feet are in neutral. Canting the boot (usually by planing the sole to angle the entire boot inside or outside) adjusts the skis so that they are flat when you are in neutral. Also, fore/aft balance is important, and there are numerous ways to address it, as well.

On top of all of this, different boots are mounted differently on the lug, some straight-on, others with various approaches to a toes-out stance. This simple change made a world of difference for me, but of course is only right for feet and legs that need it.

Yes, it's complex. This is one reason to find someone who understands all of these aspects. From everything I've read and seen here, SMALLZOOKEEPER is an obvious choice, and CEM seems on top of it, as well. I'm sure there are others on your side of the pond, but I admit I know more over here. I hope this helps!

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I am flat footed and this has pretty much the same effect on snow as being knock kneed.... i.e. when i go into tuck position, lighter smaller people sail past me because i am constantly skiing on my inside edges.

Had been wondering what to do about this, so have been following this thread with interest! Anyone know of any decent boot fitters in the Manchester area?

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ssh, sounds complicated Shocked

Where does SMZ reside?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

However, SZK doesn't like all this Disney stuff..... wink

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veeeight, maybe so but both SZK LZK and myself like to set up boots properly for the skiers morphology Little Angel

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After all it is free

I've recently discovered I have much the same problem: probably stemming from badly torn ankle ligaments in my late teens, I have pronation causing knock-knees, diagonal achilles tendons and, consequently, huge strain on my soleus. I've started a course of therapy called "Spiraldynamik" (doesn't seem to exist outside Switzerland) with a view to the bootfitter here sorting me out with new boots for next season (so I'm tackling the cause, not just him treating the symptoms) but having just come back from a week's skiing, I now face something of a dilemma. My soleus was in agony by day 3, and I discovered from an exercise skiing without poles that I in fact lean on my poles when stopped in order to rest my extended soleus. I went to Precision in Val who realised I have very little ankle flex (possibly another symptom) and put in heel lifts for me, which helped but hasn't entirely solved the problem. I too find it difficult to get my skis flat and walking in ski boots entirely on the inside edges is a precarious exercise, especially on ice. So I now face the dilemma of whether I get new boots now, knowing they may need more and different work once the course of therapy is complete, or do I just get them to keep tweaking my current boots in an attempt to get through the season, whilst risking similar problems (and an inability to ski into the afternoon) during our next full week's skiing in March (a weekend seems to be OK). Plus, my current boots, in and of themselves, are not uncomfotable (it's me, not the boots IYSWIM), as soon as I take the weight off my feet they feel great, and new boots may not have time to bed in before March.... Decisions decisions Sad

Help!!

knock-kneed

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