 Poster: A snowHead
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My 8 year old really struggles with boots. He's just a beginner and obviously is still growing. They rub him on the (sorry non-technical) bone that sticks out a bit on the inside of your ankle. Any suggestions? He wears normal socks and then ski socks on top. I put compeed plasters over the troublesome area and we went up a size in boot compared to his shoe size, i.e. he's a 1 1/2 - 2 in shoe but we tried a size 3 boot. He had a lesson today and he's still struggling to nail his snowplough. The instructor suggested that it's because he's concerned about the boots rubbing but also it maybe his bad snowplough technique causing it in the first place! argh!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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2 pairs of socks is never the answer, they rub over each other causing more problems than they solve, same problem if the boots too big - foot slides around inside and causes friction, also gives you less control over the edge of the ski.
he might be doing exactly as his instructor tells him but loosing all the movement inside the boot.
he needs to see a proper bootfitter and/or pedietrist (sorry about the spelling!!!)
my kids had "growth spurt" boots from full tilt - they're extendable over 3 sizes and have a great liner in as well.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Thanks - may consider those boots - they are not too expensive considering.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Did you try to pull the liners out and check what's on the inside of the shell at the place where it hurts? The "sticking" ankle bone protrudes further when the ankle is flexed, so he might be hitting something on the inside of the shell as he tries to ski. If repeated many times this may cause skin to burst and all the "pleasant" sensations of an open blister. You can try to add padding on the outside of the liner at this place - this is what I did to my boots when I had similar problem with otherwise perfect boots and it worked much better than a few visits to bootfitter I made trying to address it.
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It's hard with kids, as they keep growing. My brother in law had exactly that problem with an otherwise good-fitting pair of boots - the local ski shop just blew the shells a bit for him, in that area. They did a little bit, charged 40 euros and said he could keep coming in till they got it right, without paying more - it just took one more visit, and they were perfect. But obviously you have to own your boots, to get that done.
But yes, definitely just one pair of socks (and compeed if he's already sore) and better not to go up a size. The only time my boots have hurt my ankles it turned out to be because they were too big for me - they were OK skiing, given that I wasn't doing anything too demanding, but they were hurting if i had to skate for any distance. The boots had fitted fine, but the inners had just padded down over time and let my ankles move around too much.
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Rather than going up a size you almost certianally need to go down a size or more. If the foot is not held snugly in the boot it will move inside the boot and rub his ankle aginst the liner.
Going up a size will hamper his development as his foot will move inside the boot and that movement will not be translated to to ski but it will rub and cause blisters. The 'poor technique' you describe for his snowplough is more likely to be caused by the boots rather that the 'technique' causing the sore ankles.
Bear in mind that the shoes he has for normal wear will be sized slightly large anyway as childrens shoes tend to allow for growth, with ski boots they should be a snug fit in a way that kids are often not used to, children often automatically say that their boots are 'too tight' beacuse they are used to soft comfort fit footware and have never experienced a snug fitting rigid boot. Having said this it should never be painful.
As others have said a good quality ski sock is the best and never double up on socks, the inner sock often just wrikles up and causes pressure points and additional friction. On the same topic there should never be anything but his sock inside his boots, never tuck thermals or trousers in the top of his boot.
Unfortunately he now has sore ankles so convincing him that a snugger fitting boot will help is going to be hard. I suggest you try a size one boot (Dont be aftraid to go smaller), his toes should be touching the toe of the boot when he puts them on, when he is clipped into his skis and he leans forward his heel must not lift off the bottom of the boot. .
You did not say if they were his own boots or rental boots? Where are you based?
It is not uncommon for beginners to chose or be put in boots that are way to big.
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Thanks everyone I really appreciate the input.
| kevindonkleywood wrote: |
| You did not say if they were his own boots or rental boots? Where are you based? |
The boots he's used so far have been rental. We went to AdH at Easter and at the end of the holiday he told us he had some sores on his ankles  when it was too late to do anything about it. I assumed it was just those specific boots. However, he's had a couple of lessons at Tamworth during the summer hols and had the same problem, obviously with different boots each time.
I think I'm going to have to get him his own boots and get them fitted properly. I wanted to avoid that because of the obvious cost due to him still growing. However, I don't want him being put off so I'll have to bite the bullet. We're off to Snow&Rock in Brum tomorrow to see what they've got.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Well we've just come back from Snow&Rock and they were fantastic. They've given us some buy-back boots to try and if they give him any problems to go back to see what they can do with the inners to help. Fantastic service.
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dbaskls, Just out of interest what size did they measure him at?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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He's come back with 23 boots - I don't know how that equates to UK sizes. He measured a 2E at Clarks this week for his school shoes.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Surefoot do a scheme where, if your child grows out of their boots within 2 years, you return them for a 50% off deal on their replacements. You also get orthic insoles as part of the deal. I know Surefoot isn't everyone's facourite, but that's a pretty good deal and ensures you have decent boots as and when you need them without costing the earth.
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My daughter has size 23 women's boots. They are a very close fit on her size 5's. Probably OK for size 4's, doesn't sound right for size 2's.
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You know it makes sense.
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My son has a lesson booked for next Saturday and if he has any problems we're going to go back to S&R to see what we can do - either another pair of boots or play with what we have. When I said "they've given" I meant just that - I haven't paid anything yet. They had a good look at his feet and tried on a few pairs but the proof of the pudding is skiing with them. I'll let you know how it goes. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Colin B, They do seem very large 
dbaskls, If you pull the liner out of the boot and your son puts his foot into to the boot with his toes touching the front of the boot if you look down behind his heel can you see how much space there is between his heel and the inside heel of the boot? just an estimate in cms or even finger widths will do
The bigger the boot the more easily the foot will rub and blister and the less control he will have over the skis.
Good to hear they have not cost you anything yet, but it will be no good if he gets blisters again or continues to have difficulty with his technique and it puts him off his sking
http://www.snowandrock.com/size-charts/content/fcp-content
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Poster: A snowHead
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kevindonkleywood, He did do that in the shop, with the liner. I agree according to the chart it seems a little big. However, my son has another lesson on Saturday so we'll see how it goes. I'm feeling cautiously optomistic! Believe me the last thing I want to do is put him off skiing!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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dbaskls, very pleased to hear that. Do agree though that the boots sound a bit big. I take size 7 shoes "off the shelf" but my properly fitted ski boots are 24 - mind you, they are close-fitting, with zipfit liners. can only wear thin silk socks inside them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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dbaskls, to be honest you need to ignore the charts...they are all off
at a size 1 1/2 - 2 i would expect him to be in about a 21.5 possibly a 22 shell, the only way to tell for sure is to do a shell check, the most space you ever want to see in the shell with the toes touching the front is 25mm, for adult (finished growing) feet then 10-20mm is the closer to the norm that we work to, each individual is different we have clients with 6-7m shell check who are happy in their boots all day long and others who need 20-25mm
the fit can change due to biomechanics, flexibility and technique..... the sizes ski boots are measured in for the most part is metric sizing where as people generally talk about their foot size in imperial UK or USA sizing, the biggest problem is that there is no neat conversion, that coupled with the fact that the boot manufacturers assume that 90% + of boots are bought on the basis of "can i try the blue one in size 8" and due to this add an extreme amount of extra space in the boot so that it feels great out the box, this is all very well but normally results in a boot which fits a bit like a welly by week 2 of its life...it is all about a bit of balance and without seeing the foot size in the boots it is impossible to comment but i would guess that a size 1 1/2 -2 UK foot in a size 23 shell will have 40-50mm at least of a shell check
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dbaskls, How is he getting on with his turns and his feet? 
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kevindonkleywood, Thanks for asking. The ski instructor went on holiday (how rude!) and then of course my son has gone back to school which of course limits when we can get up to Tamworth so his next lesson isn't for another couple of weeks. I'll let you know.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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We've used these - www.roces-snow.com/en/home.asp
to great effect.
Probably get poo pooed by some on here, there not for racers but are perfectly good for high end recreational skiers.
As you shorten them the corrugated liner narrows the width slightly. The cuff can also be adjusted up and down too.
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