by Harald » Sun Oct 31, 2004 1:28 pm
Wolverine,
There are numerous footbed and alignment systems out in the ski shop world. There are also many that have disappeared and failed, because they didn?t make a positive difference, some make things worst.
Common Footbeds and Alignment:
I may not know them all, but of the ones I do know, there are few that do anything to enhance balance, edging or alignment of the foot and ankle. They do fill in the space under your foot. This can severely hinder foot and ankle articulation, as most of this filler material is hard and non flexible. I can prove that some of the most popular best know footbed systems or alignment systems actually impede the foot and ankle from achieving balance and co-contraction. Co-contraction of the subtalar joint is not incorporated in any footbeds we see coming into our alignment center.
Eduaction:
If you are interested and want a demonstration, make an appointment with one of our alignment technicians. The evaluation includes every measurement, it takes forty-five minutes and only costs $75.00. If you do decide to purchase a footbed or have your boots aligned, the $75.00 is applied to that work. Afterward, you will know everything about your body, up to your hips, including movement capability, your skiing movements and equipment needs. From this assessment you will be able to make informed decisions about boots, footbeds, and alignment. If you think someone else can do the job, we don?t mind. We just hope knowledge and information will help you to better results on snow and help you spend your money wisely. We will have Harb Skier Alignment technicians in the northeast this season. Please check our web site for details.
Harb System:
I am not trying to promote or market our system here. I am trying to inform skiers that they can spend money more wisely. In most cases the off the shelf inserts available in super markets are better than the custom footbed products we find in ski boots coming through our shops. I often advise skiers to use of the rack products, average price $30.00, if they can?t get to a credible foot bed system.
Result speak!
My system doesn?t need marketing. Our product sells itself. Our clients tell others and the word spreads. We work with hundreds of racers from all the major race programs, including the US Ski Team. US Ski Team coaches and US Ski Team suppliers, boot reps, refer their athletes to the Harb Skier Alignment Center. Every Western Junior Olympic and almost every Far Western winner last season was skiing on our alignment system, footbeds and boot work. The successes of our systems are measured by results, not belief systems and promotion.
Race Proven:
There is a current US Ski team coach that has seen the results of our system first hand. He brought some of his athletes to our alignment center. By the way, this is a familiar scenario. We reconstructed the whole boot, from the boot board up. The next two days the athletes raced in FIS races in which, they improved their ranking and standing by huge amounts.
Those that understand FIS points know that 0 or no points denote the best racers. Lowering points is the goal. As a racer lowers his points the real estate gets very expensive and intense. In a general description of how the system works, you could say that for every second you are behind the winner, you are assessed between five to eight points, depending on the length of the course.
The racers in this example lowered their points by twenty, in the race following the alignment changes. One of these racers actually went from fifty points to thirty points in two races. This demonstrates a direct correlation to the alignment and foot bed changes made the day before the races. These racers were mature individuals and athletes that already had years of training and racing behind them.
Systems to avoid:
I recently received a card in the mail promoting another system of wedging or angling the foot, inside the boot with full length anglement shims or strips. This has been tried before without success. I have seen this recent program and I researched it more extensively, since I received the card. You can draw your own conclusions, but here are some details.
This system is trying to have ski shops buy into their program. I know they will be successful in selling their system. I know it because that?s the way mass production ski shops operate. You will be able to get this system in the future. It looks very high tech because it uses digital read outs and has a fancy measurement base.
If you want to be an intelligent consumer and (or an instructor who wants to advise skiers knowledgbily) someone who really studies and researches before you buy, you will already see the red flags on such a system. They tout that it takes a shop employee only two hours of training to do alignment with this system. It will change your boot fit and the angle of your foot in the boot. It will still require outside the boot alignment. The ankle will either absorb the angled shim or it will force your shin to one side of the boot. In most cases it will lock the foot in the wrong direct. This method does nothing to enhance ankle and foot eversion or co-contraction. In combination with a rigid footbed, this system will lead to contrived skier movements.
Education and training:
In our footbed and alignment training the technicians are in a course for six days, ten hours a day. Our Harb technicians study and have to pass written tests on the materials they learn in the course, which are: anatomy, joint measuring, bio-mechanics, and ski related movements, based on alignment on snow. Our technicians do six hours of the weekly course on snow, training and evaluating skier movements based on every combination of footbeds, boots and alignment.
Do you want a shop employee making ?in the boot canting changes, inside your ski boot? based on two hours of training?
What is a proper set up?
The follow up question is, "What does this do to your footbed?"
?Alignment should not and can not be done correctly inside the ski boot.?
"A footbed is not boot alignment; it should be a support and balancing enhancement device."
Accommodations inside the ski boot should achieve a balanced foot, a supported but dynamic (moveable) foot situation, so that co-contraction of the subtalar joint is functional. This is all achieved by a proper footbed. If you have a proper footbed to begin with, there is no need to angle the foot inside the boot with alignment shims.
The real story only becomes obvious to skiers as well as technicians, after they study or take the time to be informed about the lower body?s anatomy, kinesiology and bio-mechanics.
Bottom Line on snow performance:
A well designed complete system really demonstrates its benefits after you incorporate them into your capability for ski movements. Then you see and notice the liabilities of taking the short cuts offered through available systems in the industry. In our Harb Ski Systems program we ski with ninety percent of our footbed and alignment clients.
I personally watch video of racers and skiers if the actual on snow time is not available. I encourage our clients to bring video of themselves sking. When did you get a ski lesson as part of an alignment session?
When was the last time your boot fitter of footbed maker knew how you skied or saw what his work accomplished? We do almost in every situation. Our customers lead us to the evolution of our alignment system, because we see them and we tweak our system when needed to improve skiing and comfort results for our customers.