When is a boot too soft or too stiff?

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When is a boot too soft or too stiff?

Postby Mr. T » Fri Dec 19, 2003 9:41 am

Hi everybody,
I am 6'2", 210 lbs, phisically fit, and wear Salomon X-Wave 10 boots, so reasonably stiff boots, Harb Ski Systems custom made insoles.

In a way my boots feel soft because they are confortable, but something happened to me last night that really made me think about my
boots.

I was skiing down a good blue run (20-25 degree pitch) working on medium-to-short radius turn at full speed. Turns were well done (one feels it when they come smooth). A PSIA level-3 instructor who happened to be looking at me, approached me, and told me that I was coming down smoothly and that overall it was a good run, but he would have suggested that I try tipping more my inside foot toward the little toe side. Which I tried to do the following runs. My legs were fairly closed to each other, but it seems that the boot does not let me tip enough. Or at least
I seem to encounter a lot of resistance.

So I started to wonder if my boots are perhaps too stiff
or if the place where the lower and upper part of the shells come together
is in the wrong spot for me and block my ankles. I seem to do much better if I undo both buckles on the upper part of the shell.

I am perplexed. Maybe I should buy a less stiff boot the next time?

Any advise will be welcome.

Cheers,

Mr. T

P.S. Did anybody notice that this PSIA guy used the term tipping the inside foot .... ? I over-heard another to talk of wedge as of terminal
intermediate skills. Harald, they will never give you the credit, but they
are beginning to talk your language.
Mr. T
 
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 7:57 am
Location: California

Postby The Big Show » Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:05 am

Hi there,

Myself, if I have a boot that's too stiff fore aft, my shins get sore. I use the Dalbello CRX shell because it's stiff laterally, but soft fore aft.

My boots feel like slippers. Warm and comfy. Performance is there too.

Cheers,
The Big Show
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2003 3:38 pm
Location: Kobetown

Postby Guest » Sun Dec 21, 2003 3:43 pm

Hi Mr T.

Tipping is a lateral movement and the boot should be stiff laterally to transfer your tipping to the ski.
A soft boot will bend in all directions and your tipping movement is wasted (not transferred to the ski). Such boot is referred to as rotary boot.
You need laterally stiff boot. This way your ankles are kept tight (laterally) and the tipping is transferred down to your ski and up to your knee and most importantly up to your hip.

If you feel uncomfortable doing the tipping, have Harald or other PMTS certified alignment expert look at your boot aligment. Maybe your foot is not properly aligned.
However, since you have mentioned that you have ?Harb Ski Systems custom made insoles?, Harald has probably aligned you in your boots already so this is probably not it.

I am not a tipping expert (the name Piggyslayer says that I am not). It seems to me that it is harder for some of us to get the tipping action you see when looking at Diana, Harald or Rich skiing. I am nowhere near that level, you can just barely see a little space between my knees so ?my piggy? can catch little breath once every while.
It guess it has to do with my body posture issues, which are hard to adjust with alignment and amount of flexibility in my joints (Ski Flex or Yoga anyone?).

There are other things that can impact the amount of tipping of the free foot you can do.
For example, proper upper body counter increases the tipping flex range (interesting biomechanical fact Harald has shown us once during a camp).

At the end, it is important to remember why are we tipping. Rich has explained that to me when I was trying to blindly focus on getting more air between my knees forgetting about why I am doing it:
We tip the foot so the knee follows, so the hip follows. As result you end up ?sitting on the bench? and get the ski on an edge early in the turn.
(This is a quote from my memory which is very good but short-so conveys the sense more than exact words spoken).

Obviously my answer will not be as good as Harald?s but in his absence (all PMTS gurus are probably busy with the dark blue camp) I hope this helps.

Piggyslayer
PS. Interesting enough I am also 6.2, about 210 lbs. Maybe ours is the wrong size for proper tipping? :)
Guest
 

tipping

Postby guest » Sun Dec 21, 2003 8:15 pm

At some levels of angulation, you need to remember to keep the weight off the inside (non-stance foot). Your resistance may not be because of the boots, but resistance from the the fact the you are angled over enough that you are blocked by your inside foot? Remember that feet together is in a horizontal plane, but they may need to be separated by quite a bit in the vertical plane.
guest
 


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