Footbed question

[ChrisC]

I've got an unusual question about footbeds. I've had custom footbeds for a few years (Sidas fitted by Larry Adler in Australia).

They seemed to be ok when I was a fairly casual skier, but during the last few months I've been skiing a lot more on an indoor ski deck here in Sydney. The carpet like surface makes it tricky to edge the skis. They seem to be either on or off.

Anyway, I just couldn't feel my edges and I found that I ski much better with the custom footbeds removed. So I'm just using the flat insole that came with the boots. I find this very strange and I'm not happy that I seem to have wasted $200 on the custom job.

My question is what to do. Did they muck up my footbeds? They seemed to mold them to my foot accurately enough. There would be many many people using these footbeds.

I have high arches and a high instep, wide feet, but not wide ankles.

I don't want to get anything new until I understand why the current footbeds make me ski worse.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Matt]

Can you evert/invert your foot inside the boot when you use the footbeds?

If you cannot tip your feet properly inside the boot you will revert to pushing the knee instead, which may explain your on/off experience.

[ChrisC]

Thanks for the feedback.

I put my footbeds in one boot and compared between feet. Inverting my foot seems ok, but I can feel a slight restriction when everting my foot. I presume this is due to the arch support (I have high arches). I can evert my feet ok without the footbeds.

I suspect this is more pronounced when I am skiing because I can feel the arch supports very distinctively. It's a completely different feeling to the arch supports in my running shoes which are a lot softer.

Some more background on my feet. I got some expert advice on running shoes about ten years ago and was told I supinate (run on the outside of my feet).

I'm going to try some soft foam insoles that I bought from a running shop. Hopefully, they'll give me some support, but still allow my feet to evert. I ski on an indoor ski deck a couple of times a week, so it's easy for me to try things out.

[theorist]

Chris, footbeds are a tricky business. Like you, I supinate and have a high, rigid arch. My first custom footbeds, fitted 20+ years ago, were made from a rigid material (Superfeet Cork), and perfectly molded to my high arches. It was the wrong approach, expertly done. There were two key problems: First, by locking my feet into an inverted position (medial side high), most of my range of motion for inside-ski tipping (inversion) was already used up. Second, the rigidity of the footbed didn't allow the subtle foot eversion movement needed for fine control of the edges. Generally speaking, my foot was just too locked up.

I sensed there was something not right about them, so about 15 years ago I switched to a flexible footbed. This helped, but it wasn't enough, so I talked to a local guru who added some foam posting to the lateral sides of the footbeds to put my feet into a more neutral position. Voila!

I subsequently had the footbeds checked at HSS, and they confirmed this was the correct approach for me.

I write the above because you may have similar issues with your current footbed. For more detailed information, take a look at this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1660&p=15818&hilit=eversion+tipping+inversion#p15818

It might be worth printing out that thread and taking it to Mr. Adler, discussing what you've found during your carpet skiing. One caution: others can comment, but I'm not sure how good carpet skiing is for evaluating boot and footbed alignment. There may be an excellent correspondence, but if there isn't you might want to wait until you get on the snow before modifying the footbeds irreversibly.

[cheesehead]

Like you, I supinate and have a high, rigid arch. ...
added some foam posting to the lateral sides of the footbeds to put my feet into a more neutral position. Voila!

I have the same type of foot, it causes all sorts of problems. Not only footbeds but the shells are made for people with average height arches.

What is foam "posting"? Foam added under the foot, to the side of the foot, or the side of the ankle???

[theorist]

Like you, I supinate and have a high, rigid arch. ...
added some foam posting to the lateral sides of the footbeds to put my feet into a more neutral position. Voila!

I have the same type of foot, it causes all sorts of problems. Not only footbeds but the shells are made for people with average height arches.

What is foam "posting"? Foam added under the foot, to the side of the foot, or the side of the ankle???

Yes, finding shells that fit my high instep has also been a challenge. The only pair that ever fit me properly there (didn't cut off the circulation on top of my foot, and thus are the only boots I've ever owned that are warm without heaters) are my current ones, which are alas due for replacement. Surprisingly, they're also my first pair of true race stock plug boots. Go figure. One key modification I made was to put in a Conformable foam tongue. That might help you as well, since it shapes over the instep. Plus it's great at eliminating shell bang.

Posting is placing material under the footbed to raise or tip it in certain areas. If only a small adjustment is needed, it can be quite thin -- while posts are typically done with foam, even a few layers of duct tape can be considered a post. A post can be of uniform height, though typically they are shaped and tapered. Depending on the need, one can use firmer foam in certain locations and softer foam in others. Here's a picture of the posting on my footbeds. You can see there are three different materials (beige, gray, and black), representing two or three (I forget) different generations of tweaking. [The black foam post is very specialized, and is there to address the dropped first metatarsal on my left foot.]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/83787403@N08/15658519008/

Given the substantial time and effort that went into dialing them in, I hope to be able to transfer these to my next pair of boots. Fortunately, even though they're over a decade old, they're still in good shape (and don't smell, thanks to religious use of a boot dryer after each outing!).

Say, can anyone identify the brand of these footbeds? The name's worn off and I forget what they are.