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Duck feet

green26

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I have moderate duck-feet. Standing bare footed in a relaxed position, the front of my feet point outward. \ /. Ski boots and skis force my feet to be parallel with them | |. Problem is this makes my feet rest on their outer edges rather than resting flat. I've had my boots fitted, and have custom made insoles. But this forced weighting on the outside edges of my feet does all kinds of weird things to my legs. It creates slight knock knees, and it all gets worse with a low and wide stance. What is done in boots to remedy this condition? It also affects the inside edge of the downhill ski, where I have to bring my downhill knee toward my uphill knee in order to get a good edge on that downhill ski. There is a complex kinesiological upward cascade of silliness that originates in my soles, up though ankles, knees, hip sockets, and spine in order to compensate. Thank you so much in advance for any advice.
 

Philpug

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There are some abducted boots that do help with this. Fischer Soma boots were of this design and Nordica Agressors too. I am not sure who is offering them now.
 

Steve

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Canting should take care of this. Did your bootfitter do any?
 
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green26

green26

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Canting should take care of this. Did your bootfitter do any?
No he didn't. It was my first boot fitting, and I wasn't nearly as informed as I am now. Would you mind explaining what and how canting is done to boots? Thanks!
 

Philpug

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No he didn't. It was my first boot fitting, and I wasn't nearly as informed as I am now. Would you mind explaining what and how canting is done to boots? Thanks!
Canting will get the center of the knee over the center of the foot for better alignment it is done by bringing the ground up to the boot.
 

Steve

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Canting basically angles the bottom of your boots in or out. It can be done by adding shims that are fatter on the outside or inside edges or by grinding the bottoms of the boots.
 
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green26

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Thanks - I could have done a little research, but didn't know where to begin. Looks like you can get cants under bindings also (Look pivots), leaving boots untouched. Jilly you're happy with the ground-down method I assume. Is one method better than the other? I'm married to my boots, so grinding them is fine cuz I'll have them until they are dead. Just wondering.
 

Philpug

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Thanks - I could have done a little research, but didn't know where to begin. Looks like you can get cants under bindings also (Look pivots), leaving boots untouched. Jilly you're happy with the ground-down method I assume. Is one method better than the other? I'm married to my boots, so grinding them is fine cuz I'll have them until they are dead. Just wondering.
If you cant under your bindings, you are limited to having a left and right specific ski. If you can't under the boot, you can ski any ski you want. Some boots are more adaptable to canting than others. Much depends on what sole is on the boot.
 

Jilly

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Thanks - I could have done a little research, but didn't know where to begin. Looks like you can get cants under bindings also (Look pivots), leaving boots untouched. Jilly you're happy with the ground-down method I assume. Is one method better than the other? I'm married to my boots, so grinding them is fine cuz I'll have them until they are dead. Just wondering.
Yes!! Barry did a great job on a pair of Tecnica Diablo Pros. Solid sole plate on that boot. Didn't have to do anything to a new pair of atomic Hawk's, except blow out some toe room.
 
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green26

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Yes!! Barry did a great job on a pair of Tecnica Diablo Pros. Solid sole plate on that boot. Didn't have to do anything to a new pair of atomic Hawk's, except blow out some toe room.
Then okay - last question I promise. Did it take long to have it done? Thinking that when I go to Mammoth as soon as it's good, I'll make an appointment at Footloose and hoping to ski part of the day as well. But the canting takes precedence. I'm excited about getting this done. Been a thorn in my foots for quite awhile.
 

Philpug

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Then okay - last question I promise. Did it take long to have it done? Thinking that when I go to Mammoth as soon as it's good, I'll make an appointment at Footloose and hoping to ski part of the day as well. But the canting takes precedence. I'm excited about getting this done. Been a thorn in my foots for quite awhile.
Footloose is a good place to get this done. Depending how busy they are, it should not take more than 15-30 minutes for the assessment and maybe 1-2 hours for the work, do not be surprised if you have to leave the boots over night and pick them up in the AM. That is ususally the canse when I am doing canting to a boot. If you do not already have a custom footbed, expect to get one too. Most places will not do canting unless you have a custom footbed.
 
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green26

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yup - they made the custom footbed and did my fitting. Thank you so much for demystifying this for me. Really looking forward to this fix.
 

Philpug

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yup - they made the custom footbed and did my fitting. Thank you so much for demystifying this for me. Really looking forward to this fix.
Remember too, no one here has seen your alignment. Very well when you get to Footloose, they might do somehting completely different. Please go in with an open mind.
 

ted

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Usually, Duck footed stance comes from tibial torsion, femoral torsion, or femoral head retroversion. Retroversion is a hip joint issue. All of these are traverse( rotational in and out) plane issues.
Fischer SomaTec addresses these issues, or bindings mounted duck.

Canting generally addresses Frontal (think vertical tilt side to side) plane issues. Ie Knock kneed or bowlegged.

A different version of duck foot is a foot issue that comes from the forefoot being abducted on the heel due to a very collapsed arch. The Nordica Aggressor was built with this pronated stance. Nordica also made a wide last boot built like the Aggressor but I can't recall its name. It was labeled Neutral Foot Position IIRC.
 
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green26

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...or skis with very high taper.

OFC, we have absolutely no idea what compensations OP is making.

Yes. This thread has been enlightening. Now I get that it's not just one part of the body that needs addressing, it's an interdependent chain.
 

cantunamunch

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Yes. This thread has been enlightening. Now I get that it's not just one part of the body that needs addressing, it's an interdependent chain.

And the optimal amount of correction can easily be a moving target depending on your off-season/dryland muscle use patterns. IIRC from other threads you're a relatively fit person; you might consider speaking to a trainer in a ski-conditioning context.
 
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green26

green26

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And the optimal amount of correction can easily be a moving target depending on your off-season/dryland muscle use patterns. IIRC from other threads you're a relatively fit person; you might consider speaking to a trainer in a ski-conditioning context.
Good advice. I'm on it.
 

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