I have heard of Ehlers Danlos. At the worst, it is ... very bad. That definitely puts your situation into perspective.
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Question on ski boot flex and skier development
I have heard of Ehlers Danlos. At the worst, it is ... very bad. That definitely puts your situation into perspective.
^^ By which I mean, I now understand your situation better - not that you should feel lucky it's not worse or whatever.
bit off subject but perhaps it was good you weren't aware specifically of your condition. I often wonder how much we inadvertently limit ourselves in our endeavors if we knew of such conditions. Converse of course is true too, that knowing you can accommodate better.
subject wise, knowing or being aware of how different equipment may affect ones skiing is definitely a good thing.
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It was a serious question actually. Sorry to hear about your condition.
Can you balance on one foot in shoes? If so, then ski boots aren't that much different in terms of function of the foot. My point is you do not want to lock up the system so that you have no movement at all. That doesn't mean lots of space. The trick is to find the balance of support/movement. How many footbeds have you had made so far? Surely you've had every fitter you see want to solve your problem with those? Been through that. "Oh, my $350 footbeds will solve this..."
I know a person who has excessive hypermobility. He used to climb into bed at bedtime, sit there with his legs stretched out, bend forward at the waist until his chest reached the bedcovers between his legs, and just sleep that way. It was comfortable for him. For years he did this, and other stuff we mere mortals don't even dream of.
Extreme hypermobility such as this is rare, and causes all kinds of issues. He now has a bunch of vertebrae fused; can no longer bend over like that, cannot ski, cannot ride a regular bicycle, but rides a reclining bike. His athletic days (kayaking, mountain climbing, biking) are over. He has had many many surgeries. The last one was for a foot; it had to be fused in tons of places, which to do right required a major bone to be broken and adjusted in shape.
Hypermobility makes some folks into rag dolls. Rigid attachments or supports for the body may be necessary to save one from folding at the wrong places at the wrong time, and from wearing out the bones, causing all kinds of arthritic issues, bone spurs, and the like.
Extreme hypermobility such as this is rare, and causes all kinds of issues. He now has a bunch of vertebrae fused; can no longer bend over like that, cannot ski, cannot ride a regular bicycle, but rides a reclining bike. His athletic days (kayaking, mountain climbing, biking) are over. He has had many many surgeries. The last one was for a foot; it had to be fused in tons of places, which to do right required a major bone to be broken and adjusted in shape.
Hypermobility makes some folks into rag dolls. Rigid attachments or supports for the body may be necessary to save one from folding at the wrong places at the wrong time, and from wearing out the bones, causing all kinds of arthritic issues, bone spurs, and the like.
Thanks, James. Only two footbeds. Superfeet korks which in hindsight didn't allow my foot to flatten out enough (I don't disagree with you!) and now another Superfeat heat moldable with some additional posting at the rear of my arches to inhibit excessive pronation.
Thank GOD mine isn't nearly that bad! There are various forms of hypermobility/ehlers danlos and mine appears to be pretty mild. I still feel like gumby sometimes, though
Truth. I just found out a few years ago. Pretty sure my Grandfather had undiagnosed Marfan's syndrome, which is related. He lived a long life (I believe he was 89 when he passed away.) Just long and lanky with some Abe Lincoln-ish features.
Anyway, back to the boot flex stuff...
The chiro today identified that my right gluteous medius isn't firing for crap. He did some crazy electronic voodoo stuff on it and literally, the muscles started firing! So, I'm going to work them every day and see if I can't stabilize those left turns. My right glute medius was very strong. I should notice an appreciable difference in a couple weeks.
humm, some reason talk of gluts seems a bit distracting ....
simply goes to remind me of how frail and/or appreciative one can be ...
knowing nothing of @AmyPJ 's condition other than hypermobility, would wraps or compression type anklets aid? seems they could help restrict unwanted motion but then, I'm very ignorant on specifics.
This is the kind of stuff my MAT guy figures out and fixes. He gives me "PT" assignments to do to continue encouraging the right muscles to fire.
I've been slacking off in this area.
And I just realized I meant to say my LEFT glute medius is strong. It's a big stabilizing muscle. Gotta get the right one back up to speed. It must have gone night night when I fractured the right knee. I'll take a few runs each day just to see how it's doing.
Not for me. I'd prefer my boot just wrap my ankle snug enough to keep it from rolling inward (pronating) like it does. Stronger glute medius should also help me balance over that ski better.
For me curling the toes is a reaction to having too much volume in the boot. I put in a thin, flat Bontex shim and the foot stays seated and the power and connection is better. When that stops working new boots are in order.
I noticed that in a few places in this thread, folks have mentioned that stiffer boots are appropriate when dorsiflexion is limited.
Why is that? I'd think you'd want softer boots to make it easier to use whatever flex you got ... but I guess limited flexibility doesn't mean limited strength ... still, what's the story there?
Why is that? I'd think you'd want softer boots to make it easier to use whatever flex you got ... but I guess limited flexibility doesn't mean limited strength ... still, what's the story there?
Simply, if you have no range in your ankle, you cannot actuate the boot. Just using some basid numbers, if you only have 10* range inyour ankle and a softer boot flexes to 30* to get that energy to the ski, your ankle maxes at 10*, where is that other 20* made up? The ankle can only flex so far, so the heel will start lifting and then put all the stress on the metatarsals. So a stiffer boot that will actuate at 10* to match the ankle range will work better. An upright boot will also open up the ankle creating more range, this can be done with a heel lift. Does that help?
Yes, I think so. Need to cogitate. This may explain why my fitter put me in my stiffest boots yet, but they are very upright and have heel lifts. Work like a charm. They aren't ridiculously stiff, but more so than I've had in the past.
My fitter always puts a heel lift in my boots for exactly this reason, to get my range of motion to the correct position to be able to get boot to perform for me. A good boot fitter is a Godsend, a bad one will put your feet through hell.
A friend has ankles that don't bend. Almost zero. He says he's always been that way. Trying to bend his ankles is painful. He needs the stiffer boot plus correct set up to get him centered fore & aft over his skis. He need shims under his heel bindings, boots with room for heel lifts (Full Tilt or the similar Dalbello, according to one excellent fitter I know), and heel lifts of the correct height to get him centered.
I disagree with the people who use softer boots to get themselves aligned. I think correct boot & binding choice and whatever alignment techniques that are needed for them is the correct way to go. Ditto for skiing with slow pokes. I've taught beginners all day in my 130 flex boots with no discomfort. My set up works for me. However, we are all differently constructed, and different left to right, and we need to find with works for each of us.
All that said, I've had a great coach in medium soft boots and other equally great coaches teaching the same techniques in 150 flex boots.
I disagree with the people who use softer boots to get themselves aligned. I think correct boot & binding choice and whatever alignment techniques that are needed for them is the correct way to go. Ditto for skiing with slow pokes. I've taught beginners all day in my 130 flex boots with no discomfort. My set up works for me. However, we are all differently constructed, and different left to right, and we need to find with works for each of us.
All that said, I've had a great coach in medium soft boots and other equally great coaches teaching the same techniques in 150 flex boots.
