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Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Posts
234
From another thread that I don't want to hijack:
I am a firm believer in matching boot flex to flexion of the ankle first.

I'm a little confused about this. Another forum I'm on has 2 schools of thought:
  1. A stiffer boot is indicated for ankles with a large range of flexion, to support the ankle and prevent an overly forward posture.
  2. A stiffer boot is indicated for ankles with a limited range of flexion, to ensure full transmission of the limited movements to the ski.
So which is correct?
 

tinymoose

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Nov 5, 2016
Posts
209
Location
Philly
I've always heard #2, but I've been told my ankles have not great dorsiflexion soooo.... :huh:

An aside, is dorsiflexion solely measured on how much someone can bend your unweighted ankle back b/c if so, I'm stuck at 90 degrees basically.

But if my foot is on the ground, I can comfortably flex it a lot more... certainly well past 90 degrees.
 
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Marty McSly

Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Posts
234

tinymoose

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Nov 5, 2016
Posts
209
Location
Philly
I read somewhere once that dorsiflexion can be tested by standing and flexing the foot up. But apparently physios test it with the knee against a wall. Here's one example I quickly Googled:

https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.p...quick-ankle-range-test-must-know-athlete/amp/

I don't recall any bootfitter testing my dorsiflexion using either method.

I've been tested by sitting with my foot up and a bootfitter pressing against my foot, trying to flex it (not my current bootfitter). The result was basically my ankle doesn't flex at all... lol I think this is slightly bogus b/c I do gymnastics and I know my ankles flex when I land stuff. If they didn't, I'd be in a world of hurt. And they also flex if I flex them standing. I'm sure my flexion isn't great (I'm not a naturally flexible person) but... I'm not sure an unweighted flexion test was super-accurate. Thanks for the physio-wall test.
 
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Marty McSly

Marty McSly

Getting off the lift
Skier
Joined
Mar 7, 2017
Posts
234
I'm sure my flexion isn't great (I'm not a naturally flexible person) but... I'm not sure an unweighted flexion test was super-accurate. Thanks for the physio-wall test.
I'm not naturally flexible either, but the standing flex test always showed me as having a high degree of dorsiflexion. IIRC less than an inch of gap under the toes supposedly shows low dorsiflexion, I get about 2 inches.

With the wall test however, under 10cm from the wall shows low dorsiflexion, over 15cm is high. I just get over 10cm. I still don't know if this means I need stiff or soft boots though...
 

Norther1

Putting on skis
Skier
Joined
Mar 10, 2016
Posts
69
I'm curious about this too. I've always heard that #1 was correct, I guess the thought being that if you have a highly flexible ankle, that you'd easily crush anything that was relatively soft.
I have a lots of dorsiflexion and my fitter gave me a stiffer boot because of it.
Boot fitting seems like an area where every fitter has a strong opinion of the "correct" way to do things and some will pooh-pooh others attempts at fixes, leaving the customer a bit confused as to what is indeed correct or best for them.
 

DonC

Squeezing into my stabilyx tights
Skier
Joined
Apr 6, 2017
Posts
211
Location
Boston
I had a bootfitter measure my dorsiflexion as being very high and together with other factors affecting my balance experimented with shimming the toe of my binding to give me a negative delta. At the same time, I ski a boot with a very progressive forward flex. The combo seems to seems to work and ever since I try to have my bindings set up as neutral or slight negative delta if possible.
 

otto

Out on the slopes
Masterfit Bootfitter
Joined
Sep 17, 2016
Posts
364
Both are correct...

If the ankle ROM is limited, you want a stiffer boot so that you get more reaction to the ski with the small range of motion available. If the boot is too soft, a limited range of motion will not allow the skier to drive the shin through the range of the boots flex.

If the ankle ROM is excessive, you want a stiffer boot to prevent the skier from driving the shin through the bottom of the boots flex range. The stiffer boot allows this skier to get pressure quickly and stand tall in the boot, versus flexing the cuff down into a squatty ski stance.

With either ankle ROM adjusting to a stiffer boot would typically solve performance issues as well as fit issues.
 

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