Let's examine the sagittal plane of motion which affects our fore/aft balance!
Do you struggle with finding fore/aft balance in your turns? If the rear spine of your boot was removed could you still ski?
Many skiers struggle with this area in their skiing career. In the beginning this "back seat" condition could have it's roots in fear or a higher than optimal anxiety level. If this is the only issue it will be solved by gaining confidence in turning and/or staying on easier terrain and gaining confidence with skiing that terrain faster before moving to steeper terrain. HOWEVER, if the issue originates in poorly aligned or balanced equipment no amount of technique instruction or skiing on easier terrain will cause any significant improvement in fore/aft balance.
Let's break it down to help you understand how a good boot fitter assesses and corrects this plane of alignment. There are four parameters on this plane that need to be assessed and "coordinated". I say coordinated because you can not necessarily just change one of the four parameters and optimize performance. There is a methodology followed that gets the best result.
1)First assess dorsiflexion range of motion. Why, because matching this range of motion to the boots ramp angle and forward lean angles to arrive at a workable "net forward lean" angle (forward cuff lean - ramp angle of boot board = net forward lean ex: 15-4=11 degrees net angle) is a major key to a balanced stance. You can do a quick assessment on yourself by sitting in a chair that allows you to create a 90/90/90 relationship between your feet & lower leg, your lower leg & thighs, your thighs and torso. Then in bare feet lift or dorsiflex your ankle. If you can't lift your forefoot off the floor you have zero dorsiflexion. If you can lift your forefoot 3" off the floor you have hyper mobile flexion. This is measured from the fifth metatarsal head to the floor and keeping the foot in neutral rather than everted to the outside. It is also relative to the length of the foot (short vs. long foot). Unless you have access to a digital level you can use the finger method. If you have an average length foot, between 1 and 2 fingers gap between the floor and fifth met is about average range. OK let's say you have lower than average RoM what do you do now?.. Well you may need to open up that "net forward lean" angle inside your boots. This can be done with a heel lift on the boot board under the liner and/or decreasing the forward lean of the cuff by removing any spoiler shim located between the liner and boot spine.
What difference does it make? Assuming your boots fit snugly in the forefoot and instep area so that any vertical motion is eliminated, the foot must have the ability to press firmly against the boot ceiling in order to aid balance. If the skier's range of motion is 15 degrees and the boot's net forward lean is 16 degrees, this skier loses the ability to effectively use dorsiflexion to pull their shins into the boot tongues relegating the skier to press the calf against the rear spine of boot to regain balance. We need to reserve some RoM to serve this purpose in order to optimize balance.
What if the ankle has hyper mobility? If the net forward lean of a boot is 15 degrees and a skier has 20 degrees of dorsiflexion they will get pressure to the front of the ski through resistance from the tongue before they can feel pressure under the ball of the forefoot because the achilles tendon needs to be stretched a bit to leverage pressure to the ball of the foot. If the shin hits the tongues resistance before pressure is transferred to the ball of the foot, they are skiing more out of the cuff of the boot than the sole of the foot or a simultaneous resistance from shin and ball of foot. I want to feel a simultaneous distribution. Closing the ankle joint with a higher net forward lean will close the ankle and stretch the achilles a bit allowing the skier to feel a more simultaneous pressure distribution between forefoot and tongue.
2) Step two is to assess the lower leg angle with boots on and clicked into bindings. NOTE: Once step one is assessed and optimized we DO NOT CHANGE THE NET FORWARD LEAN AGAIN. This means when we assess and adjust the lower leg angle it is only done OUTSIDE the boots. Whether that is done with shims placed under the bindings or lifter plates screwed onto boot soles. With the skier standing on the flat level floor clicked into the bindings with boots buckle snuggly, they should stand "cuff neutral" which means to match the boots cuff angle with slight shin pressure against the tongues and feet side by side. Observed from the side view we look to see where the knees plumb over the ski. Ideally my starting point in the shop is to get the knees to plumb over the tip of the boot toe. If they plumb over the toe dam or first buckle, I want to increase the delta angle by adding shims under the heel via lifter plate on boot or under bindings. Conversely, if they plumb over the binding toe piece I want to decrease the delta by shimming either under the boot toe with lifter plates or shim under the binding toe piece. Ultimately this is tested while skiing because the body will automatically go where it needs to go to balance. By experimenting with 3mm temporary shims on the slope we can dial in where the skier feels the best then make the permanent adjustments in shop. Ideally on snow, I am looking for parallel angles between the shins and the spine. If the lower legs are too vertical the skier will demonstrate bent over more at the waist to compensate and have difficulty flexing ankles. If the lower leg angle is too steep the skier will ski with a more vertical spine and be unable to pressure the front of the ski at the top of their turns. When we find optimal the skier will feel slight pressure of shins against the tongues at top of turns and be able to easily pressure shovels to initiate during edge engagement.
3) Step three is to assess binding mount position on skis and adjust forward or back as needed. This is difficult if the ski's binding are not easily adjustable like a system binding or a demo track binding. (Note: I prefer to mount demo track bindings on fatter skis as I can easily change the skiing characteristics for powder vs. hard snow. Any ski will float better in powder if the bindings are moved toward tail a bit to eliminate the need to "sit back" to keep the tips from diving into the snow.) Moving the binding toward the tails will move the sweet spot of ski in front of the base of support and require a bit of forward bias in weight distribution to find the sweet spot. Conversely, moving the binding forward on the ski moves the sweet spot back and the stance will need to move more aft to be over the sweet spot. A good example is to watch a park n pipe skier go by on the slopes and notice their neutral stance. Since their skis are "center mounted" to optimize spins and skiing switch, the sweet spot of the ski is under their heels so they demonstrate that "Keep on Truckin'" stance with hands by their sides because they are actually centering their mass over the skis sweet spot. By simply moving their binding AFT a couple centimeters on their skis, their body position would adjust to a more normal stance. Move them farther aft and their stance would show a more forward tilt of their body to compensate to be over the ski's sweet spot.
By following this chronological order we can get the skier in their optimal position over their skis to balance most efficiently. This becomes their "detent" position from which to move in and out of as they wish to affect the skis and balance. IMO getting this plane of motion dialed in is the most important of the three planes of motion yet is often misunderstood and overlooked. GET'R DONE!
Do you struggle with finding fore/aft balance in your turns? If the rear spine of your boot was removed could you still ski?
Many skiers struggle with this area in their skiing career. In the beginning this "back seat" condition could have it's roots in fear or a higher than optimal anxiety level. If this is the only issue it will be solved by gaining confidence in turning and/or staying on easier terrain and gaining confidence with skiing that terrain faster before moving to steeper terrain. HOWEVER, if the issue originates in poorly aligned or balanced equipment no amount of technique instruction or skiing on easier terrain will cause any significant improvement in fore/aft balance.
Let's break it down to help you understand how a good boot fitter assesses and corrects this plane of alignment. There are four parameters on this plane that need to be assessed and "coordinated". I say coordinated because you can not necessarily just change one of the four parameters and optimize performance. There is a methodology followed that gets the best result.
1)First assess dorsiflexion range of motion. Why, because matching this range of motion to the boots ramp angle and forward lean angles to arrive at a workable "net forward lean" angle (forward cuff lean - ramp angle of boot board = net forward lean ex: 15-4=11 degrees net angle) is a major key to a balanced stance. You can do a quick assessment on yourself by sitting in a chair that allows you to create a 90/90/90 relationship between your feet & lower leg, your lower leg & thighs, your thighs and torso. Then in bare feet lift or dorsiflex your ankle. If you can't lift your forefoot off the floor you have zero dorsiflexion. If you can lift your forefoot 3" off the floor you have hyper mobile flexion. This is measured from the fifth metatarsal head to the floor and keeping the foot in neutral rather than everted to the outside. It is also relative to the length of the foot (short vs. long foot). Unless you have access to a digital level you can use the finger method. If you have an average length foot, between 1 and 2 fingers gap between the floor and fifth met is about average range. OK let's say you have lower than average RoM what do you do now?.. Well you may need to open up that "net forward lean" angle inside your boots. This can be done with a heel lift on the boot board under the liner and/or decreasing the forward lean of the cuff by removing any spoiler shim located between the liner and boot spine.
What difference does it make? Assuming your boots fit snugly in the forefoot and instep area so that any vertical motion is eliminated, the foot must have the ability to press firmly against the boot ceiling in order to aid balance. If the skier's range of motion is 15 degrees and the boot's net forward lean is 16 degrees, this skier loses the ability to effectively use dorsiflexion to pull their shins into the boot tongues relegating the skier to press the calf against the rear spine of boot to regain balance. We need to reserve some RoM to serve this purpose in order to optimize balance.
What if the ankle has hyper mobility? If the net forward lean of a boot is 15 degrees and a skier has 20 degrees of dorsiflexion they will get pressure to the front of the ski through resistance from the tongue before they can feel pressure under the ball of the forefoot because the achilles tendon needs to be stretched a bit to leverage pressure to the ball of the foot. If the shin hits the tongues resistance before pressure is transferred to the ball of the foot, they are skiing more out of the cuff of the boot than the sole of the foot or a simultaneous resistance from shin and ball of foot. I want to feel a simultaneous distribution. Closing the ankle joint with a higher net forward lean will close the ankle and stretch the achilles a bit allowing the skier to feel a more simultaneous pressure distribution between forefoot and tongue.
2) Step two is to assess the lower leg angle with boots on and clicked into bindings. NOTE: Once step one is assessed and optimized we DO NOT CHANGE THE NET FORWARD LEAN AGAIN. This means when we assess and adjust the lower leg angle it is only done OUTSIDE the boots. Whether that is done with shims placed under the bindings or lifter plates screwed onto boot soles. With the skier standing on the flat level floor clicked into the bindings with boots buckle snuggly, they should stand "cuff neutral" which means to match the boots cuff angle with slight shin pressure against the tongues and feet side by side. Observed from the side view we look to see where the knees plumb over the ski. Ideally my starting point in the shop is to get the knees to plumb over the tip of the boot toe. If they plumb over the toe dam or first buckle, I want to increase the delta angle by adding shims under the heel via lifter plate on boot or under bindings. Conversely, if they plumb over the binding toe piece I want to decrease the delta by shimming either under the boot toe with lifter plates or shim under the binding toe piece. Ultimately this is tested while skiing because the body will automatically go where it needs to go to balance. By experimenting with 3mm temporary shims on the slope we can dial in where the skier feels the best then make the permanent adjustments in shop. Ideally on snow, I am looking for parallel angles between the shins and the spine. If the lower legs are too vertical the skier will demonstrate bent over more at the waist to compensate and have difficulty flexing ankles. If the lower leg angle is too steep the skier will ski with a more vertical spine and be unable to pressure the front of the ski at the top of their turns. When we find optimal the skier will feel slight pressure of shins against the tongues at top of turns and be able to easily pressure shovels to initiate during edge engagement.
3) Step three is to assess binding mount position on skis and adjust forward or back as needed. This is difficult if the ski's binding are not easily adjustable like a system binding or a demo track binding. (Note: I prefer to mount demo track bindings on fatter skis as I can easily change the skiing characteristics for powder vs. hard snow. Any ski will float better in powder if the bindings are moved toward tail a bit to eliminate the need to "sit back" to keep the tips from diving into the snow.) Moving the binding toward the tails will move the sweet spot of ski in front of the base of support and require a bit of forward bias in weight distribution to find the sweet spot. Conversely, moving the binding forward on the ski moves the sweet spot back and the stance will need to move more aft to be over the sweet spot. A good example is to watch a park n pipe skier go by on the slopes and notice their neutral stance. Since their skis are "center mounted" to optimize spins and skiing switch, the sweet spot of the ski is under their heels so they demonstrate that "Keep on Truckin'" stance with hands by their sides because they are actually centering their mass over the skis sweet spot. By simply moving their binding AFT a couple centimeters on their skis, their body position would adjust to a more normal stance. Move them farther aft and their stance would show a more forward tilt of their body to compensate to be over the ski's sweet spot.
By following this chronological order we can get the skier in their optimal position over their skis to balance most efficiently. This becomes their "detent" position from which to move in and out of as they wish to affect the skis and balance. IMO getting this plane of motion dialed in is the most important of the three planes of motion yet is often misunderstood and overlooked. GET'R DONE!
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