Liked your definition of pronation and how it can help initiate a turn using the ankle joint. I would like to see you incorporate the function of a custom foot bed, absolute essential equipment for advanced skiers. How this can support the foot and transfer energy better to the edge. I've been a boot fitter and devo coach.
Hi Tom, Thanks for this vidéo ! really love the way you explain. I searched and worked a lot to let my feet to do this movement. I worked on boots and other way ;) and love too your skiing style ;)
Thanks for the detailed yet simple descriptions. I've been skiing since I was 4 and am now 65. The trends and the concepts of movement, the foot, and boot fit have changed so radically over the years that it has been a real pleasure to have these essential parts of skiing performance linked to the biomechanics as you do. It would also seem essential to me that there needs to be enough room widthwise in the toe box of the boot to allow this to occur because if the forefoot is restricted from spreading this cannot occur. Yet as a bootfitter I often see this area of the boot being ignored and the general public will choose a boot that is overall too wide in order to get this right when the right boot with a little modifying would be better. I'm not however suggesting that boot fit will take the place of specific training such as you demonstrate in other videos but it is part of the picture. As a classic overpronator or someone who suffers from extreme eversion (or being already in pronation in a bipedal weighted stance) and the resulting issues with knee and hip positions or alignment while skiing footbeds have been a lifesaver. However, the difference between the earlier fully rigid forms I experienced between 1979 onwards and the later more pliable yet still somewhat supportive designs of today are night and day in terms of feel and being able to allow the foot to perform more normally in terms of function. Love your stuff.
I have the exact same problem with foot (right one). What custom footbed you use to correct that problem? P. S. Also, I have feeling of disalligment of hips because of overpronated foot. Thanks in advance.
Hey Tom. Thanks for this great teaching. I think that focusing on foot pronation only kind of short cut the whole picture, even if pronation is necessary, as you said, for a short while. So if the goal is to quickly have the new outside ski on the inside edge, the edging angle is achieved through the hip moving forward across the skis and towards the fall line, VS trying to edge by over-pronating as you well explained in this video. Do you have a video explaining the hip movement and exact direction needed for proper/optimal edging ? I can see many referring to this hip movement but no one actually demonstrates it. An indoor demo would be really appreciated.
To be honest I am not sure if I am understanding how you are using the term pronation. I am a boot fitter and have been trained to make footbeds to support the foot so that arch does not collapse/flatten when it is under the skiers full weight. We learn to measure the foot unweighted then measure again in the standing position. Foot beds are molded with the skier seated. If I follow your video you recommend that the foot /arch should not be supported and that pronation/ flat feet/ fallen arch is better for skiing. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on footbeds and posting them to hold the heel and arch in a neutral position?
Hi Tom, great video. Would like to ask you something abouth this topic. I have x legs do flat feet and i almost alway over pronate and lack on grip on the edge bc of that. I tried bootfitting but doesn't work. do you think i could work in some drills to correct that? some advices? thank you
This video is awesome!! In the video you mention you have other videos where you talk more about these ideas, but I don't see them listed in your channel. Where can I view them? Thank you so much for making these!!!
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how this effects boot fitting. I recently replaced my stock (flat) boot insoles with insoles that fit my arch perfectly... Then I skid for a day and struggled at every turn from the moment I skid to the first chair lift. I'm convinced that I thwarted the natural pronation of my foot inside the boot to the point I was over-compensating with the rest of my body for balance. Am I over-analyzing?
Get those things out of your boots!! This is what I’m hearing more and more often. In fact many people don’t even ever get to try not insole as a shop will sell you a custom insole with your new boots. So their base starting point is that they never feel pronation to begin with. It’s not the shops fault it’s just the industry paradigm that started long ago saying that it’s better with a customer insole. Any boot fitters out there please don’t take offense. It’s not meant to be personal. It’s just I see things differently and have my reasons just like you have yours. What you have done Chris is test for yourself and that’s what I’d encourage anyone including enthusiasts of custom insoles to do. A and B test. Finally yes you need to do more customs boot punching and grinding without a custom footbed. But that’s where the boot fitter is awesome! They can help that part. Allow the foot to move like the body is trying to do to get a ski to tip over. Don’t block it.
I am opposite and walk on the outside of my feet. Skiing leaves me with very sore arches because it’s unnatural for me to flatten that arch. How do you work through that without restricting the movement?
The video points out the two movements that somehow have the same word. The plantar muscles actually support the ball of the foot. The peronial can't do much without them. I'm finally rehabbing my peronial tendon injury and associated plantar weakness after many years, so I can compare left and right. There's a quality difference between my turns for sure, but perhaps the difference is not as large as you'd think. The main problem is that the knee gets stressed. For fine edge control it's a big deal, but actually it's worse for delicate sliding movements than carving. A fully laid out carve has such high angles that the extra degree or two is proportionally small. It's the less intense skiing that suffers the most. Side-slips, hockey stops, tree skiing, switch skiing, etc
The further I get into learning how to ski, the less I want to - does it get simpler or is there always this overload of crap to think about all the freaking time? Does it ever become second nature?
The point of skiing is having fun. If you're having fun, you're doing it right :D Just pressure the different parts of the ski. Depending on how you tilt the ski, the front of the ski rotates you one way, and the back of the ski the other. All these other details boil down to accomplishing that.
Liked your definition of pronation and how it can help initiate a turn using the ankle joint. I would like to see you incorporate the function of a custom foot bed, absolute essential equipment for advanced skiers. How this can support the foot and transfer energy better to the edge. I've been a boot fitter and devo coach.
Hi Tom, Thanks for this vidéo ! really love the way you explain. I searched and worked a lot to let my feet to do this movement. I worked on boots and other way ;) and love too your skiing style ;)
Thanks for the detailed yet simple descriptions. I've been skiing since I was 4 and am now 65. The trends and the concepts of movement, the foot, and boot fit have changed so radically over the years that it has been a real pleasure to have these essential parts of skiing performance linked to the biomechanics as you do. It would also seem essential to me that there needs to be enough room widthwise in the toe box of the boot to allow this to occur because if the forefoot is restricted from spreading this cannot occur. Yet as a bootfitter I often see this area of the boot being ignored and the general public will choose a boot that is overall too wide in order to get this right when the right boot with a little modifying would be better. I'm not however suggesting that boot fit will take the place of specific training such as you demonstrate in other videos but it is part of the picture. As a classic overpronator or someone who suffers from extreme eversion (or being already in pronation in a bipedal weighted stance) and the resulting issues with knee and hip positions or alignment while skiing footbeds have been a lifesaver. However, the difference between the earlier fully rigid forms I experienced between 1979 onwards and the later more pliable yet still somewhat supportive designs of today are night and day in terms of feel and being able to allow the foot to perform more normally in terms of function. Love your stuff.
I have the exact same problem with foot (right one). What custom footbed you use to correct that problem?
P. S. Also, I have feeling of disalligment of hips because of overpronated foot.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Tom. Another really good and informative video.
Hey Tom. Thanks for this great teaching. I think that focusing on foot pronation only kind of short cut the whole picture, even if pronation is necessary, as you said, for a short while. So if the goal is to quickly have the new outside ski on the inside edge, the edging angle is achieved through the hip moving forward across the skis and towards the fall line, VS trying to edge by over-pronating as you well explained in this video. Do you have a video explaining the hip movement and exact direction needed for proper/optimal edging ? I can see many referring to this hip movement but no one actually demonstrates it. An indoor demo would be really appreciated.
Very nicely explained Tom.
To be honest I am not sure if I am understanding how you are using the term pronation. I am a boot fitter and have been trained to make footbeds to support the foot so that arch does not collapse/flatten when it is under the skiers full weight. We learn to measure the foot unweighted then measure again in the standing position. Foot beds are molded with the skier seated. If I follow your video you recommend that the foot /arch should not be supported and that pronation/ flat feet/ fallen arch is better for skiing. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on footbeds and posting them to hold the heel and arch in a neutral position?
Excellent! Always love your insights! 👍✌️🕊️🦋❄️☃️⛷️🥰
Hi Tom, great video. Would like to ask you something abouth this topic. I have x legs do flat feet and i almost alway over pronate and lack on grip on the edge bc of that. I tried bootfitting but doesn't work. do you think i could work in some drills to correct that? some advices? thank you
This video is awesome!! In the video you mention you have other videos where you talk more about these ideas, but I don't see them listed in your channel. Where can I view them? Thank you so much for making these!!!
Hi Chris. If you go to my Facebook page. Search functional body balance. There are more videos on there.
I'm curious to hear your thoughts on how this effects boot fitting. I recently replaced my stock (flat) boot insoles with insoles that fit my arch perfectly... Then I skid for a day and struggled at every turn from the moment I skid to the first chair lift. I'm convinced that I thwarted the natural pronation of my foot inside the boot to the point I was over-compensating with the rest of my body for balance. Am I over-analyzing?
Get those things out of your boots!! This is what I’m hearing more and more often. In fact many people don’t even ever get to try not insole as a shop will sell you a custom insole with your new boots. So their base starting point is that they never feel pronation to begin with. It’s not the shops fault it’s just the industry paradigm that started long ago saying that it’s better with a customer insole. Any boot fitters out there please don’t take offense. It’s not meant to be personal. It’s just I see things differently and have my reasons just like you have yours. What you have done Chris is test for yourself and that’s what I’d encourage anyone including enthusiasts of custom insoles to do. A and B test.
Finally yes you need to do more customs boot punching and grinding without a custom footbed. But that’s where the boot fitter is awesome! They can help that part. Allow the foot to move like the body is trying to do to get a ski to tip over. Don’t block it.
Thanks Tom, it all makes sense.
Genius Tom thanks xx
I am opposite and walk on the outside of my feet. Skiing leaves me with very sore arches because it’s unnatural for me to flatten that arch. How do you work through that without restricting the movement?
is that inversion of the foot too?
I contend that carved turns are initiated (and maintained) with peroneal muscle contraction. Any thoughts?
The video points out the two movements that somehow have the same word. The plantar muscles actually support the ball of the foot. The peronial can't do much without them.
I'm finally rehabbing my peronial tendon injury and associated plantar weakness after many years, so I can compare left and right. There's a quality difference between my turns for sure, but perhaps the difference is not as large as you'd think. The main problem is that the knee gets stressed.
For fine edge control it's a big deal, but actually it's worse for delicate sliding movements than carving. A fully laid out carve has such high angles that the extra degree or two is proportionally small. It's the less intense skiing that suffers the most. Side-slips, hockey stops, tree skiing, switch skiing, etc
The further I get into learning how to ski, the less I want to - does it get simpler or is there always this overload of crap to think about all the freaking time? Does it ever become second nature?
The point of skiing is having fun. If you're having fun, you're doing it right :D
Just pressure the different parts of the ski. Depending on how you tilt the ski, the front of the ski rotates you one way, and the back of the ski the other. All these other details boil down to accomplishing that.
Hmm I don’t think I really understand, repeat and rinse...
Geezzzzzz. get to the point already, we don't need a lecture, just get to what applies to us instead of drowning it in background crap.