How to put more pressure on your toes

Sorry - my bad description. I really meant that I feel I need to lean forward more, not just my toes. I do feel pressure of my shins pushing against the boot, but I feel my centre of gravity is still more to the rear, leading to a sense of instability. The photos posted by SwingBeep on the other thread are interesting. I'm going to put my boots on and look in the mirror to see which photo is more like me. I might experiment with a heel lift as well when I get to the slopes.

acarr wrote:Sorry - my bad description. I really meant that I feel I need to lean forward more, not just my toes. I do feel pressure of my shins pushing against the boot, but I feel my centre of gravity is still more to the rear, leading to a sense of instability. The photos posted by SwingBeep on the other thread are interesting. I'm going to put my boots on and look in the mirror to see which photo is more like me. I might experiment with a heel lift as well when I get to the slopes.

Interesting. I read into this that you have an issue with your position in your boots.

Old Andy is right. I'm looking for full contact with the whole sole of my foot when I have resting pressure on the cuff. As I move forward to start a turn, I increase the pressure on the cuff, but also want to feel my weight move onto my toes a little. This is where having your boots and bindings set up correctly is crucial.

Ally, I have trouble with all that big toe, little toe stuff too.

If your skiing in the right position wouldn't this come naturally anyway. My instructor always told me to keep your knees bent with your weight forward, master this and the rest follows. I know it can be hard especially for a beginner to lean forward when going down hill as your mind/ body wants to do the opposite.

He also said this is when people usually fall or crash because the body weight isn't positioned right.... My only thoughts as I set off from the top of each lift are.

Am I relaxed.
Do I have my knees bent
Push my shins against the tongue of my boots
And keep my feet hip width apart.

My only thought as I'm skiing is stay relaxed at all times. And I find myself doing the above as standard.

acarr,

The solution to your problem begins with your mind.

Stay in easy slopes and think SEE/SAW ( yes that playground board children all love ) ! Think pushing that board ( your ski tips ) down at all times!

How do you do that physically?
As mentioned by all others;
pressure on tops of ski boots.
pressure front of ski boot tongue
Knees forward
hips forward

I am the one who suggested placing a tiny object at heel , thus every time you lean back you feel pressure on heel ! Soon this pressure will be an irritant,,,,,then you must take it out ! The resultant soft spot will be for at least a day a "reminder to lean forward" !
Note this is as a last "solution" !

Another way is to talk to yourself ( in a low voice),, "forward,,,,forward,,,,forward " as you go dow easy run !

Hope this helps you acarr!

It will happen.
Just practice and do not lose desire to ski better.

Pavel

When I feel the pressure on the back of my boots I know I am doing something wrong....

Sometimes joined by a reverse 360 jump - not intended though :twisted:

Tony_H wrote:

acarr wrote:I am a serial offender at not keeping pressure on my toes. No matter how much I intend to, I just can't. I seem to remember someone on a thread here suggesting that you can put something inside your boot to help with this, maybe a piece of cork tile or something. So would you put it under the heel, or under the toes in order to increase forward pressure? I'm assuming you'd put it under the boot liner? I can't afford to buy custom footbeds and I don't have time/can't afford to visit a boot fitter.
Any comments gratefully received.

Dave Mac would probably wibble on about using floor tiles or bits of carpet at this stage :shock:

I bought some footbeds for £35 recently, apparently they will change my foot inside my boot. I am yet to test this on the snow. I don't think £35 is a lot of money if it corrects the issue I had, which was one ski wanting to edge sometimes.

Why, as Bandit asks, do you want to put more pressure on your toes?

If one ski wants to edge you may want to take your boots to a bootfitter to check alignment. I had a tendency to ride a big toe edge on my right foot when off-piste, which created all sort of problems when I was trying to go faster - turns to the left while were easy to initiate had slopppy finishes (I couldn't dump speed immediately as instead of ending up on a definite slip I would be on edge and keep going) and turns to the right were difficult to initiate and I tended to lift the right ski. I checked my side-slips and they are very good when left ski downhill and way worse when right ski is down, so I went to a bootfitter and he canted my right boot and also made custom insoles with bigger support under my right foot arch to prevent it from rolling inwards. Problem solved! Now, while I am still some way off from doing a zipper line on Tortin I can keep up with boys while making nice smooth pivots with both my feet moving simultaneously. Maybe superfeet or any other ready made orthotics will work for you, but if you have time definitely visit a bootfitter. Very good investment of time and money.

Well, you can mess around by trying various things (as long as you don't try to mess with the construction of the boot) but really nothng can substitute a visit to a bootfitter. It may turn up that you are in a totally wrong boot for you and while you might learn to compensate for it you will never progress very far. I had a boot once with too much foreward lean and all I was doing while skiing as fighting myself as to not to seat back - I really wanted to as I felt I was about to fall out of my boots face forward. Skiing is an expensive hobby, and boots are the most important piece of your equipment. So if there is something bothering you about your stance, think about finding toe and money for a bootfitter. It may be a relatively easy to fix problem, and it may cost you next to nothing, but you do want a professional to assess it. Generally, all you have to do to put pressure on your toes is to flex your ankles. If you flex your ankles and don't get enough control of your tips, see a bootfitter. He's better fit to address the issue - you may need heel lifts, you may need toe lifts, you may need to have your boots softened some, and you may have a few miserable days on slopes while trying to resolve your issue by yourself.