The Physio Hut
Physiotherapy assessment and treatment.
Treatment for all common and complex musculo-skeletal problems Including
Back Pain, Neck Pain, Shoulder & upper limb pain, Hip, Knee & lower limb Pain.
Treatment for Lack of mobility or stiff aching joint, niggles.
Specialist foot and Orthotics clinic. Lower limb Biomechanics. Ski Alignment, Bike Fit,
Soft tissue release, joint mobilising and manipulation,
Ultrasound, rehabilitation programs, training and fitness advice.
Ski Alignment
Ski Alignment
Here at The Physio Hut Peter Gordois uses laser alignment to see exactly how the legs and pelvis are responding to wearing ski boots in the position of skiing.
You will be asked to stand wearing your ski boots on rockers which simulate the soft medium of snow. This will show just what effect the tension in the body is applying to your skis. 90% to 95% of the skiing population will not display flat skis when the body is in a powerful & stable stance. Take a look around on the ski slope. You will see many skiers looking knock kneed. You will see them straining to find their inside edge and having difficulty generally. All these people would benefit from Ski Alignment.
Standing on a level solid surface will display the posture the body must be in to flatten the skis to the snow.
Here is an easy test You can try.
Standing on one leg in your ski boots, with the base of the boot flat on the floor.
How does your balance feel?
Do you feel unstable?
Can you feel the boot pulling your leg and knee inwards?
Now try flexing/bending your Knee.
How does this feel?
Does your knee travel forward and out over the center your toes?
Do you feel powerful and stable?
or
Does your knee fall inwards?
Do you feel twisted?
Do you shift your weight excessively?
These tests give you some insight as to how much undue strain will be acting on your body. This will be multiplied several times when turning at even a moderate speed or absorbing a compression or bump.
However with the appropriate adjustments to the Boots, Footbeds & Skis, it is possible to attain both legs in a powerful, strong &bio- mechanically sound posture.
The tissue stresses are neutralised and the feeling is one of solid and flat on the ground.
To help facilitate this the fundamentals of the specialist Foot & Orthotics Clinic are utilised.
Take a look around on the slopes and you will see many skiers looking knock kneed. You will see them straining to find there inside edges and having difficulty generally. All these people would be benefit greatly by having their alignment corrected
The specialised ski alignment is carried out by Peter Gordois, fully registered and trained Physiotherapist (with several years experience in ski alignment and working with top coaches and Ski racers). Achieving what would take hours of lessons in an instant.
The picture opposite, shows how the laser alignment deck allows us to see exactly how the legs and pelvis are responding to ski boots in the position of skiing. The laser lines (red) show where the force from above should be acting. This is not the case as indicated by the long yellow arrow. Here we can see that the forces transmitting through the right leg are falling to the inside.
Also the short yellow arrow shows the effect on the knee as the flattening of the boot is compensated for by the knee falling in and the lower leg rotating inwards, indicated by the rounded arrow. This will cause the ski to push down on the outside edge as the knee tries to relax soft tissue tension. With the knee as it is here the ski would be flat however a large percentage of efficiency and power would be lost to maintain the posture and compensate for the inefficient bio-mechanics.
Specialist Ski Alignment .The second picture shows the legs in better alignment as the rockers on the laser deck roll outwards simulating a soft medium like snow. However his would have the effect of causing the out side edges to catch and difficulty finding the inside edge. In most cases this is more prevalent on one leg than the other. This results in most skiers having a noticeable difference between left and right turns. That is to say they can turn one-way better than the other.
Specialist Ski Alignment. In the third picture the rockers have been removed and appropriate adjustments placed under the base of the boots. We can now see that both legs are in a very strong, balanced and bio-mechanically sound posture. The tissue stresses are in neutral and the feeling is one of solid and flat on the ground. A powerful stance.
When these cants are placed under the ski bindings this has the effect of pushing the skis flat whilst the body stands in a neutral posture. Therefore all subsequent movements are transmitted direct to the skis. No anatomical adjustment is needed to compensate for the boots or skiing position.
This in turn leads to less energy expenditure, increase in skiing ability, decrease in fatigue, increase in enjoyment, decrease in frustration and less stress and strain on the body due to improved bio-mechanics.
Specialist Ski Alignment. The fourth picture shows the test you can try yourself. Here we see a skier standing on one leg on a flat solid surface with the appropriate canting.
The stance is solid and the forces indicated by the laser pass through the joints correctly. The skier finds it very easy with no twisting or straining.
Try this test with your ski boots on and if you feel unstable, twisted, compensation by shifting your weight excessively or the boot having a feeling of pulling your leg in or out or if you feel the knee twisting and falling inwards then this gives you some insight as to how much strain will be acting on your body when skiing. This also indicates that you would benefit greatly by having your alignment corrected.
