by AnI » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:26 pm
Hi Robert,
While I certainly lack the expertise of Chris, Harald, or Diana, I completed the ski alignment technician training with HSS and know enough basics to comment on your question. According to HSS's school, any alignment starts with stabilizing the foot in the boot (assuming that the boot is properly sized, i.e., not too big). "Stabilizing" means making a footbed which accommodates the shape of the sole of the foot (thus preventing excessive motion within the boot) and compensates for excessive pronation. Since you mentioned that you have more pronation on one foot than on the other, you could benefit from custom made foodbeds (I assume you do not have custom foodbeds - please correct me if I am wrong), and this should be your first step. Your main challenge will be to find a bootfitter who can make foodbeds in a manner consistent with PMTS (i.e., neither too soft nor too stiff) and compensate for your pronation. It is not uncommon for bootfitting schools, at least in the US, to teach technicians to leave pronation to doctors and just make imprint of the foot.
You indeed may have a small degree of A-frame as you suspected, but nothing major, really. If you read Harald's blog, you will find examples taken from the world cup where top skiers ski with by far worse alignment after moving to a new brand of boots. It would be a lot easier to make a judgement on whether you are off with your alignment if you had posted a video which shows both your left and right turn taken consequently in a little more relaxed conditions than during a race (the images which you posted are quite different with respect to stance width). If you do not know any better, it is safe to assume that you could benefit from alignment and that your alignment is not perfect: according to some published sources, 49 skiers out of 50 could benefit from alignment. It is not uncommon to have different degree of misalignment on left and right leg, or have misalignment on one foot only.
If you really want to experiment on your own, you could attach a thin stripe of any material at hand, e.g, cardboard, with a thickness similar to that of a credit card (or perhaps double of that), to the medial (inside) side of your right heel using duct tape which you can wrap around the heel to the sides. The width of the stripe could be a third or a half of the heel width. This will tip your right foot out by about a quarter to half a degree and should make enough change to make the difference visible in a picture taken from the same angle. This can only be used as a temporary solution but it will enable you to experiment and check how it feels. I do not know where you would go from there. You can't do your own alignment (boot modification) yourself - you need tools and training - and you need good foodbeds before you can even start thinking about alignment.
By the way, just in case, check the settings of "canting" on your boots. These are eccentric bolts in the rivets which hold the upper and lower parts of the boot together. They can independently move the left and right hand side of the upper part of the boot, thus changing its angle relatively to the bottom of the boot. This adjustment is not a substitute for alignment, it only enables one to align the angle of the boot upper with the angle of his calf. Within a fairly wide range, it makes little or no difference, but If it is totally off, it can negatively impact your alignment. In order to check this, remove liners from your boots, move your footbeds from liners into the shell, step into the shell on top of the foodbeds, and check how the boot upper aligns with your calves. Ideally, there should be an equal amount of room on the left and right side.
Sorry, it is impossible to remotely fix alignment problems. You might have to make yourself a present - a skiing vacation in Colorado - and see Chris or Greg at Harb Ski Shop while you are there. You can also contact Chris using e-mail on harbskisystems.com to check if there is anyone with alignment training in Australia.
Having said all that, I have my doubts that the issues which you described can be cured by better alignment alone. Good alignment makes it easier to establish accurate movements, but there many other reasons for movement issues, including natural body asymmetries. One of the issues which you described (#3) is similar to what I've been struggling with for a couple of seasons. It was not alignment related at all as I was in good alignment. The cure was a drill with exaggerated flex to release.
Best of luck,
Andrei