Hi! I've been skating for a little over a year and had been suspecting for months that my alignment is out of whack. I'm at 49 y.o. woman, 5'0", 102 lbs, have generally a Roman foot, a wide forefoot and skinny heels (and skinny ankles), low/flexible arches, one foot is about 1/2 a size longer than the other. Based on the amount of bootwork I've had done for downhill skiing, I know that I have bowed legs (one leg more than the other) pronate in one foot, and my alignment in the other leg is a little out of whack. If you've familiarity with ski boots, that boot is canted 1.5º out to get my ankle and knee aligned, and it means that without the canting, it is very difficult for me to get on an outside edge. I know my feet and alignment a lot better than the average newbie adult skater. ![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Finally, this week, after watching me do FO edges and attempt BO edges, my coach feels that something needs to be done with either or both my blades and insoles. I'm compensating a lot to do the FO edges, and my proprioception isn't as great going backwards, so I flail. I'm at the ISI FS1 level.
My current boot is the Jackson Mystique, which I've been able to get away with for so long because of my weight. I also had the toe box of the boot stretched about one "size" for my larger/wider foot. The boot isn't breaking down, but to get my alignment sorted out, I need a new boot where the blade can be moved to where it works for me. I live in Northern California. My coach wants me to go to Avanta (yes, I am generally aware of some things that have occurred) to have them check out my skating and see what may need to be done, but being so new to this, does this mean that they can only sell me their custom boots? I definitely do not want a custom boot. How does this all work? Would I be better off getting fitted for a new boot with my local fitter and then taking that to Avanta for them to fine tune?
I think it's very likely that despite my foot shape, a non-custom boot (and I have some ideas of which but am open to suggestions), can still work, especially because my skating goals are to have fun and have something to do indoors when it is either raining or crazy hot/smoky in the summer. To that end, can anyone give me advice as to what I should be thinking about?
Thank you so much!
Finally, this week, after watching me do FO edges and attempt BO edges, my coach feels that something needs to be done with either or both my blades and insoles. I'm compensating a lot to do the FO edges, and my proprioception isn't as great going backwards, so I flail. I'm at the ISI FS1 level.
My current boot is the Jackson Mystique, which I've been able to get away with for so long because of my weight. I also had the toe box of the boot stretched about one "size" for my larger/wider foot. The boot isn't breaking down, but to get my alignment sorted out, I need a new boot where the blade can be moved to where it works for me. I live in Northern California. My coach wants me to go to Avanta (yes, I am generally aware of some things that have occurred) to have them check out my skating and see what may need to be done, but being so new to this, does this mean that they can only sell me their custom boots? I definitely do not want a custom boot. How does this all work? Would I be better off getting fitted for a new boot with my local fitter and then taking that to Avanta for them to fine tune?
I think it's very likely that despite my foot shape, a non-custom boot (and I have some ideas of which but am open to suggestions), can still work, especially because my skating goals are to have fun and have something to do indoors when it is either raining or crazy hot/smoky in the summer. To that end, can anyone give me advice as to what I should be thinking about?
Thank you so much!