Paul Oberin
20-07-2010, 01:37 PM
The 'Why' of Canting
http://www.cantology.com/Diagrams/tippedstance.PNG
Figure 2 - Knee Movement Must Compensate
http://www.cantology.com/Diagrams/neutralstance.PNG
Figure 1 - Neutral Stance
For a skier, hearing the news from a ski or boot technician that you need ‘cants’ is one the best things that can happen to your skiing.
Here’s why:
NOTE: The leg and wedge angles in the following diagrams are exaggerated for the purposes of depicting the geometry changes. Actual cant angles are usually 3 degrees or less.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to realize that not all human bodies are optimal for snow skiing. Many of us have problems in the geometry of our hips, legs, or ankles that hinder our ability to improve our skiing. Ideally, when we stand in a neutral position, with our body weight centered over our feet, our weight should be evenly distributed laterally, across the sole of each foot. On snow, this means that we can easily skid the ski laterally, and with tiny and symmetrical movements of the knee we can instantly apply either edge to carve or adjust a turn or control the skid. (Figure 1)
But for many us, this is just not the case. When we try to stand in a neutral position, more of our weight is focused on the inside or outside edge of our feet because of the way our bodies work. We can have this problem with one foot, or both feet, and the imbalance of weight distribution can go either way – towards the inside or the outside of the foot. On snow, we are at a disadvantage because our ski is naturally tipped with one edge driven deeper into the snow. (Figure 2)
You can check yourself.
Stand on a soft surface like deep carpet or a foam rubber pillow and try to assume a balanced and even stance with your feet comfortably apart. If one or both feet tend to tip to the inside or outside as you try to stand in a neutral and balanced position, we are talking about YOU!
When standing on snow (your favorite soft surface!), one edge of the ski is pressed more deeply into the snow than the other edge of that ski. As we learned to ski, we may have to compensate for the problem in various ways. But this need to compensate will hinder our skiing until we fix the problem.
http://www.cantology.com/Diagrams/wedgeunderski2.PNG
Figure 3 - Compensating Wedge Shape
Various solutions exist, depending on the severity of the problem and include adjusting the alignment of the boot with the lower leg and/or inserting a wedge into the foot-to-ski connection. The wedge acts to align the center of the knee over the center of the boot (red and green lines in Figure 3) and thus compensate for larger geometry problems.
In general, the term “canting” refers to the changes that can be made to the ski boot and also the use of wedges between the binding and the ski to adjust the angle by which the boot interfaces with the ski. The wedges are referred to as ‘cants’ and they come in various sizes or degrees of angle.
Proper canting allows both your skis to be dead flat or just slightly pressured to the inside when you stand in a balanced and neutral position on the snow. After a few minutes on the snow with your newly modified equipment, you find that any weak side has gone away, turning becomes easier, and your new-found solid flat-ski stance gives you a platform on which to build more advanced skills!
From this website.
http://www.cantology.com/
http://www.cantology.com/Diagrams/tippedstance.PNG
Figure 2 - Knee Movement Must Compensate
http://www.cantology.com/Diagrams/neutralstance.PNG
Figure 1 - Neutral Stance
For a skier, hearing the news from a ski or boot technician that you need ‘cants’ is one the best things that can happen to your skiing.
Here’s why:
NOTE: The leg and wedge angles in the following diagrams are exaggerated for the purposes of depicting the geometry changes. Actual cant angles are usually 3 degrees or less.
It shouldn’t be a surprise to realize that not all human bodies are optimal for snow skiing. Many of us have problems in the geometry of our hips, legs, or ankles that hinder our ability to improve our skiing. Ideally, when we stand in a neutral position, with our body weight centered over our feet, our weight should be evenly distributed laterally, across the sole of each foot. On snow, this means that we can easily skid the ski laterally, and with tiny and symmetrical movements of the knee we can instantly apply either edge to carve or adjust a turn or control the skid. (Figure 1)
But for many us, this is just not the case. When we try to stand in a neutral position, more of our weight is focused on the inside or outside edge of our feet because of the way our bodies work. We can have this problem with one foot, or both feet, and the imbalance of weight distribution can go either way – towards the inside or the outside of the foot. On snow, we are at a disadvantage because our ski is naturally tipped with one edge driven deeper into the snow. (Figure 2)
You can check yourself.
Stand on a soft surface like deep carpet or a foam rubber pillow and try to assume a balanced and even stance with your feet comfortably apart. If one or both feet tend to tip to the inside or outside as you try to stand in a neutral and balanced position, we are talking about YOU!
When standing on snow (your favorite soft surface!), one edge of the ski is pressed more deeply into the snow than the other edge of that ski. As we learned to ski, we may have to compensate for the problem in various ways. But this need to compensate will hinder our skiing until we fix the problem.
http://www.cantology.com/Diagrams/wedgeunderski2.PNG
Figure 3 - Compensating Wedge Shape
Various solutions exist, depending on the severity of the problem and include adjusting the alignment of the boot with the lower leg and/or inserting a wedge into the foot-to-ski connection. The wedge acts to align the center of the knee over the center of the boot (red and green lines in Figure 3) and thus compensate for larger geometry problems.
In general, the term “canting” refers to the changes that can be made to the ski boot and also the use of wedges between the binding and the ski to adjust the angle by which the boot interfaces with the ski. The wedges are referred to as ‘cants’ and they come in various sizes or degrees of angle.
Proper canting allows both your skis to be dead flat or just slightly pressured to the inside when you stand in a balanced and neutral position on the snow. After a few minutes on the snow with your newly modified equipment, you find that any weak side has gone away, turning becomes easier, and your new-found solid flat-ski stance gives you a platform on which to build more advanced skills!
From this website.
http://www.cantology.com/