Quest for Perfect Stance - Ep4 - Matt Schiller

Ever wondered how elite racers and top instructors get their boots so dialed in? Matt Schiller, owner of Park City Boot Room, discusses stance alignment for performance skiers.
00:37 Matt's backstory and business
02:09 A boot shop for pro athletes
03:36 Stance adjustments within the boot?
05:29 Pros have different needs
06:31 What is the optimal stance?
07:58 Zero is happy, neutral, and flat
08:24 Matt's stance assessment technique
12:14 When do you mill the toe and heel?
14:20 It's all about tiny corrections
15:45 Why Matt uses static assessment
18:16 Getting 'dialed in'
20:30 Evolution of stance
24:39 Closing thoughts and Cantology
Website: www.parkcityboo...

[@AaaBbb-br2ts]

Really enjoyed this. There is a direct parallel between what Matt does for biomechanically optimum athletes that are mostly using canting to make small adjustments around zero based on discipline, and what a good fitter will do for recreational skiers that need 2* or 3*. The athlete can use the stock boot (0*) as a starting point for on-hill experimentation, and then adjust in or out from 0* to around 0.5* (or at most 1.0*) in, say, 0.25* increments, using duct tape, while staying within ISO. But an identical optimization can be used for a recreational skier. I got aligned in-shop at +2.0* L/+2.5* R, and the boots were canted and routered to those. Then I went skiing and sent video to my aligner, who had me add shims under the medial side of the right boot in 0.25* increments up to 0.75*, and send her that video as well. She found an added 0.5* was ideal, so I added that adjustment permanently. Once that was done, my one-legged carving was balanced on both sides. So what Matt does with his athletes is analogous to what a good fitter will do with recreational skiers in that, in both cases, the in-shop alignnment needs be followed by an on-snow assessment to dial things in. The key difference is that the rec skier may first need to be canted and routered to get to a proper starting point. As an aside, since Matt also works with instructors, many of whom aren't biomechanically near-perfect like WC athletes, and thus can need 2* to 3*, I'm wondering what his process is for them.

[@steveshea8827]

Schiller did my boots. Footbeds, alignment the whole deal outlined here in the video. I went in with a one and a two and came out with a half and zero. Also lifted 4mm. Bingo! The boots are manageable in all three phases he talks about, top, belly and release. I felt the difference in the first few turns. I only wish I had gone down to PC sooner.

[@CantologyLLC]

Good stuff

[@petershumsky9989]

As a ski instructor who needs canting to ski effectively I greatly appreciate your ongoing series on boot alignment. Watching your interviews with experts on boot alignment allows me to see what is considered the most important areas to address when providing an accurate assessment.

[@CantologyLLC]

Thanks! It's my passion and it's surreal that, as a life-long skier, I find myself running a business that makes such a difference for so many other skiers!

[@rickrussell6188]

That was really good information. As an instructor I was always fine tuning my boots, a change in socks could affect the action. For me, when my setup is right on, I feel the ski right in my arch, a point about the size of a dime. I make my footbeds with a firm material. The original reason I sought out footbeds was to solve the pain of the outside of my foot drilling the shell when I put my ski on edge. The shop made footbeds, only slightly reduced the issue. The footbed looked nice in the shop but the arch of the footbed was basically unsupported. I put a solid type of common household caulk in that space and wow, I could feel my arch and my foot no longer drilled the outside of my boot when on edge. A new pair of boots for the season required a period of exploration in fittings and adjustments. The goal for me became to set up my equipment so my center of mass, would naturally be, side to side and fore and aft with heal lifts, to be standing on that dime " sweet spot" which lined up with the sweet spot build into a ski. A trial an error method out on the hill with tape, a match book for heal lifts, and back to the garage to fine tune. Oh, and that is a boot punch machine on the table behind you..... I knew that machine well before footbeds. I pushed that machine to its limits and my boots looked clownish with the bubble on the side. It is great to see how far this process has progressed. A great boot fitter like you is worth every dime spent!! You get it.

[@CantologyLLC]

Thanks for you comments

[@godin8262]

Great presentation from a bootfitter that understand not just foot but understand great what ski technique is. I am a ski pro for 37 years an I fit my boot and what work the best is very similar of what he said, I set my boot the most neutral possible make sure when I stand on my foot, I look when I flex that my knee move neutrally and check that my body bone structure is align center of my base of support, check that the center of my pelvis align center of my base of support and perpendicular to that base when I get in that neutral the best I can, I go on snow ski and get a bit more or less base on how it feel. The other thing that I realized that is critical after you are neutral in your set-up is to find the proper angle on your boot board (ramp angle) with accordance with the fore haft angle flex of that boot and again the only way I know to tune that get on snow adjust and ski again. I resonate a lot with what he said on that video.

[@CantologyLLC]

No question, pros need to refine their stance with on-snow experience to really get things dialed

[@RydenAround]

Really, really awesome. Thank you so much

[@CantologyLLC]

Glad you liked it!

[@northern1947]

Matts approach to canting is actually the most efficient way to get the term "dialed". Get some one inch gorilla tape. ,wrap a dozen times (just uder the grip)for tear offs/ One layer of tape is about .4 tenths of a degree of sole cant . The only thing missing is the video the effect of ramp angle !

[@CantologyLLC]

I totally agree. But first you have to get in the ball park. Say, someone needs 2 degrees. Ya gotta get close before you can fine tune with tape or hotel keys (about .6 degree per). A big stack of tape is clearly not safe. So tape is not appropriate for skiers who aren't close to where they need to be already. Skiers benefit tremendously by just getting in the ballpark. 80/20 rule. Getting totally dialed takes work, and not for everyone. And, tape under just the boot heel opens the door to twisting the sole. Jacking one side of the heel up but not jacking the toe, something's got to give. The sole can twist. Jacking the heel changes your center of balance, but the toe is still flat on the AFD. So the results are unpredictable and yields ski behavior unlike an actual cant adjustment. People need to know what they're doing if they intend to get totally dialed.

[@rzb1101]

Very interesting stuff. But Paul Lorenz said he has 2 degree (left) and 1.5 degree (right) canting. and you can also see he has cuff set to most outward position for cuff alignment in some close up shot.

[@CantologyLLC]

To clarify, this comment refers to one of the guys mentioned in the video. His boots are not shown in the video. Maybe Matts memory failed and he misrepresented Paul's setup.

[@jerzybartonezz4439]

Excelent info

[@CantologyLLC]

Thanks!

[@scottpetrie8707]

This is no Brent.