# Extreme foot pain (technique?)



## Otis6996 (Jan 23, 2014)

Hey guys, I'm new here. Been having so serious foot pain this season and haven't really seen any answers or suggestions on how to fix my problem. I'll start out by describing what type of rider I am. I am and intermediate rider about 5 10' , 285 pounds, and an ex college football player so not a total slob. This is my second season boarding, first season with my own equipment. I am riding a gnu carbon credit, burton genesis bindings, and burton driver x boots I had my boots sized a few times, and even bought a pair of nike zoom force 1s to give them a shot too. So the issue that I am dealing with is extreme arch pain. I believe that it could be bad form/technique causing it. When I attempt to turn toe side, instead of properly distributing my weight, I attempt to go onto my tip-toes and whip the board leading to my heel being forced to raise. Granted that I am a bigger rider, this absolutely kills my feet. I am just looking to find out if anyone has any idea how to work on elimiting this habit of going on my tips toes, and properly distributing my weight. Thanks 
Otis6996


----------



## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

when you go on your heel edge, try rest your shin against your boot to get the front edge up.
it will be hard to do so if your knees are not bent.
if your knees are not bent, and you try to stand on your toes as hard as you can, you will never get the ideal board angle.


----------



## Otis6996 (Jan 23, 2014)

Thank you, that video was very helpful.


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

couple of other things...

Have the cuff/upper part of the boot tight/snug...so that when you go toeside, all you have to do is bend you leading knee and it will leverage.

When ever possible use bigger muscles and joints...instead of ankle and calves...use thighs and knees.

And lastly...throw out the stock footbeds that came with the boots, get some insoles that are fitted to your arch and use those...like superfeet, ed vissieurs "sole", remind and etc....spare no expense to get your boots to fit....read the above boot faq sticky


----------



## Lovethebean (Oct 7, 2012)

I'm gong to second the footbed comment, as someone with high arches this is definite improvement. Also, don't do up the bottom section of the boot over your foot really tight, just get it snug to close up the boot. What happens when you have bad arch support from the stock footbeds and you over tighten the boot is that you cause your foot to flatten. This causes the foot to cramp up.


----------



## Rebelalliance (Jan 27, 2014)

First,
You really need custom footbeds, from a good ski or snowboard shop.
A person of your build and what your feet have been though, due to weight and the sports you have played over time does some damage to your feet.
Someone that knows what they are doing can help aline and correct the foot positon.

Second,
The correct size of boot.
Once step one is done, step two can be solved.

My first guess is your boots are to big.
Feet fall asleep, go numb, feel like your boots are to small?


----------



## TCB (Feb 25, 2013)

I had the same problem
I would get some insoles and what helped the most was I did my boots up as tight as possible


----------



## Rebelalliance (Jan 27, 2014)

The best fitting boot is the one you barely have to make tight.
With the right size boot, binding, and board you shouldn't have to crake on everything to get control.
If a boot is a half a size to big, no matter how tight you make it, you can't make it half a size smaller.
I'm a 9.5 shoe, I measure a 9, and I wear a size 8.
I try to feel like I'm wearing skate shoes when I'm snowboarding.

It's all about footbeds and the right size of boot.


----------



## Chimbulak (Feb 5, 2014)

I had the same problem when I started riding - extreme foot pain. I was told that that may be because my boots were too big - so I bought a perfectly fitting pair of boots half size smaller than my regular size. But pain didn't go away. I was also told that custom insoles may solve the problem, so I got the insoles - but it didn't help either. 

The only thing that solved the problem completely was the proper technique. I figured that the pain was caused by my constant tiptoeing and clawing into the board. So the key was to always remember to keep the feet more or less relaxed, not to tiptoe, and to press my shins against my boots to get the front edge up. After that, even if I ride in my old big boots (which are big but very comfy), there is no pain whatsoever. 

So, for me, neither the right size of boot nor custom footbeds really matter. It all comes down to the right technique and remembering not to claw my toes into the board.


----------

