staying locked in footholds???

[shougrider]

How is everyone staying in your footholds during one footed tricks? I dont really want to add a strap to my foothold but will if need be. It does not seem like just adding padding will be enough. I am running wamilton rickter size footholds I believe. Does the shape of the hold on top of the foot matter, maybe flatter would be better rather than angled toward the toe.

 

[Don 79 TA]

you have the padding in them?
i remember the last time i was riding a ski with Rickter footholds (i presume you mean the older style non-adjustable) i felt like my feet would lock in, and my friend didn't have turf or padding in them
that is one thing i liked about them

 

[shougrider]

Yeah the older style, They are padded but I have really small feet. I guess I need to triple up the padding then.

 

[waterfreak]

maybe because Rickter footholds only cover about half of your foot!

 

[Ross_C]

I don't use straps to hold my feet in the holds, and the type/size of the hold not really matter to me because I'm going to pad/turf it to the shape I want it to be. When I do one footed flip tricks my left foot is just wedged in the foothold sideways, one footed rolls my foot is in the hold more traditionally.

But for that to work, the holds needs to be really tight....to the point that I have to more or less kick in. Whenever I have to ride skis that are not mine I wind up having to add lots of extra turf.

On my own skis I run the 25mil padding on the bottom, a layer of the thin padding on the inside of the hold...then at least one more strip of padding along the outside of the hold to make a little lip. Then I shape the area with sand paper....I sand the bottom a little mostly for clearance. If you are close to feeling secure, but not quite there, a strip of turf that acts like a little ledge will go a long way to making you more secure.

And when I'm riding boats where the holds are too big and I need to tighten them up, a few layers of turf placed so there are some ledges for the top of your foot to grip will work well.

 

[Ross_C]

You can also use the padding to extend the foothold a little farther in to the tray or shape it to enclose the foot a little more.

 

[chriselmore_1]

great write up ross. I completely modify all my holds

 

[Mark Gomez]

Ross brought up a great point, another thing that helps me a ton is adding this super squishy 26mm padding with a 1 inch kick tail underneath it more so into the heel area of the foothold. I turfed this ski that I rode in Daytona this year at LegDrag's shop. I actually really messed up my measurement and put it too far back believe it or not but its a great example of what i am trying to show. You need to think outside the box when it comes to hydroturf and try padding in ways for personal comfort. I too use my rear foothold as a "rear strap" for surf stance. That large kicktail helps lock my back heel in while I toe into that rear foothold, as well as getting your foot arching into the hold making your riding stance more forward on the ski when it comes to hitting steeper faces and correcting your body weight to then land more flat. I mostly put pure Black 26 mm padding on the bottom of my Wamiltons Rickter footholds then only put turf on the top. As long as you wear a wrestling shoe something that is close enough to being barefoot you will be fine. only turf on the top of the foothold is plenty padding and grip enough for me because it is such a tight squishy/soft fit from the padding bellow that you should never need the padding on top to reduce impact to the top of your foot. That is just how it makes sense to me so far...

 

[shougrider]

Good input, thank you. Where can you get the thicker turf for underlayment? Blowsion is close by, but they only seem to have the really squishy grey stuff. It falls apart quickly it seems. I like the look of Marks tray before the turf, you can really see the shaping prior to covering it.

 

[LBE]

I think alot of how you set it up is personal prefrence. Experiment with it and find what works.
I like my set up, but it is not for everyone. I made my enclosure on the right side and have a small strap on the left. I'm left foor forward so I can put my left foot in the rear hold when surf stance. The enclosure keeps my foot from twisting out when doing rolls.

I also think putting in a small "heel" of "footprint" helps.

 

[FlightPlanDan]

Don't wanna throw water on the fire...
But, getting out can be as important as getting in.
To me, "locked in" is not a good thing. And even with my limited invert experience, my holds have not let me down.(in or out)

 

[shougrider]

I like the idea of the small strap. Seems like less work right now to see if I can find the balls to try and remove a foot while upside down. Who here switches feet for different tricks? I rode Zack Brights rickter and felt completely secure in those holds. Do you think I can get that secure with mine?

 

[Mark Gomez]

I like the idea of the small strap. Seems like less work right now to see if I can find the balls to try and remove a foot while upside down. Who here switches feet for different tricks? I rode Zack Brights rickter and felt completely secure in those holds. Do you think I can get that secure with mine?

sure just pad the crap out of the top and bottom and give er a good kick and your locked

 

[Lucaumpits]

i got 3 layers of 8mm on the tray under the foothold and 1 layer plus another half on the top the foothold, its super comfy, and you wont come out

 

[shanes]

i took these pic at the Kings cup in Thailand , trying to get the best idea for mine out of the 5 ski's there 4 where running set ups like this

 

[Waternut]

Here are my holds. They are a tad loose right now and I'd like to add some more padding or turf in them to make them fit just a little more snugly. However, even in their current state, I don't come out of them. On the other hand, I've never once had an issue of not being able to come out of a hold regardless of how loose or tight they are.

I have to say I don't understand all the issues with people worried about not being able to get out of the footholds. We're not talking about lace up boots mounted to the ski causing potential drownings. Regardless of how you hit the water, if both of feet are locked in place, you aren't going to break your ankles...maybe a knee but that is really low odds. Now if one foot comes out, your risk of breaking something go through the roof.

From my own personal experience on 3 different ski's... I've got 4 scars on my left shin and 2 that went to the bone plus an additional 2 scars on my right shin. I also really hurt my knee cap once and hit my head a few times. Every single instance of injury that I've encountered in this sport has been because I CAME OUT of the footholds. I'd rather have to give my foot an extra tug to get it out personally.

 

[tightithrash]

^ how does that set up work for 1 footed aireals? I'm sure the raised area on the heel helps like that and like what mark is saying.

I feel the biggest reason mine works so well as mark also said is the super squishy under padding and the fact that the RRP foot holds are adjustable so I can make a super sandwich. You can press the turf down/away from the top of my hold so it's really in there. I'll have to tug my foot a good 3 times to get it out if I get a good kick in. I'll post a pic of it later.

I think it's important to be able to come out of holds for sure, but if I'm doin a huge 1 footed flip, my life depends on that foot not coming out. I feel like if your not consistently landing flips and rolls in the first place than there is no way you should try taking a foot out... So you wouldn't need a super tight hold like mine unless you are.

 

[Waternut]

I don't do one footed aerials so I can't fully review that. However, because they are currently a little loose, once you pull your heel up, there isn't much holding you in. Therefore, I could only imagine they wouldn't be great in the current form.