נעלי סקי וסנובורד

עמוד זה נכתב באנגלית, ויישאר כך עד שיתרגמו אותו:

תנועת הרגל בסקי

first: what's important about snowboarding shoes?

unlike what some people think, it is not like ski boots. in ski boots you move the skis sideways and your weight should pretty much be over the same point along the ski. it changes, of course for soft and hard, deep and shallow snow, but in general, you turn by turning your skis. so, in ski boots it's most important that your foot cannot pivot around the ankle. the reason people say (including myself) the your ankle should not come up is that if the ankle rises when you lean forward to put more weight on the tip (front), you lose control over the tail (rear) and you lose your ability to make that pivot motion...

but ski boots is not the subject, is it?

תנועת הרגל בסנובורד

now snowboard, that's different. you basically turn by leaning forward or backwords. so pivot motion is not important, you do want, however, that your weight transfers from your toes your ankle, from the edge of one side to the other edge, as quickly as you want it, so back turn is ok because you lean back by bending your knees, and more weight moves to the ankles, but front turn is harder to do gradually, as you have to bend you hips (my knees cannot bend forward) and then your ankle comes up.

so, to summarise: with surf boot should be comfortable, it's ok not to be very tight, only the less front-back freedom your foot has, the better. this of course is more important the better you are and the more you want to utilise the quality of your board (is this english at all?).

סוגי ביינדינגס לסקי

סוגי ביינדינגס לסנובורד

second: what are the differences between types of boots and bindings?

there are basically two types of boots and four or five (depends on how you categorize them) types of bindings.

נעליים

boots: there are hard boots and soft boots.

hard boots are similar in shape and construct to ski boots, they are made of hard plastic (mainly polycarbonate, PVC, polyester or polyamid, with fillers like kevlar or graphite on the more expensive, aggressive models). hard boots are hard to find nowadays as they almost stopped making them some three or four years ago. they are considered to be more precise and responsive but somewhat less comfortable.

soft boots differ in their hard-ness. they are made of soft materials and have a lot of padding, but also have inserts in the sole and boot to make them more durable, and especially, more responsive, so they will move your pressure better to the board. the harder the shoe is, the more accurate and quickly it responds and the better it is for higher level boarding. the softer the boot is, the more slowly it responds and thus it should be more forgiving. that means you can be not-so-good, and still not fall all the time. softer boots allow you to make mistakes, in navigation, estimation, technique etc.

ביינדינגס

bindings: the bindings for hard boots are, well, hard. they are step-ins, so they are very easy and fast to put on and take off.

they transfer your foot movements to the board immediately and accurately and the set, of hard boots and bindings is very unforgiving, not for beginners, and are better, in general, for free ride (downhill, fast surfing) than for free style (pipes, jumps and tricks).

(by the way: this type of binding will hold ok (not for aggressive turns) on every boot that can accept step-in crampons, such as all mountaineering boots with a front and rear ridge on the sole).

soft boot bindings can be divided into two categories: step-ins and non-step-ins. non-step-ins are the type that has two, three or four bindings, similar to the ones you find in some ski boots and in-line skates. you can undo them quickly enough but you have to re-adjust them each time you want to attach to the board. those, i think, are the most common on rental boards. those bindings can fit on every boot: soft and hard surf boots, hiking boots, mountaineering (plastic and leather) boots etc.

the step-in bindings are divided into two types: those that have parts on the boo itself (usually look as a round metal plate, that's almost flat on the board), and those that don't.

the first type, obviously cannot accept every boot. you have to have a boot that has special inserts in it for the part that attaches to the binding.

the other type is similar to the non-step-ins, only it has another set of buckles, so it keeps the adjustments and you just do and undo it. the most popular maker of those (or maybe the only one) is Flow.

there are some other tricks but this is basically it. every maker makes his own set of boots and bindings so you'll have to get both together.

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