ACL protection

Vish-shoe

Vish-shoe

Active member
Is it just unavoidable that skiing will do permanent damage my knees, because it seems like everyone who I know that grew up skiing has had reconstructive surgery and serious knee pain. Is this just unavoidable, or are there things that can be done to prevent being unable to walk when I’m 60.
 
A lot of people I know with knee problems are absolutely weapons on skis. Like balls to the walls. Can’t turn it down even after surgery. A little bit of self preservation goes a long way.

Of course, some people just get unlucky.
 
Ride skis that fit your height (under 6 foot 189 users im talking about you)

Keep your dins at the proper setting
 
Not really a proven way to prevent acl injuries. You should definitely make sure your muscles are working strong and anytime you feel weakness in your legs just stop with the big stuff for the day. Warm up well. Most injuries happen at the beginning or end of day when you are either not warmed up, or too tired already.

There is some research that your hamstring to quad ratio should be higher, 1:1 is best. Most people have much stronger quads, so make your hamstrings stronger.

As for general wear and tear of the knee - that's inevitable if you do lots of sports in your life. As you get older you can do more stretching, pilates, physio etc to relieve the pain and keep your joints working smoothly.
 
14516489:snowpig said:
Not really a proven way to prevent acl injuries. You should definitely make sure your muscles are working strong and anytime you feel weakness in your legs just stop with the big stuff for the day. Warm up well. Most injuries happen at the beginning or end of day when you are either not warmed up, or too tired already.

There is some research that your hamstring to quad ratio should be higher, 1:1 is best. Most people have much stronger quads, so make your hamstrings stronger.

As for general wear and tear of the knee - that's inevitable if you do lots of sports in your life. As you get older you can do more stretching, pilates, physio etc to relieve the pain and keep your joints working smoothly.
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This big time! Work on your hammies and glutes a lot!
 
Get into biking/strength during the off-season. The past 4 years or so I've been mountain biking a ton each summer and fall and it makes it so much easier to pick right back up into ski season with that leg and core strength already underneath you.
 
14516465:PimpChimpin said:
Ride skis that fit your height (under 6 foot 189 users im talking about you)

Keep your dins at the proper setting
Click to expand...

Cannot stress this enough. Saw a 5'9" mans on 189s last year and wondered how he hasn't slammed straight to the ER yet. Hell idk if even 6ft riders should ride em. The cap should be 6'3" almost (me).
 
14516465:PimpChimpin said:
Ride skis that fit your height (under 6 foot 189 users im talking about you)

Keep your dins at the proper setting
Click to expand...

Riding longer skis will make your knees stronger if you ski properly. A lot of people actually need skis taller than them to properly charge large lines too.
 
14516465:PimpChimpin said:
Ride skis that fit your height (under 6 foot 189 users im talking about you)

Keep your dins at the proper setting
Click to expand...

Could you elaborate on the long ski thing? I've always viewed it as the longer radius turn you wanna make/the more high speed stability you want, the longer ski you ride.
 
Probably just talking about torque on knee and body but yeah. Longer skis for more speed and stability.

14516840:snowmosexual said:
Could you elaborate on the long ski thing? I've always viewed it as the longer radius turn you wanna make/the more high speed stability you want, the longer ski you ride.
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Longer skis = more force when things go wrong. It's extremely rare for someone to tear an acl on snowblades/skiboards for example.
 
You don't need to land everything all the time. Trying to save a back seat landing can fuck up your knee real good. Obviously a torn acl is better than dying in a no fall zone so context really matters here.

I also feel like skis with softer tails are easier on your knees. Easier for your leg to overpower the ski than the other way around. That soft tail can also get you more back seat in the first place so I'm really splitting hairs here but if I'm back seat on a landing and something's gonna give, I'd rather it be my ski.
 
Don’t ski when you’re tired and don’t huck your meat early season. Candide skis only groomers for the first month of his season
 
14516465:PimpChimpin said:
Ride skis that fit your height (under 6 foot 189 users im talking about you)

Keep your dins at the proper setting
Click to expand...

um actually... I'm 5'9" and ride 192 and I always keep my din at 16
 
Knees over toes guy is an awesome resource. Strengthen your quads, protect the muscles supporting the knee-- I felt my knee was loose last year, blew off training, and ended up blowing it.
 
14518004:jompcock said:
You don't need to land everything all the time. Trying to save a back seat landing can fuck up your knee real good. Obviously a torn acl is better than dying in a no fall zone so context really matters here.
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i blew my knee trying to save a backseat landing. way way better to just sit it down and start slidin
 
nice footbed to square up ankle, make sure ur stance is correct and you dont need canting... this will lead to better balance and prevent falls
 
14518426:scratchskier321 said:
nice footbed to square up ankle, make sure ur stance is correct and you dont need canting... this will lead to better balance and prevent falls
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Canting changed my life tbh
 
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