Shinbang - I hate you!

Vincenzo

Vincenzo

Member
So, here is the deal. I've been skiing for a solid five seasons or something. Every season I get a horrible shin bang, I can maybe ski two days or something and then I have to rest up cause the pain in my shins are just too much to handle. I've haven't actually been skiing in a resort yet this winter, but I've been shredding alot in my backyard, hitting rails. The first couple of weeks everything was going good and skiing was super fun. Then the shinbang started to come back. I have been doing alot of massaging after each session, trying to prevent it, but its back again. I don't know if its chronic or whatever, but I'm kinda thinking about seeing a physio regarding this. I don't know if you guys might have some tips, maybe some exercises that you do to prevent this? If you know how I can make it stop, please contribute. I have heard about people using sportstape before each session, trying to hold it back. I haven't tried it, anyone who got some experience with this? I'm really sick of this and its ruining my skiing, I'll do whatever I can to make it stop. Thanks.
 
ski boots are the worst part of skiing, but everyone is completely satisfied with current technology.
 
I feel your pain. I had this problem throughout high school, and its a really hard problem to fix. Have you tried different boots? How old are you?

In grade 12 I got these really bad head boots that gave me unbearable shin bang. I tried everything, avoiding those backseat landings, booster straps, footbeds, tighting the boots right up, nothing really worked.

For me, the problem went away due to a combination of just growing out of it and getting new boots. Now at eighteen years old I only get it minorly on christmas break when I ski day after day for weeks.
 
I have had it to this is what i did go buy some dixie cups from a store and fill them with water and freeze them. When there frozen rip the papper off around the ice so that ther is only a little bit of paper to hold on two to you dont freeze your hand. Massage the ice for ten minutes on your shins twice a day. It works awesome
 
Try messing around with your buckle configuration, i know it sounds kind of stupid but if you switch up where the pressure goes it can sometimes solve the problem

If not, do the classic remedy and cut out a beer cozzie so that it lines up with your shins and wear those inside your ski boots

583735.jpeg

and if that still doesn't work, you may need new boots / see a doc

 
Although, I did start jogging/working out fairly regularely last fall when I started college, and that winter I had very minimal problems with shin bang. The year before I was taking advil if I skied multiple days in a row.
 
you must never have tried fulltilts

lol

its basic knowledge that fulltilt = no shinbang, no matter what size or model
 
I've had the FT Booter and now I ride the FT Tom Wallisch (blue ones). The Booters might have been what started it all, I guess they were a size too big or something. I actually bougth the Tom Wallisch boots hoping that it would change, it helped but didn't fix it. I don't think the size is wrong either. I've also tried adjusting the straps, with very little luck I'm afraid.
 
The booter gave me some pretty bad shin bang. Couldnt ski without advil. Then i got some Kripton rampages and everything is better
 
I don't know if this is always true....

My head boots fit me like a glove, they were tight everywhere, no play at all, still got terrible shin bang even just skiing groomers, it was weird.
 
It's casue you wear boots to big for you just like everyone else. Wear ski boots 2 sizes smaller than your shoe size and you'll be fine.
 
boot sizing is not as clear cut as that. Its possible that your foot just wasnt made to fit the booters.

Also stance when you ski has a massive impact on the pressure which you excert on your shins, everybody knows landing back seat causes shin band but if your general stance is back seat to almost any degree you are likely going to cause pressures on your shins that lead to shin bang.

To the OP:

when you say you got boots that were a size too big was that your decision after being fitted or did you just decide you needed dem full tiltz because timmy wetnaps rode them (or something along these lines)?

boots that fit you well will most likely solve your problem but it could be a more complex problem about how your feet sit in the boot and the arch and lateral support you get and it could be a case that you need a footbed which adjusts how you stand and possible a canting adjustment to your boots.

A good forward, technically "good" stance will also aid in alieveating problems and in general will improve your skiing, so if you're not sure if you have a good stance ask a friend who does most levels of teaching on the hill to watch you ski for a while see if that's your problem.

if its a recurring problem it might be worth seeing a podiatrist/doctor and explaining your situation and seeing if they can do anything with regard to foot adjustment and possible therapy/
 
seems like a product that costs a thousand dollars shouldnt hurt EVERYONE that uses them...full tilts are the best of the worst, mind you they are all the same thing
 
the back of the boot doesnt bend and your top strap is hurting your shin, it has nothing to due with sizing, fitting or boot model....or color.

 
My shins hurt pretty bad after a couple of days with skiing, eventhough i wear FT.

But i guess i differs from person to person.
 
The training room in my school has these but you have to make sure you remember to run hot water over it before you rub it anywhere. My friend was in the ice bath and I thought it would be funny to put one of these on his nipple not knowing that it would stick. Well it stuck and when he took it of it gave him a 3 inch wide bumpy red circle over his nipple for 2 weeks. I got the worst black eye ever out of this, I didn't even have the chance to laugh at him.
 
try different socks and foam inserts.

the only #1 way i have found to prevent shin bang are these:

any type of tight fitting bmx shingaurd. they work wonders. i had extra skins which had a plastic plate that slid in/out of a neoprene liner. you could put them in the microwave then on your leg to mold them.

wonder why no one else has done this, maybe I'm an innovator?

 
go to a ski shop and get your liners heat molded. It will fit exactly to your foot afterwards. Tell them about your problems and see what they say.
 
Not everyone has the pleasure of being able to ride FTs. Sure it you can fix the shinbang but you can potentially mess up your foot, which is even worse.
 
get full tilts. i know everyone says that, but they actually are amazing for the shinbang. if you have sensitive shins then you can just get a lower flex tongue and you'll be fine
 
Well you COULD stop skiing in the backseat with poorly fitted boots... But I'd just get naked and spread nutella all over myself if I were you.
 
last year i had some serious shin bang halfway through the season. i got sick of it, so i stopped skiing for a week and iced the shit out of my shins to heal them up. then i took "don't land backseat" to a whole new level and only landed switch when i was in the park. seriously. even off of rails. i forced myself to land backwards all the time, and not once did I experience shin bang for the rest of the season.

The cause of shin bang is landing backseat and or backslapping. you can try to prevent it by getting properly fitted boots and strengthening/ stretching, but as soon as you land a little bit backseat on some hard snow its going to come right back. full tilts do nothing, unless you get a really soft tongue, in which case all they do is soften the pressure on your injured shins. just get tight fitting boots (roughly 2 sizes below your measured size) so you have control, heel hold, and ankle stability, but try to never land backseat.

i now consider landing backseat worse than a crash, because when i crash, I rarely get injured, but EVERY SINGLE TIME i land backseat, i know that im incrementally damaging myself.

ahhh. personal anecdote over. now lets brainstorm ideas to prevent this harmful injury with TECHNOLOGY.

how about this:

boots with backplates that go up almost to your knees, that are spring loaded to keep your calves in front of your heels, but have elastic travel to give out when you do backslap. I call it the SUPERSPOILER.

ill post some pics of my drawings later.

 
I'd recommend getting a booster strap, you also used to be able to get these insert things for the tongue of the boot, I'll try and remember what they were called, but I know they worked for a lot of people. If it really is that unbearable though from forward pressure I'd see a physio to find out if you're infact suffering from hypertension or something.

If it comes to new boots, get the boots that fit properly, and that doesn't always mean full tilts (which do not completely eliminate shin bang in the slightest). From personal experience, having owned both Full Tilts and SPK I can definitely say that I prefer my SPKs, they hold my foot and ankle a lot better.
 
excellent post.

I can relate to this. If i land really backseat i just fall intentionally, rather than puting all that stress on my shins to correct my stance.

Like mentioned above, really hard snow in the park is bad for shinbang. There is no give with rock hard, bullet proof snow, so your shins make up for it. I tend to avoid park on those days, and if i do, i mostly stay away from jumps.

Shinbang sucks. For some reason it went away last season and i was skiing pretty hard.
 
Shin Bang is caused by straining the muscles in your shin. (Landing backseat). Try doing workouts to strengthen the muscles in your shin. I.e. sitting on the ground and lifting up a stool or something low to the ground with your ankles.
 
I love my spks simply b/c the cuff goes so high up my shin, it gives way more support than most boots when you screw up and land backseat.
 
Ive been having shinbang problems for the last 3 years and last yr it got really bad... To the point where I wasnt able to ski some days while on vacation to CA. I tried icing, booster straps, heat molding , switching boots, attempting to not land backseat ( cant not land backseat every time)...

This season im going to try the custom tongues and making sure to ice twice a day using the dixie cup method.
 
if your boot fits and you still get shinbang you are probably landing back seat... my boots fit great but a couple sloppy tricks and my shins are toast (especially on a multi-day trip)
 
tumblr_m31foynUIP1qicx1vo1_400.jpg
 
I might try something like this. Also, the shintronics looked like something that could work. I've tried some sportstape, but that really didn't do much difference. I guess a thicker and more elastic surface could be key. I'm just curious how much these things will do a difference in riding? Will the ski handling be any different?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top