Mounting the blade extremely off center due to loose ankle?

[bayroan]

Hi, could you experienced folks shed some light on my boot issue for me?

I have a loose right ankle. I can glide fine on one left skate, but on the right side, the blade feels like it's way too far to the inside of my foot (when it's centered) and I flop over. My knee often falls inward while trying to compensate for the loose ankle and I end every skating session with a lot of knee pain. When I identified the cause of the pain and asked my boot fitter to mount the blade toward the extreme right side of the boot, I finally stopped having knee pain.

Recently I went to a new boot fitter because the previous fitter had apparently fitted me wrong, and it resulted in too-big skates that gave me severe peroneal tendonitis that made me unable to stand or walk for a month. I went like two sizes down and into a different skate altogether, and this fitter is a renowned one that takes pride in his work, and only moved the blade a little bit and flatly said "it can't go further". That's what the guys in the previous pro shop also said about the other boot, except for one man who was able to still move it further until it was pain free for me.

I'm just wondering - would it be bad if I moved the blade further out? Will it teach me wrong technique? I haven't gone back for the permanent mounting because I'm afraid of being permanently stuck with an alignment that gives me knee pain every time. Can permanent mounting be undone after? Is it ok to ask a pro shop person to move a blade that he hadn't fitted me into? Is this sort of balance issue something that can be helped with custom orthotics? (I also have sesamoiditis and a lot of foot issues). I've been in constant physical therapy for a year and while my ankles are stronger, the knee pain is still there in my new boots. Any insight or advice would be appreciated.

[Query]

What exactly do you mean by a loose ankle? Do you mean you have trouble controlling the orientation of the ankle, or that it tends to fall to one side when you put weight on it, or something else?

I will say that an extremely off-center blade affected my ability to spin, and that I eventually decided that reshaping the interior of the boot - mostly by making my own custom-cut insole, proved more effective for me. But I don't have either of the problems I just named - there was just a mismatch between the shape and tilt of the bottom of my foot, and the footbed of the boot.

If you have trouble controlling the orientation of the ankle, I think a stiffer boot and a better fit might help. What type of boots are you using? How loose do they feel? (E.g., can you slide around inside the boot, or touch one part without touching others?) Were they heat molded?

Also, when you are balanced over one blade, is the blade straight up and down, or does it tilt one way or the other?

Sorry for answering a question with many questions, but I think anyone would have trouble answering you without more info.

[Bill_S]

It is possible to remount blades once they have had the permanent screws installed, but it is time consuming. The old holes should be plugged first before drilling new mounting holes.

This site has some information, and the video about how they mount blades is very instructive. It's also way beyond what you will get at most shops. Still, there's good information in there about pronated vs supinated feet.

http://precisionblade.com/index.php/precision-blade-mounting/

If you haven't had the permanent screws installed yet, by all means take a screwdriver to the rink and adjust the offending blade. Maybe you will reach the travel limit of the slots, in which case the old holes would need plugged before drilling any more holes near to them to extend adjustment in the desired direction.

[tstop4me]

I went like two sizes down and into a different skate altogether, and this fitter is a renowned one that takes pride in his work, and only moved the blade a little bit and flatly said "it can't go further". That's what the guys in the previous pro shop also said about the other boot, except for one man who was able to still move it further until it was pain free for me.

I'm just wondering - would it be bad if I moved the blade further out? Will it teach me wrong technique? I haven't gone back for the permanent mounting because I'm afraid of being permanently stuck with an alignment that gives me knee pain every time. Can permanent mounting be undone after? Is it ok to ask a pro shop person to move a blade that he hadn't fitted me into? Is this sort of balance issue something that can be helped with custom orthotics? (I also have sesamoiditis and a lot of foot issues). I've been in constant physical therapy for a year and while my ankles are stronger, the knee pain is still there in my new boots. Any insight or advice would be appreciated.

(a) Could you try to quantify how much "a little bit" and "a lot" are in your instances?  That is, what is the offset between the longitudinal axis of your boot (running from center front tip of the toe to center back tip of the heel) and the longitudinal axis of the blade (running midway between the inside and outside edges)?  E.g., are we talking 1/16", 1/8", 1/4" ...?

(b) The commonly-used terms "temporary mount" and "permanent mount" are misleading and confusing.  I personally think "adjustable mount" and "fixed mount" would be clearer.  As Bill indicated, a "permanent mount" is not permanent.  You can unmount the blades, plug the previous holes [must be done properly], drill new holes, and remount the blades. 

(c) You can have the blades remounted by a different shop (different from the one who did the original mounting).  One tech I go to frequently remounts blades improperly mounted by other techs.

(d) Since you have a lot of foot issues, have you been treated by a sports podiatrist (preferably one who has experience in treating skaters)? [ETA:  Extreme offsets, while possible, might not be the proper correction.]

[nicklaszlo]

Do not remount the blade yourself unless you can't get an expert to do it.  Or at least someone who has done it before.

You need someone knowledgeable to watch you skate in a straight line on each foot.  We can't tell from your description what is going on.  It is really hard to tell the difference between a boot problem and a blade problem without seeing the skater use the skates.

[nicklaszlo]

Also, shimming the blade might be necessary.