Are boots soft on hard landings?

[DirkGently]

I also have the Echo wakestyle board so my landings are very soft now.
Will try 15 degrees next time and see from there what feels better.

Where I kite has a very defined season and I find that I will change my stance angles slightly as the season goes by, little bit back and forth depending on what aches I'm dealing with.

Glad its working out!!

[William Munney]

The board makes the biggest differance. A big wide wake style board is going to hurt way more that a smaller narrower twintip.

Try raptor heal straps as an alternative to full binding. I ride with them and love them.

Heal straps, that's one way to destroy your ACL... Just ride boots or straps, don't go for something inbetween.

What is the biggest ACL risk in kiting? I always thought it was due to having only one foot in a strap and the board twisting.

[Frank82]

The board makes the biggest differance. A big wide wake style board is going to hurt way more that a smaller narrower twintip.

Try raptor heal straps as an alternative to full binding. I ride with them and love them.

Heal straps, that's one way to destroy your ACL... Just ride boots or straps, don't go for something inbetween.

What is the biggest ACL risk in kiting? I always thought it was due to having only one foot in a strap and the board twisting.

That exactly, with heel straps you increase the risk to have 1 foot out of the strap and 1 in. With boots you're secured and with just straps it's easy to kick the board off.

[posty]

So i went for the Liquid Force Vantage boots and they are like cushions.
Very happy with that.

That's interesting, so you're saying they're softer than previous straps you've been using? I've always assumed the straps are generally softer under foot cause those pad thicknesses look huge on most of the boards i've seen. I've just spent a week away on brand new harleys which are pretty much the same as the vantages and my heels are bruised to shit!

They are pretty much the same as some good soft pads but in combination with a wakestyle board it's even better!
That's why i picked the Vantage because they have some gel based shock absorption system.

[posty]

I also have the Echo wakestyle board so my landings are very soft now.
Will try 15 degrees next time and see from there what feels better.

Where I kite has a very defined season and I find that I will change my stance angles slightly as the season goes by, little bit back and forth depending on what aches I'm dealing with.

Glad its working out!!

Thanks Dirk,

I will keep tweaking them!

[Eurus]

I'm with DirkGently on this one. I could care less about the stiffness, flex, flatness, or rocker of a board. Landing smoothly is 100% technique. I can land any board (TT) as smooth or rough as I want to. Some guys like to stomp everything and those are the same guys who will have knee and ankle problems at some point. Learn proper landing technique and it won't matter what you are wearing or riding.