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Knees

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ed257
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Re: Knees

Postby ed257 » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:04 am

If you are riding in chop try to "loosen" your knees the way good mogul skiiers do when skiing through bumps. I found this technique really reduces how sore my knees get. Shinn Monk helps a lot too.

Ed

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Re: Knees

Postby sarc » Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:13 am

rightguard wrote:I ride a 140 Mako. I think I have it set up well for me, on a normal day I can go out and not have pain. When conditions are crazy or I'm trying new tricks, I'm in pain. I was thinking I should just start doing the strapless thing but maybe that wouldn't help. Hydrofoil does look fun but I don't think it's for me.

I'm also trying to get in shape so I've been doing a lot of biking. The bike should be the best exercise for them but its still a lot of work. I guess my old knees just can't take it all.
Try increasing the duck angle on your footstraps if possible and ALSO loosening the footstraps a little

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Re: Knees

Postby rightguard » Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:57 am

Thanks for the suggestions.

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Re: Knees

Postby indosafe » Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:52 am

Overweight kill your knees too .

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Re: Knees

Postby El Rudo » Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:20 pm

Kite surfing is generally bad for the knees. I tore an ACL effing up a kite loop last May and had it reconstructed a month ago. The surgeon gave me all HR knee cam footage of the surgery, and during an inspection of the knee joint he encountered grade 3 wear on the inside femur cartilage (grade 4 is worn to the bone) while all other cartilage and menisci were in great condition.
To me, this is likely caused by riding with a stretched front leg with the foot turned inward. Actually I'm looking for more orthopedic insights or research on this so I can check if I'm right. Anyone?

I'm hoping to be back on the water some time during summer and start a new kite life going strapless.

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Re: Knees

Postby Kiteus Maximus » Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:10 pm

Properly setting the amount of duck and the width of your stance is the best way to save your knees. To know what your natural stance is you need to have someone help you with this. Get a large piece of white paper and and stand in the center as you normally would in a comfortable position. Have someone trace the outline of your feet.

Pull your pads off your board and then center the paper with your traced feet on your board. This will show you what your natural duck and stance width will be. Adjust your pads accordingly.

It also helps to have some soft EVA pads.

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Re: Knees

Postby Slappysan » Wed Dec 19, 2012 1:29 am

rightguard wrote:I ride a 140 Mako. I think I have it set up well for me, on a normal day I can go out and not have pain.
You can't get much better board for knees in chop than a Mako 140, I have a 140 and a Shinn Gintronic and I have knee problems.

For me less duck in the stance helps out, but if it is the duck in your stance nothing will solve the problem like going directional (you don't have to go strapless, but it would be even better).

Which knee is causing the issue and on both tacks or only a specific side?

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Re: Knees

Postby jedi1 » Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:58 am

Your stance width and angle depends solely on your body. Too much duck will hurt your knees, just as much as a too small angle. Just try different settings and check what feels right.

Stance width usually is a bit wider than the distance between your shoulders. Angle should be set up in a natural way, just look at your feet while standing and try to fit your straps to it.

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Re: Knees

Postby plummet » Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:06 am

you should try to isolate what causes the knew pain.

twisting?
hold power and edging hard?
riding toe side?
crashing tricks repeatidly
etc etc.

Then once you know what causes you can go about fixing.

PS As mountain biker for 19 years I can say you can well and truely screw your knees if your bike set up is wrong. Mainly seat height and knee to crank dimensions..... so there is a possibility your cycling is aggrivating your knee pain.

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Re: Knees

Postby rightguard » Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:06 pm

I've always had bad knees... Sore the next day when I do just about anything, although it usually goes away until the next weekend.

I think my stance has worked it's self out. I don't have any pain while riding just sore the next day. I do know the more tricks I messed up the more I'll feel it the next day.

Plummet... I just switched to clipless for my single track riding. I really like it but on my ride last night I noticed if I pull hard I can feel it in the knees. I think I have a decent seat height but what do you mean by knee to crank dimension?


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