Hiking Style

CaptainAhab

Active Member
About 6 months ago I had a painful cut on one of my ankles. It was more comfortable for me to cross my feet when hiking in the Laser. Basically nesting one heel on top my other ankle, with knees touching. I didn't realize for a long time that it had become my hiking style over time. I find it much more comfortable for long beats. Torquing thru chop seems more effective as well. It allows you to roll on your hip forward.

My wife is a physio with advanced training in movement and bio mechanics. She believes that it is a better method due to the bracing effect and the other muscle groups that are recruited in this position.

She also believes that it will have a neutral or positive injury risk over typical hiking.

It is a completely unconscious motion for me at this point. Regular hiking feels weird or awkward. Does anybody else out there in Laser world cross their feet when hiking?
 
I think your right about saving energy on hiking long beats, but I know it's not an effective way of hiking. Your weight distribution is more inboard, as your hiking with your calves touching the grab rail, much more so than a person with straight legs. Which is why I'm thinking your torquing on your front hip. A symptom of an unconscious effort to make up for loss in pressure on the rail, is to lean forward on your front hip, and is ineffective at helping to increase your water line and reduce drag created by weatherhelm. Rather, hiking off your back hip will have a more effective flattening motion, and reduce weather helm when steering through chop, making your waterline longer. Longer waterline = faster boat = less pain in hiking, resulting in an improvement to your hiking position.
 
I am 6'2" in height. My length of hiking does not change. My legs are straight. Instead of my feet being side by side, one is on top of the other. Try it sitting in a chair. You will feel more stable because your legs are touching one another. I ment rolling on your forward hip only when trying to steer thru chop and/or waves. Not all the time.
 
You are tall! ideal too.. just some things I've picked up are that if your weight is distributed too much on your calves, it takes away from your leverage. And rolling forward takes away from your height. You shouldn't roll further forward than mid point, which is equal pressure on both thighs.
 
Do not cross your feet!! I used to hike with my feet crossed (turned in) and it results in all manner of problems.

If your feet are turned in to cross them you focus all the work through your larger thigh muscle (I'm not a physio so not gonna quote muscle names). Your smaller thigh muscle becomes proportionally smaller/weaker and you will eventually pull your knee cap out of alignment because of the imbalance in your thigh muscles.

It took a lot of remedial work to correct my technique as it is harder to hike with your feet straight (makes you use the smaller muscle too) and I just managed to avoid long term injury.

Steve Cockerill (Rooster) had a similar problem caused by turning his aft foot in - see his article http://www.roostersailing.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=hikestyle&Store_Code=1

I repeat DO NOT CROSS YOUR FEET WHEN HIKING.
 
Bad hiking posture is the cause of almost all the leg related injuries from Laser sailing.

Get this right and use a good set of hikers and you can hike harder for longer and not injure yourself.

Straight legged is the best technique and certainly the one I use. Since sorting out my hiking technique I have had no injuries related to sailing.
 
When your legs are crossed, what part of your foot/leg is pressuring the strap? Do you ever hike off your toes?

I found that this is sometimes ok for a break, but I need more of my foot contacting the strap to support my whole body, bringing me inboard a bit. Then when I uncross, I can get out to my toes and have more leverage on the boat.
 
When your legs are crossed, what part of your foot/leg is pressuring the strap? Do you ever hike off your toes?

I found that this is sometimes ok for a break, but I need more of my foot contacting the strap to support my whole body, bringing me inboard a bit. Then when I uncross, I can get out to my toes and have more leverage on the boat.

As I mentioned before I'm 6'2. Everyone has a different experience hiking in different boats based upon their height. My height is considered ideal for the Laser in most books. I feel very comfortable in any position. Shorter people tend to hike on their toes. Alot of it is based on leg length and where your butt ultimately ends up.

I don't have any leverage issues due to the above. When I'm fit my weight is also in the right spot for the full rig at 185 lbs.

I've done long distance cycling(half of the US) and overdeveloped my quads in the past. That resulted in rather painful knees for awhile until I rebuilt the rest by simply walking. Between that experience and my wife's knowledge I would know if I am doing damage.

Steve's article pertains to himself and the differences between droop versus straight leg. The toe hiking thing is not exactly the norm.
 
As I mentioned before I'm 6'2. Everyone has a different experience hiking in different boats based upon their height. My height is considered ideal for the Laser in most books. I feel very comfortable in any position. Shorter people tend to hike on their toes. Alot of it is based on leg length and where your butt ultimately ends up.

I don't have any leverage issues due to the above. When I'm fit my weight is also in the right spot for the full rig at 185 lbs.

I've done long distance cycling(half of the US) and overdeveloped my quads in the past. That resulted in rather painful knees for awhile until I rebuilt the rest by simply walking. Between that experience and my wife's knowledge I would know if I am doing damage.

Steve's article pertains to himself and the differences between droop versus straight leg. The toe hiking thing is not exactly the norm.

I am 6ft 1 and 185lb (in US money), I find if I 'toe' hike I am always too far out and have issues getting back in when the wind lulls. To get round this I simply move in a little and have the strap across the top of my foot. Still keep your feet slightly pointed though to ensure your legs stay straight. You may also need to adjust your toe strap length in order to ensure you can 'lock' yourself in to the boat effectively. My toe strap is a lot shorter than most this is down to having long legs.
 
Glad it is working well for you and that you are the ideal height and weight for the laser! Perhaps we'll see the cross legged method in the next olympics as the dominant style and toe hiking will go the way of the dinosaur.

As I mentioned before I'm 6'2. Everyone has a different experience hiking in different boats based upon their height. My height is considered ideal for the Laser in most books. I feel very comfortable in any position. Shorter people tend to hike on their toes. Alot of it is based on leg length and where your butt ultimately ends up.

I don't have any leverage issues due to the above. When I'm fit my weight is also in the right spot for the full rig at 185 lbs.

I've done long distance cycling(half of the US) and overdeveloped my quads in the past. That resulted in rather painful knees for awhile until I rebuilt the rest by simply walking. Between that experience and my wife's knowledge I would know if I am doing damage.

Steve's article pertains to himself and the differences between droop versus straight leg. The toe hiking thing is not exactly the norm.
 
What you describe sound eerily like the side-to-side hiking straps used in Lightnings rather than typical fore-and-aft hiking straps. The couple of times I sailed in Lightnings, I found them awkward to use and uncomfortable. Of course the Lightning sailors thought I was completely crazy.
 
I'm not saying its better than the norm. I was simply curious if anyone else was doing it. Not that I'm some genius and doing something no one else including the pros are doing. That said typical people do typical things. Advances in any field or sport are made by the fringe who are repeatedly cut down by naysayers. The second someone adamantly tells me I'm wrong because it goes against the norm, I become skeptical of the norm. That's why I'm a Laser sailor. Arguing with the crew is trying at times.
 

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