--Maybe I have been blaming my boots when really it is a lack of skill on my part.
-- Three different boot fitters give me 3 different takes on it. My head is spinning.
Welcome to boot fitting 201, when
you realize something's wrong while on snow, but people who are supposed to be
experts identify different causes and none of them agree. Been there, done that, for years. I used to wonder the same thing as you; is it my gear or my technique? People would tell me to stop blaming my gear; they were wrong. I finally have a pair of boots that fit. But they were right it was also my technique. I have been able to increase my skills much faster now that these boots on my feet actually fit. Numerous bootfitters put me in the wrong boots before I finally got these.
The boot fit is extremely important. It enables your growing skills to deliver orders directly and without confusion to your skis. Boot fit can delay skill acquisition for years because the skis seem to do what they want, as if they have a mind of their own. If that's the case, the feedback from the skis can't be trusted to tell the skier when the movements are effective and when they aren't.
Bottom line: the boots need to fit well in three dimensions. And they shouldn't hurt either.
Try these things to see what's up.
1. Set your sneakers doen beside your boots. Is there a length difference? How much? Mine match. I have a very snug fit, but I had to get down this small because I have hypermobile feet. There should not be much difference in length, because your feet slide forward in regular shoes as they bend, but they don't bend nor do they slide forward in ski boots. The interior of the ski boot should actually be shorter than the interior of your street shoes.
2. With boots on, clicked into bindings, lift one ski into the air so the tip is high and the tail is low; twist it like an airplane propeller, back and forth, then suddenly stop your foot. Does the ski keep twisting after your foot stops? You can check this out one ski at a time on the flats in front of the lodge, or on the chair with feet dangling if no one else is on it. Be very persistent in discovering if the ski keeps twisting after your foot stops. If it does, your boots are too wide.
3. Sideslip straight down a steep incline. Keep most of your balance on the downhill foot. Does that foot slide sideways in the boot? If so, your boots are definitely too wide.
4. Stand on the flats outside the lodge. Can you make your heels lift inside the boots? Buckle up tighter. Try again. Can you do it now? If so, the volume of your boots is too big. The top of the clog (the part where your foot resides) is too tall.
5. Stand in your boots in the lodge. Clunk one boot's heel down on the floor to force your heel waay back into the heel pocket. Now stand up and bend forward at the ankles, as far as you can. Do your toes meet the wall at the front of the boot? If not, your boots are too short.
6. Pull the liners out of the boots. Put your bare feet into the empty shells. Shove your feet forward so that the toes are pressed against the front wall. Look down into the back of the boots. The empty space back there should be about one thick-1st-grader-pencil's width ...or at most a finger's width ... not a thumb's width, and please, please NO definitely not two fingers.
7. When you are in your boots, all nice and buckled up, and you bend forward at the ankles, your shins should contact the boot tongue from the bottom all the way up. If there's air in front of the bottom of your shins when the tops press into the boot cuff, that will lead to shin bang up there (painful bruises). Shin bang will teach you not to press into the boot tongues. Not pressing into the boot tongues keeps you in the back seat. So this needs to be fixed. If everything else about the fit of the boots is fine, the lower shin gap at the tongue can be fixed by stuffing something between the boot tongue and your lower shin. Perfect for this is the "Eliminator Tongue," which you can buy at most ski shops.
Some of these measurements will get sloppier when a new liner packs out. So checking out these measurements when the boots and their liners are new can be deceptive. Assume that what you want, if the liner is new, is a snugger fit than you think is reasonable. SuperSnug.
Your boot fitter should then punch/grind out any shell areas where bones in your feet press too hard against the shell. This shouldn't cost anything if you bought the boot this year from that shop, but you'll have to pay a la carte for the adjustments if you got the boots online then go to a shop for the fitting.